Unsurprisingly, the first month of 2018 was a busy one for hires and moves in wealth management. Among the big announcements were adjustments to the senior line-ups at UBS as it restructured its wealth arms across the world.

UK, Swiss and other European/international moves
WHIreland, the UK wealth management firm, appointed Paul Jones as chief operating officer. This is a newly-created role. Jones, is responsible for all aspects of WHIreland’s outsourced relationships and for the middle office and IT functions within the company. He reports to the chief executive, Richard Killingbeck. Jones was previously head of transformation and co-head of the London office at Brewin Dolphin, where he was also chief of staff and on the executive committee.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, appointed  Carmen Altenkirch as a sovereign analyst in its emerging market debt team. He is based in London and reports to Liam Spillane, head of emerging market debt. Altenkirch, who has over 10 years of experience in the sector, works closely with hard-currency fund managers Aaron Grehan and Michael McGill. She worked previously at AXA Investment Managers and Fitch Ratings.

JP Morgan Asset Management appointed Marie-Claire Bolton and Masami Takizawa as executive directors, global real estate client portfolio Mmanagement. Both were new positions. Bolton is based in London and reports to Pete Reilly, head of real estate Europe. Bolton joined from the JPMorgan Private Bank, where she was a senior investment advisor for the UK investment team and was responsible for business development and maintaining strategic client relationships

Takizawa is based in Tokyo and reports to Ben Aiken, head of real estate Asia-Pacific client portfolio management. Takizawa joined JP Morgan from UBS Asset Management, where she was co-head of real estate and private markets, Japan.

Emirates NBD appointed Miguel Rio Tinto as chief information officer to lead the group’s information technology division, and Evans Munyuki was appointed as chief digital officer to lead the group’s newly-established digital office. Rio Tinto joined Emirates NBD from McKinsey & Company’s Iberia office, where he was a partner responsible for major IT and digital transformations for financial institutions across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Before joining Emirates NBD, Munyuki was at Barclays Africa and IBM (USA and Africa). 

KKR, the global investment firm, appointed Jacques Veyrat as a senior advisor to support KKR’s investment activities in France. Veyrat manages his own company, Impala SAS, a diversified investment company with around €1 billion net asset value, active in energy, manufacturing, consumer brands, and asset management. 

Offshore law firm Carey Olsen continued the expansion of its finance practice in the Cayman Islands with the appointment of attorney Adam Bathgate as counsel. His experience includes working for Clifford Chance in Munich and London before moving to the Cayman Islands in 2010 to work at another offshore law firm. Associate Hannah Diss also joined Carey Olsen's Cayman Islands finance team, relocating from Dentons in the UK. She focuses on aviation leasing and finance, export credit finance and Islamic finance. 

UK-based Unicorn Asset Management, the independently-owned fund manager, appointed Alex Game and Max Ormiston to the role of assistant fund manager of the Unicorn UK Growth Fund and the Unicorn Outstanding British Companies Fund, respectively. Game works alongside the Unicorn UK Growth Fund lead manager, Fraser Mackersie. Ormiston supports director and senior fund manager, Chris Hutchinson. Both Game and Ormiston have been members of the Unicorn investment team since joining the firm in 2014. 

Global investment manager Schroders appointed Sir Damon Buffini to its board. Buffini spent over 25 years in private equity joining Schroder Ventures in 1988. He was managing partner of Permira from 1997 to 2007 before becoming chairman. After retiring in 2010, he remained a senior advisor until 2015. He is a governor of the Wellcome Trust, chairman of the National Theatre, senior independent director of the PGA Tour and was chairman of the Government's Patient Capital Review.

Savills Investment Management, the real estate-focused fund manager, announced a spread of appointments to its senior management team. Chairman and chief executive Justin O’Connor relocated to Hong Kong to also act as CEO of its Asia-Pacific operation. Nick Cooper, who joined in January last year as a senior advisor, was appointed deputy chairman with oversight of global investor services, focusing on client relationships. Giuseppe Oriani, who had been head of Italy,  became CEO of Savills IM’s European business, leading its 13 offices and 250 staff.

