Shaw and Partners today announced it has appointed Martin Crabb as its new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), accelerating the company’s product and service development for its clients.

Mr Crabb has been Shaw and Partners’ Head of Research for six years, but his significant experience in the development of investment solutions for clients as well as the creation of model portfolios was instrumental in his appointment to the important CIO role.

Shaw and Partners’ Head of Equities, Mike Ryan, will assume responsibility for the institutional and research functions within the business.

Shaw and Partners’ Co-CEO, Earl Evans, said Shaw and Partners has developed to a point where its investment offering is now significantly broader and its advisers are providing more comprehensive advice to their clients.

He said it was now very important for Shaw and Partners to have a dedicated CIO to meet the expanded needs of the company and both advisers and their clients.

“We have been allocating significant resources, for some time, to ensure we have the right mix of investment choices for both our advisers and our clients and we have made the decision that this needs to be strategically overseen by someone with the knowledge and the experience to broaden both the reach and the scope of our advice and our product offerings.”

Mr Evans said Mr Crabb’s significant experience meant it made sense to promote him into this key role within an organisation that he knows so well. In his new role he will be responsible for setting investment philosophy and strategy as well as driving investment decisions and taking a more commercial approach with institutional clients, allowing the organisation to meet and exceed all of its client’s expectations.

He said Mr Crabb would also take a lead role in leading the branding and marketing direction of Shaw and Partners.

Mr Evans said Shaw and Partners had been developing increased investment capabilities for some time and the 46 advisers who have joined Shaw and Partners during the past two years were highly qualified and had deeper relationships with their clients.

“We have been able to attract some of the best advisers and institutional investment specialists in the market because we have been very clear from the outset that we want to provide our clients with an evolving, comprehensive and value enhancing offering,” Mr Evans said.

“Having someone with Martin’s experience overseeing this most important function in our business means we are well placed to continue to grow our services to clients and the support we provide to our advisers.”