Wealth manager and Financial Planner Tilney Smith & Williamson has hired Neil Coxhead from Waystone to be the new head of its £10bn ACD (authorised corporate director) fund host and admin arm.

The firm’s host ACD and fund administration business provides fund administration for UK collective investment schemes. It takes regulatory responsibility for the establishment and servicing of funds where it acts as the ACD or equivalent. 

The business supports 14 fund sponsors plus 40 delegated third party investment managers, providing in-house host ACD / Authorised Fund Manager (AFM) and fund administration services to £10bn in assets under management across 142 funds.   

Tilney Smith & Williamson, due to re-brand to Evelyn Partners in the summer, said it was pleased to appoint an experienced funds industry professional. 

Mr Coxhead has spent 30 years in the UK funds industry and joins from asset management servicing group Waystone where he was managing director. 

He began working in operational roles with RBS Trustees in 1989, spending a decade with the firm before joining The Bank of New York. He gained experience through roles in operations and client services before taking a senior relationship manager role, covering UK asset managers.

In his 12 years at Citigroup and Brown Brothers Harriman, he created and led relationship management and sales functions and built relationships with UK-based investment managers. His move to CACEIS Bank gave him business management experience in a highly-regulated corporate structure and he led the UK branch during the Brexit transition.

He succeeds James Gordon who is retiring at the end of July after nearly 16 years at Tilney Smith & Williamson and almost 35 years in the industry. He has led its ACD and fund administration business since 2009. 

Chris Woodhouse, group chief executive at Tilney Smith & Williamson, said: “I am looking forward to welcoming Neil to the group as we continue to pursue our growth plans for our host ACD and fund administration business. This represents an important part of our business, providing host ACD and fund administration services to the UK funds industry from our centre of excellence in Glasgow. 

“I am confident that under Neil’s leadership the business will continue to excel as we prepare to re-brand to Evelyn Partners this summer. I’d also like to thank James for the considerable contribution that he has made over many years in helping to build the successful, profitable host ACD and fund administration business that we have today. I wish James well for his retirement plans.” 

Mr Coxhead said: “I am delighted to be joining Tilney Smith & Williamson at such a dynamic time for both the firm and the funds industry. Tilney Smith & Williamson is one of the UK’s most respected providers of hosted ACD and fund administration services and I look forward to leading the business through its next phase of business development.”