St. James’s Place has appointed Caroline Waddington to its board of directors as chief financial officer, succeeding Craig Gentle, who will be retiring from the business.

She will join SJP in the second half of the year, at which point Gentle will step down as a director  but remain with the business for a short period to facilitate an orderly handover.

The appointment change is the latest bid by the London-listed international wealth manager to steady the ship having had to exit the FTSE 100 index earlier this month after a turbulent year during which nearly £3bn was wiped from its value.

Gentle has been with SJP since 2016, serving as its chief financial officer since 1 January 2018.

Waddington joins from UBS where she was chief financial officer for the group’s UK Credit Suisse entities, as well as chief operating officer for Credit Suisse International. Prior to that, she was chief financial officer for UK and EMEA at Credit Suisse, and before that held senior finance roles at Barclays Capital, RBS and Deutsche Bank.

A chartered accountant, Waddington began her career at Coopers & Lybrand.

Paul Manduca, chair of St. James’s Place, said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Caroline Waddington as SJP’s next Chief Financial Officer. Caroline is highly experienced and has proven financial services expertise that she has developed in her career to-date. The Board conducted an extensive and robust selection process in making this appointment and I am confident that she will prove to be a great asset to the business.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Craig for his contribution to the Group since his joining in 2016, particularly his careful stewardship of the Group’s finances since becoming Chief Financial Officer in 2018. We would like to wish Craig the best for the future.”

Mark FitzPatrick, St. James’s Place chief executive officer, said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside Craig since I joined the business, and I am grateful for his support. At the same time, I look forward to working with Caroline as Craig’s successor as we look to the future with confidence.”

Gentle said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed the last eight years at SJP, and I look forward to seeing it thrive in the future as the clear market leader in such an important sector of UK financial services.”

Waddington said: “I am delighted to be joining SJP as Chief Financial Officer. As a strong believer in the transformative power of financial advice, I’m excited to be joining the UK’s leading financial advice business and contributing to its future success.”