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Wren Sterling has announced two senior leadership appointments to support the next phase of its growth strategy and strengthen the delivery of financial planning across the business.
Austin Hutchinson has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Growth Officer. In parallel, Gareth Edwards has been appointed Financial Planning Director, taking on responsibility for the day-to-day leadership of financial planning across the business. Both roles report directly to Chief Executive James Twining.
A New Strategic Growth Role
Austin Hutchinson, who joined Wren Sterling in 2022, is the latest in a series of internal promotions that reflect the firm’s commitment to developing leadership from within. In his previous role as Financial Planning Director, Austin played a central part in developing Wren Sterling’s adviser proposition and reshaping the firm’s adviser community, providing the foundation for the business’s expansion over the past four years.
As Chief Growth Officer, Austin will focus on the key drivers of Wren Sterling’s future performance. This includes leading organic growth initiatives, strengthening adviser recruitment, and supporting the firm’s M&A programme from a sales and adviser perspective, with responsibility for ensuring disciplined advisor due diligence, smooth advisor integration and positive outcomes for clients and colleagues. He will also work closely with Head of Workplace Sarah Herd to accelerate the development of Wren Sterling’s Workplace and Financial Wellbeing proposition, a major strategic organic growth priority for the coming year.
Focused Leadership for Financial Planning
Gareth Edwards will step into the role of Financial Planning Director following Austin’s transition. Like Austin, Gareth is an internal appointment, having joined Wren Sterling in 2022 and gone on to lead the firm’s largest regional team in the North of England. In his new role, he will oversee the operational delivery of financial planning across the business, supporting advisers to meet client needs, maintaining high professional standards and driving consistent financial performance.
James Twining, Chief Executive of Wren Sterling, said:
“These appointments reflect both the progress we have made and the ambition we have for what comes next. Austin has been instrumental in building the adviser community that underpins our growth, and his new role allows us to direct that capability toward the areas where it will have the greatest impact: organic growth, adviser recruitment and the continued development of our M&A programme. Gareth has demonstrated consistently strong leadership across our largest region, and I have every confidence in his ability to raise standards and drive performance across the whole of the financial planning business.
“It is also worth noting that both appointments are internal. That is not a coincidence. We have invested deliberately in developing people who understand this business, share its values and have the entrepreneurial drive to help build it further. Austin and Gareth are exactly the kind of leaders that investment produces, and their appointments say as much about the depth of talent we have built as they do about the individuals themselves.”
