In his new role, Tothill will be responsible for building, managing and retaining relationships with fund platforms, research houses and intermediaries.
Tothill was previously head of strategic partnerships at Aria Capital Management.
Prior to that, he was head of global partnerships at Henderson Global Investors.
On the appointment, Jeremy Leadsom, head of UK wholesale, said: “A critical element to our success will be our ability to understand and serve the needs of the intermediaries and the third parties that our clients use.
“[Tothill] will play a crucial role in ensuring we are delivering on this commitment and we are delighted to welcome him to our team.”
Last week, International Adviser reported that the Friends Provident International brand will live on after the company is taken over by Aviva in a £5.6bn tie-up agreed earlier this year.
In an exclusive interview, Chris Wei, Aviva’s Asia chairman, said: “What I can say definitively is that we’re keeping the FPI brand. We don’t see any major impact of running the brands in parallel.”