Kingswood has appointed former Schroders Personal Wealth programme manager Christopher Calvocoressi to lead the Financial Planning firm’s technology transformation.

Mr Calvocoressi will also lead the development of the firm’s recently launched online client portal Kingswood Go.

Before joining Schroders Personal Wealth he was part of the wealth and asset management advisory team at EY for nearly a decade.

Harriet Griffin, chief operating officer at Kingswood, said: “Technology continues to significantly transform the wealth management industry, both on the advisory and client side. Christopher’s background experience in developing and leading a technological offering in wealth management makes him a real asset to the team.  We very much look forward to working with him on delivering our strategy and fully embracing the digital age.”

The hire is one of several recent senior appointments for the Financial Planning group this year.

The firm recently appointed David Lawrence as group CEO. Previous CEO Gary Wilder, who has been CEO for three years, will step back to take a non-executive director role. 

The acquisitive Financial Planning firm also appointed Guernsey-based investor Richard Avery-Wright to the boards of UK regulated subsidiaries KW Wealth Planning and KW Investment Management.

Kingswood has made four acquisitions so far this year, acquiring Allotts Financial Services Limited, D.J. Cooke (Life & Pensions) Limited, Joseph R Lamb Independent Financial Advisers, and Aim Independent Limited.

The firm also acquired Metnor, the holding company for IBOSS Asset Management Limited and Novus Financial Services Limited, late last year.

The Financial Planning firm now has £9.1bn of assets under advice and management for over 19,300 clients.