Royal Bank Private Equity (RBPE), part of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has hired James Tarling as an investment analyst for its London team.

Tarling, who will be looking at new investment opportunities across all sectors, previously worked on the UK mergers and acquisitions team at Morgan Stanley. His appointment is the latest in a succession of hires across RBS's four private equity investment businesses, RBPE, NatWest Development Capital, Royal Bank Ventures and RBS Property Ventures. Last month, RBPE hired Jim Kottler as investment manager. The hires are part of the integration of NatWest into RBS, following RBS's acquisition of NatWest in March 2000. Mark Nicholls, managing director of RBPE, said &quotFollowing the recruitment of 16 senior professionals over the last year, we are focusing on active and very targeted generation of business opportunities.&quot