Harry de Ferry Foster, fund manager of the firm’s charities property fund, and Jon Crossfield, head of strategic partnerships in Europe, were named co-heads for the UK. Carolina von Groddeck, who in recent years oversaw the liquidation of the firm’s German SEB mutual funds, became head of Germany and is responsible for growing the business in this market.  

UBS Asset Management appointed Reto Ketterer as head of real estate for Europe excluding Switzerland. He is based in Zurich and is responsible for managing the firm’s real estate and private markets (REPM) platform. He reports to Thomas Wels, head of real estate and private markets at UBS Asset Management.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management recruited former Coutts, Barclays and UBS senior manager John Saunders as chief operating officer for its UK operation. Saunders was most recently managing director of the Western Europe and US businesses at Coutts, a post which he held since 2015. Before this, he spent five years at Barclays Wealth in both propositional and client-facing management roles, running the non UK domicile, court of protection, charities and financial and city professional teams. Additionally, Saunders previously worked at UBS Warburg where his roles included head of legal, and then deputy head, of UBS Wealth Management UK.

Joining the Deutsche Bank’s wealth arm in March, Saunders is based in London, reporting to Michael Morley, head of the private bank in the UK. 

Close Brothers’ group finance director Jonathan Howell stepped down from his role after a decade as he is leaving the company to “pursue the next stage of his career”. 

Swiss banking and financial services firm Mirabaud hired four people into its private banking group in the UK, including the former chief executive of the UK business of Banque Havilland, Oliver Selwyn. Selwyn was, before his stint at Banque Havilland, at Citi Private Bank and Barclays Wealth. Justyna Jackholt joined as an executive director from Barclays where she was a director, having previously worked at RBC. Ruzanna Alichubanova and Olivia Ellis joined as assistant directors from Barclays and Banque Havilland respectively.

HSBC Private Banking appointed Mark Winterflood as head of HSBC Private Banking Luxembourg, effective 5 February, subject to regulatory approval. He will join the executive committee of HSBC in Luxembourg. Winterflood replaced Anthony Simcic in the role. He reports to Franco Morra, chief executive of HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA and regional head global private banking Europe, international and MENA, and Lars Rejding, country CEO HSBC Luxembourg. He has 22 years of experience with HSBC, having held a variety of client-facing and senior roles within the group across the Middle East, Asia and Europe, most recently as HSBC Private Banking’s global head of pricing, based in the UK. Winterflood is responsible for the oversight, leadership and management of HSBC Private Banking in Luxembourg.

Charles Stanley appointed Ben Gilmore and Graham Austin as investment managers to its private client investment management team. They both joined from Kleinwort Hambros. Both were newly-created roles. Gilmore was an investment manager for Kleinwort Hambros for six years. Prior to that, he worked within asset management at BNY Mellon and private client investment management with JM Finn. Austin was a portfolio manager and more recently a private banker at Kleinwort Hambros, prior to which he worked for Deutsche Bank.

Fidelity International appointed of Hugh Prendergast as global head of product. In this newly-created role, Prendergast brings together and leads Fidelity’s product teams based around the world, reporting to Bart Grenier, global head of asset management. Prendergast has over 20 years’ experience in asset management and has spent the last 16 years at Pioneer Investments. His most recent role was as head of strategic product and marketing, where he led the product development and marketing functions for Europe, Latin America, US offshore and Asia.

RBS International appointed several new members to its funds banking team: Mike Lewis was appointed head of private equity and funds banking in London and, Jamie Mehmood was appointed as the new head of asset managers, infrastructure and debt funds and funds banking in London. The firm also appointed Emily Bradshaw as the new head of funds banking in Luxembourg, Seán O’Callaghan as head of private equity real estate and funds banking in Jersey, and Jean-Paul Peters as head of fund administration sector.

Hermes Investment Management appointed Amit Mehta as director and senior Asia analyst in its emerging markets team. Based in London, Mehta reports to Gary Greenberg, head of emerging markets. With a career spanning over 20 years, Mehta has experience in equity portfolio management and analysis, working for a number of leading firms including PIMCO, Pictet, Insight Investment, Morgan Stanley and KPMG.
UK financial planning firm Fairstone Group appointed Tom Taylor as chief risk officer. Taylor also joined the Fairstone Group board of directors. Taylor has almost 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. In his career, Taylor has held senior risk roles at Marsh, Ageas, KPMG and EY.

