Nucleus poaches two more from Standard Life in recruitment drive

Wrap provider Nucleus has poached two more members of staff from Standard Life as it continues its recruitment drive.

Nucleus has hired Jeff Spence, former Standard Life senior manager for platform investment, as wrap operations director, while Aileen Smith has been appointed head of business performance, after working in a similar role at Standard Life.

Spence will oversee the wrap's relationship with its main suppliers including Scottish Friendly, which provides administration services, and will report to chief operations officer Andrew Smith.

It is the third time this year Nucleus has raided Standard Life after recruiting Leanne Prowse earlier this month to the newly-created position of head of legal, risk and compliance.

Prowse, who was head of legal for Standard Life's wrap, reports to Nucleus chief financial officer Aileen Mathieson, who joined from Standard Life in January. Prowse, Spence and Smith all worked with Mathieson previously.

David Ferguson (pictured), chief executive of Nucleus, said: 'The hires are part of our growth strategy to make sure we are adequately resourced.' Nucleus now has 41 members of staff.

Meanwhile, Richard Evans has been appointed as technical operations manager. Evans will be responsible for problem resolution management and for managing internal IT systems.

He has joined from LeadX, an online digital exchange, where he was the IT manager.