The chief executive of Schroders Personal Wealth, Peter Hetherington, has left the firm which will now seek it’s third chief executive in 12 months.

Mr Hetherington has left to pursue “other prospective opportunities after eight months in the job.

It is not clear yet what the future interests will but his LinkedIn profile lists him as a non-executive director of Scotgold Resources, a minerals firm focused on Scotland.

His predecessor James Rainbow moved to become Schroders’ UK and Latin America distribution head last October. He will now return to the business to oversee the firm as acting CEO while a successor is recruited.

Schroders Personal Wealth said it had identified Mr Hetherington’s successor and will announce this “at the first available opportunity, subject to regulatory approval.”

Antonio Lorenzo, chairman of Schroders Personal Wealth, said: “I am grateful for Peter’s leadership over the last eight months and am sorry he is leaving.

“He leaves us in a strong position and on track to become a top three Financial Planning business in the UK. Both shareholders remain absolutely committed to the joint venture and to providing excellent service to clients.”

Mr Hetherington’s experience in building a technology-orientated FTSE 250 business was described as “invaluable” when he was appointed last year. He will serve a period of gardening leave after exiting the company.

Schroders owns 49.9% of Schroders Personal Wealth with the remaining 50.1% owned by Lloyds Banking Group.

Schroders’ Personal Wealth was launched a year ago and recently told Financial Planning Today it had not furloughed any staff or made any redundant during the lockdown. The company recently moved to full remote working with clients.

To date, over half of clients’ assets, over Ј10bn, has been transferred into SPW with the remainder is set to be brought over by the end of the year.

The new firm has also restructured its national adviser network. It now has 11 regional hubs with access to parts of Lloyds Banking Group branches across the country. 

The company said recently: “We’re still optimistic that the demand for goods and services that has been pent up during the crisis could come back relatively quickly once we return to some form of “normal”. However, as we’ve said on a number of occasions, for economic growth and asset prices to recover in 2021, we need restrictions to be lifted carefully and in the light of solid data.

"At the same time, continued financial support from central banks (such as the Bank of England) and governments will continue to be necessary.”