Financial services firm Smith & Williamson appointed Mark Swain as lead manager of the UK Equity Income Fund and Ian Kenny, head of fixed interest, as manager of the Fixed Interest Fund. Swain has over 15 years’ experience in UK equities and will remain a deputy on the Enterprise Fund and UK Equity Growth Fund. He succeeded Tineke Frikkee, who left Smith & Williamson to pursue other opportunities. Kenny is lead manager of the Short-Dated Corporate Bond Fund and worked at Smith & Williamson for his entire 21 year career. He succeeded John Anderson, who retired. 

Investment management firm RWC Partners appointed Geordie Barron to develop and grow its business in the intermediary market across the South of England. Barron joined from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he managed relationships throughout the UK, across both retail and wholesale operations. Barron reports to Gary Tuffield, RWC’s head of UK intermediary distribution.

Wealth management fintech firm JHC Systems hired Ron Tomlinson as head of solutions development. Tomlinson was formerly at Dion, where he was global head of development of wealth and post trade. He was responsible for all product development relating to wealth management clients. He reports to chief financial officer, Gareth Anderson.

UBS unveiled a raft of management changes. Martin Blessing and Tom Naratil, co-presidents of the combined business, set out membership of the global wealth management executive committee. Blessing is the head of the current wealth management unit, and Naratil is president of UBS Americas.

The management:
-- Wealth Management USA (WM USA) – Brian Hull (Hull continues to lead the wealth management business in the US and Canada, to be called Wealth Management USA.
-- Wealth Management EMEA (WM EMEA) – Christine Novakovic. Novakovic joined from her most recent role as head of corporate and institutional clients for P&C and region Switzerland. She leads the UBS wealth management business in EMEA.
-- Wealth Management APAC (WM APAC) – Edmund Koh. Koh continues to lead the UBS wealth management business in APAC. 
-- Wealth Management Switzerland (WM CH) – Anton Simonet; he continues to head up the wealth management business in Switzerland.
-- Wealth Management Latin America (WM LatAm) – Sylvia Coutinho. UBS said Coutinho leads the Latam business, to be combined into a single unit.
-- Ultra-high net worth – Joe Stadler. Stadler continues to lead that business; John Mathews will continue to lead Private Wealth Management and the UHNW segment in the US, reporting to Stadler and Brian Hull.
-- Investment Platforms and Solutions (IPS) – Jason Chandler and Christian Wiesendanger. They continue to lead this business area.
-- Global Chief Investment Office (CIO) – Mark Haefele. Mike Ryan continues to run CIO in the Americas, reporting to Haefele.
-- Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Reto Wangler. COO functions were combined under Wangler. Wangler joins from his current role as COO for P&C and Region Switzerland. Kathleen Lynch continues as COO for WM Americas, reporting to Wangler and, given the importance of the regulatory environment and front-to-back control agenda in the US, Lynch continues as COO for UBS Americas, reporting to Naratil.
-- Client Strategy Officer – Paula Polito.
-- Chiefs of Staff – Barbara Hofkamp and Kate Newcomb. They act as chiefs of sStaff for GWM/
-- Chief Risk Officer – Damian Vogel. UBS said it combines risk functions under Vogel, who is currently CRO for P&C and Region Switzerland. Ralph Schoenrock continues as CRO WM Americas, reporting to Bill Glass, Combined US Operations (CUSO) CRO. 
-- General Counsel – Maria Leistner. She expanded her role as WM General Counsel to become the GWM General Counsel. Michael Crowl remained as General Counsel for the Americas, reporting to Markus Diethelm.
-- Chief Financial Officer – Markus Habbel. Finance teams supporting WM and WMA were combined and led by Habbel, who is CFO for WM. Mike McGovern took on a new role within WM USA. 
Head of Human Resources – Dana Ritzcovan. Ritzcovan, head of of HR for WMA and the Americas, will take on this expanded role for GWM. Donna Burns assumed a new role within HR.
-- Chief Communications Officer – Marsha Askins. She represents communications on the executive committee. Rich Morton will deputise for Askins for the executive committee.
-- UBS said that changes meant it discussed opportunities for two senior managers: Paul Raphael (head of EEM UBS Wealth Management) and Dirk Klee COO, UBS WM). Shailesh Shah, chief risk officer for UBS WM retired from the bank.

