LONDON (Dow Jones)--Financial services group W.H. Ireland Group PLC (WHI.LN) Friday swung to a first-half pretax loss as revenue was hit by the loss of a major client, but said it was better positioned for difficult markets following its restructuring, and named Paul Compton as its new chief executive. Compton, who joins Sept. 6 from Toscafund Asset Management, was previously head of capital markets at Collins Stewart. Both the former Chief Executive Richard Ford and Finance Director Nigel Gurney left during the year. For the six months to May 31 the firm posted a pretax loss of GBP518,000 compared with a pretax profit of GBP137,000 in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell to GBP8.8 million from GBP15.1 million, which was attributed to a large client which provided significant revenue in the first half of 2009 no longer participating in the market. In the wealth management division, assets under management increased 15% to GBP1.35 billion since the year-end. WH Ireland also said its head of private client stockbroking John Scott has been appointed to the board with immediate effect, while Lord Jonathan Marland has stepped down following his appointment as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. -By Rachael Gormley, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9308; rachael.gormley@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)