Rathbone Unit Trust Management (RUTM) has hired Sanlam's Tom Carroll (pictured) as chief investment officer, ahead of Julian Chillingworth's retirement next year. 

The role, which is subject to regulatory approval, will see Carroll based in the firm's London office. He will report to RUTM CEO Mike Webb, and work closely alongside recently-appointed co-CIOs of Rathbone Investment Management Elizabeth Savage and Edward Smith.

In Carroll's new role, he will oversee the investment team, maintain clear investment philosophies within the funds business, and support RUTM's sustainability capabilities. The firm's investment risk team will also report in to him.

Prior to joining RUTM, Carroll spent 15 years at Sanlam Investments, which he co-founded in 2006. He has also managed more than £2bn in assets as part of Schroders' specialist UK equity team, and spent six years as a UK equities fund manager for M&G Investments. He began his career as a chartered accountant at Coopers & Lybrand, which is now PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mike Webb, chief executive of RUTM said: "We are very pleased to have found someone of Tom's experience and stature to join our team. The CIO role is vital to our activities in the fund management business, providing a framework of oversight and governance which gives our fund managers the freedom to express their investment views, while also ensuring the integrity of their individual investment processes.

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"Tom is an outstanding cultural fit for RUTM, but also has deep knowledge of the investment universe and significant expertise in the overall business of asset management. We look forward to welcoming him to the team."

Webb added that he would like to thank Chillingworth for his "many years of unstinting service to our business, our clients and our staff, and his huge role in the success we have seen over past years".

"Julian has been a sage and supportive council for me personally, and our fund management team and he will be greatly missed," he said.

Carroll said: "I am thrilled to join a business with the reputation for excellence that Rathbone Unit Trust Management enjoys. The quality of the investment and management teams and the strength of the support framework put the business in a uniquely strong position for the future and I am excited to be a part of that."