Standard Chartered Private Bank appointed Philip Harvey to its wealth intermediaries team that serves clients in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. He is based in Jersey. Harvey previously worked at Deutsche Bank International where he was team head of financial intermediaries for Jersey. Prior to this, Harvey spent 12 years at ABN AMRO Bank, progressing from senior relationship manager to commercial head of private banking. Kenny Sillars also joined the wealth intermediaries team as associate director. Sillars has more than 18 years’ experience in the finance industry, having worked with RSBI and Barclays in corporate banking, before moving into the fiduciary team.

Seneca Investment Managers, the Liverpool based multi-asset value investment house, made three new hires across the firm. The appointments were Dawn Morris, marketing manager, Darron Pace, compliance manager and Danielle Tully, investment administrator. Morris joined from Universities Superannuation Scheme and has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications, with brands including M&S Bank. Pace has over 11 years’ experience in compliance roles within financial services, joining Seneca Investment Managers from SL Investment Management and Tully joined from a middle office position at Pershing where she worked for over six years.

Crestbridge, a provider of administration, management and corporate governance services, appointed senior industry figures Tony Hind and Keith Mallet as directors for its family offices team in Jersey. Hind has more than 20 years of experience in the global private client, banking and trust industry. He previously worked at HSBC for 16 years, and most recently held the position of director with responsibility for Middle East and family office teams. He has particular experience dealing with wealth planning structures for luxury family assets as well as more traditional asset classes. In 2004, Hind became a qualified registered trust and estate practitioner with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. 

Mallet also has more than 20 years’ experience of working in international financial services, having started working in the trust tax group at Abacus Financial Services in 1994 before moving to one of the ‘big four’ firms. He was most recently director and head of trust and client relationships in the corporate employee and executive services team at RBC, based in Jersey. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Thesis Asset Management said Kate Nathoo and John Devine have decided to depart the company’s Guildford office. Both Nathoo and Devine worked for a number of years as investment managers at Thesis, helping the company to develop its client and advisor relationships.

The partners and staff of law firm Couchmans joined London-based Charles Russell Speechlys, as they combined their sports law offerings. Couchmans has been involved in sports law for nearly two decades. Its 11-strong team advises clients operating in the sports, media, technology and lifestyle sectors around the world. It was founded in 2001 by Nic Couchman, who became head of sport at Charles Russell Speechlys.

Coutts appointed Paul Fletcher as head of marketing and colleague communications for private banking. Fletcher sits on the private banking executive committee. He joined Coutts from London & Capital, where he was a partner and board director. Previous to this, Fletcher spent four years in private equity, initially in a marketing and communications role before moving into global fundraising and investor relations. Fletcher has previously held senior marketing and communications positions at UBS Investment Bank, where he was head of fixed income marketing, and Deutsche Bank, where he was global head of marketing for the equities business.

Guernsey-based specialist independent trust company Trust Corporation International appointed Ken Bradley as non-executive director. Most recently, Bradley was chief country officer, Guernsey, and head of fiduciaries strategy at Barclays’ Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man and London businesses. He was previously director of corporate and institutional banking at RBS International in Guernsey.

Investment specialist René Morgenthaler joined Banque Bonhôte & Cie in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, as head of discretionary management for private and institutional clients. Boasting more than 30 years’ experience in the field of wealth management, Morgenthaler took over as head of discretionary management at Banque Bonhôte. Formerly chief investment officer at Royal Bank of Canada in Geneva, he began his career as a currency trader and then as head of securities dealing at Merrill Lynch Bank Suisse SA, also in Geneva. He has broad-based expertise in all the asset classes and has headed wealth management teams in a number of financial institutions.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management appointed Raffaello Nemni as head of UK client advisors. Nemni was most recently head of the ultra-high net worth operation at HSBC Private Bank in London. He was previously head of the resident non-domiciled client group at Credit Suisse from 2008 to 2014, and was a senior practitioner at UBS between 2002 and 2007. He reports to Michael Morley, head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in the UK.

