River & Mercantile has appointed global head of Aberdeen Standard Investments Alex Hoctor-Duncan as an executive director to lead the firm's strategic development.

Hoctor-Duncan (pictured) will join River and Mercantile's board later this year, following "the conclusion of his contractual responsibilities", focusing on strategy development, specifically within the company's solutions business and the asset management team.

Prior to his role as global head of Aberdeen Standard Investments, which he took on in October 2020 having been its global sales director since 2018, Hoctor-Duncan was at BlackRock where he held several senior distribution roles.

As executive director at River & Mercantile, Hoctor-Duncan will serve alongside veteran fund manager and former Aberdeen Standard Investments co-CEO, Martin Gilbert, who is the current deputy chair of the board.

Hoctor-Duncan said: "I am enormously excited to be joining River and Mercantile to focus on developing its strategy and future growth. I was attracted by the developing opportunities for the group in terms of building further on the highly regarded Solutions business and the internationally recognised team in RAMAM."

James Barham, group CEO of River and Mercantile, said: "The momentum within the business is noticeable as the investment we made in distribution and in new investment teams make an impact in particular in our Solutions and Wholesale businesses."

First published by our sister title Investment Week