Financial services company Quilter has confirmed the death of its commercial and propositions director David Tiller at the age of 56.
Tiller passed away on 28 December 2022 while out walking with friends in the Lake District.
He joined Quilter in 2021 after 24 years at Standard Life Aberdeen (now Abrdn), where he held roles such as global head of client technology solutions, head of adviser and wealth manager propositions, and head of platform propositions.
Steven Levin, chief executive of Quilter, said: “We are all desperately saddened by the news of David’s passing and our condolences and thoughts are with his family at this time. We have benefitted from David’s deep industry knowledge, and I feel grateful to have worked with him.
“He had already made a significant impact in our business and had brought together people from across our proposition, product and marketing teams to help us create more compelling client and adviser propositions. He will be greatly missed by us all at Quilter.”
Industry reaction
Bella Caridade-Ferreira, chief executive of Fundscape, said in a Linkedin post: “I am heartbroken to hear that David Tiller has passed away. Another untimely death in our industry. David had a bottomless well of knowledge on the advice, platform and retail wealth management industries and was one of the people I turned to for help, information and platform advice. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Noel Butwell, chief executive of adviser platforms at Abrdn, added: “Everyone at abrdn is deeply saddened by the news that our dear ex-colleague David Tiller has passed away. David was a legend in the platform industry, a visionary in the truest sense of the word who had a keen sense for understanding the impact and contagions of regulatory and market shifts.
“Whilst at Abrdn/Standard Life, David was pivotal in building our Discretionary business before taking up the reins to enhance the development of our Wrap platform proposition. He helped reshape the post-RDR and post-pensions freedoms markets with big swings for the platform industry, he was always at the cutting edge of where the industry should go next. He was also a core member of the team who helped acquire the Elevate platform in 2015 – his vision for a segmented offering that tailored propositions to client and customer needs helped set us apart.
“I will personally also remember David as a big and well-respected character. He always held strong views on where the future of our market lay and the role that we all played within it and his contribution to that debate as well as the broader positive impact he had on everyone he met will be sorely missed.
“Our condolences and deepest sympathies are with his family as this time.”