Amati Global Investors appointed Anna Wilson, (previously Anna Croze), who specialises in UK equities, to its investment team. Wilson joined the investment team at Amati, which consists of Paul Jourdan, David Stevenson and Douglas Lawson. In conjunction to this new hire, Lawson moved to a part-time role at Amati. She joined from Adam & Company, where she led research for the wealth manager. Previously, Wilson worked for Threadneedle Investments and Henderson Global Investors.

Anderson Strathern Asset Management, the wealth management arm of Scottish legal firm Anderson Strathern, appointed three members to its team. Fiona Gillespie joined ASAM as a senior investment manager from Aberdeen Asset Management (now Standard Life Aberdeen). Phillip Ross joined ASAM as a senior investment manager, also from Aberdeen Asset Management. Nick Paul joined ASAM as a chartered wealth manager from Tcam Asset Management.

Julius Baer International in London appointed former Barclays senior manager Calum Brewster as to head up its UK regional offices business. Brewster, based in Edinburgh, initially lead a team of 20 people. Having joined the firm at the end of 2017, Brewster sits on the executive committee of Julius Baer International. He reports to David Durlacher, chief executive of Julius Baer International.

Namara Wealth Advisors, a multi-family office located in Dubai and Singapore, appointed Gary Dugan as chief investment officer, the latest role for a man who has held senior investment positions at JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Coutts. Dugan is based in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Among his previous roles, he has been a chief investment officer at Emirates NBD and National Bank of Dubai.

UBS Wealth Management appointed Claudia Gasser as head of wealth management Switzerland. Gasser replaced Fabian Stirnemann, who has been in charge of wealth management in the Zurich region since September 2017. She joined UBS in 1998 as an advisor client assistant. Since then, Gasser has held numerous roles at the firm including market head for the UK and the Netherlands, and most recently, head of business management Europe international.

Law firm Mishcon de Reya appointed Tim Field as head of equity capital markets. Field has advised a range of clients including investment banks, financial advisers, brokers, stock exchanges, regulators for over 20 years on matters such as initial public offerings (IPO), takeovers and securities law. He was head of Addleshaw Goddard’s own equity capital markets practice, and has recent experience of advising on the IPO of payment technology company SafeCharge. Before Addleshaw Goddard, Field had acted as head of the Middle East offices of Simmons & Simmons between 2009 and 2012.

Grant Thornton has appointed David Cartwright as senior consultant, information security, heading a team providing services to client in the Channel Islands. Cartwright holds CISSP and ISO 27001 auditor qualifications and has a long history in IT, telecoms and information security. He has worked in the Channel Islands for over 10 years, has written extensively in the IT press and has been a judge of the UK Cloud Awards since their inception in 2014. He is chairman of the Jersey branch of the British Computer Society, and vice chairman of the Channel Islands Information Security Forum.

Withers appointed eight new partners from its US and London offices. The new partners: James Dougherty, based in Greenwich, advises on estate planning and administration, probate matters and litigation arising from trust and estate succession issues; Lian Fang, based in New York, advises on wealth planning matters, often working with multi-generational families to assist them with transferring their wealth to younger generations.  Lian frequently works with Asian clients, including advising on preparation for investing in or moving to the US; Eva Farkas-DiNardo, based in New York, advises clients on personal and business tax planning across their international interests, including pre-immigration planning for those moving to the US, as well as voluntary disclosure and audits in relation to tax; Theda Fisher, based in New York, provides corporate immigration advice to a wide range of US and foreign businesses, and personal immigration advice to successful people; Elliot Galler, based in New York, advises US domestic and multi-national businesses and high net worth individuals on the tax implications of investing in the US and abroad, as well as providing tax advice on M&A transactions; Stephen Nerland, based in London, advises US nationals based in the UK on their US tax and estate planning, as well as advising non-US individuals on tax planning ahead of moving to the US. Nerland also advises on US tax compliance and disclosure programmes; Jaime McLemore, based in London, advises US nationals based in the UK on their US tax and estate planning and compliance, as well as advising both individuals and organisations on charitable giving; Vasiliki Yiannoulis, based in New York, advises individuals and corporate investors on commercial real estate projects, including advice on debt financing and other lending transactions.

Frederic Mege, a dual-qualified French and English private client lawyer, joined Moores Rowland, a law firm based in Monaco. A member of the Paris Bar Association, the Institut des Avocats Conseils Fiscaux (IACF), the Law Society (England & Wales) and the Society for Tax and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Mege has advised international private clients on personal tax and other legal issues. 

Credit Suisse appointed Björn Jesch to take the role of head of investment solutions and products (IS&P) investment management, taking over from José Antonio Blanco, who led the team over the past four years. Jesch reports to global chief investment officer, Michael Strobaek. Jesch previously worked at Union Investment, a Frankfurt-based asset manager, where he served as CIO and head of fund management. Prior to that, he spent six years at Deutsche Bank, where he served as CIO and head of portfolio management of private wealth management, and was a member of the executive board of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.

HSBC Private Banking named Alan Beattie as its new global head of Private Wealth Solutions, its trust and fiduciary services arm that is seen as an important business amid inter-generational wealth transfer taking place. Beattie replaced Chris Marquis, who left to pursue opportunities outside of the bank. Beattie’s appointment meant he is in charge of the PWS business globally. He reports to Peter Boyles, chief executive of HSBC Private Banking. Based in Hong Kong, Beattie has 25 years of experience with HSBC, having held several senior roles such as regional head of commercial banking for Latin America, and that of deputy CEO for HSBC Europe. Most recently, he has worked in the venture capital industry in Sydney, Australia, and was chief funding advisor at Capital Pitch.

JP Morgan Asset Management made three new appointments to its exchange-traded fund business. Olivier Paquier was appointed head of continental Europe ETF distribution. He joined from State Street Global Advisors, where he managed the ETF distribution team across Southern Europe and led SSGA’s French office. He is responsible for overseeing and driving the ETF distribution effort across Europe (ex UK). He is based in London. 

Ivan Durdevic was appointed head of ETF distribution Switzerland. He joined from Amundi, where he was deputy head of ETF and indexing sales in Switzerland. At JPMAM, Durdevic leads the ETF distribution effort in Switzerland, based in Zurich. John Harrington was appointed head of beta and ETF product. He joined from Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for both new product development and maintaining their existing range of ETFs. At JPMAM, Harrington is responsible for product, including ETFs, for JPMAM’s beta strategies business. He is based in London.

Wealth management firm Cazenove Capital was appointed Jeremy Males and Hugo Studholme as portfolio directors. Both Males and Studholme joined the firm from Millbank Investment Managers, where they were both portfolio managers.

Fidelity International appointed Michael Gibb to the newly-created role of head of stewardship and sustainable investing. Gibb oversees Fidelity’s strategy and policies on engagement, voting and environmental, social, governance integration across its active product range. He reports to Paras Anand, chief investment officer of equities, Europe. Prior to Fidelity, Gibb worked at Martin Currie Investment Management, Credit Suisse and Gartmore Investment Managers.

Smith & Williamson, the financial and professional services group, appointed Andrew Fisher to its board as a non-executive director. Fisher has extensive executive and non-executive experience in the financial services and wealth management sectors, having served as chief executive of Towry Group and Coutts, and, more recently, as a non-executive director of private bank C Hoare & Co. He succeeded Bob Bogart, who retired as a non-executive director of Smith & Williamson in 2017.

Saxo Bank appointed Damian Bunce as chief client officer (CCO), effective from February 19th 2018. He joined Saxo’s executive team and reports directly to Kim Fournais, founder and chief executive. Bunce took on some of the responsibilities left by Matteo Cassina following his departure last year and alongside this, Andrew Edwards also has Cassina’s responsibility as CEO in UK. 

Vontobel Asset Management appointed Thierry Larose to its bond team, specialising in local currency bonds. Larose has nearly three decades of industry experience. He joined from Degroof Petercam Asset Management in Brussels, where he was portfolio manager of the Emerging Market Sustainable Bonds fund.

Seven Investment Management appointed Sam Lansdowne as a relationship manager to its operation in the South West of England. Lansdowne joined from Thesis Asset Management, where he was previously an investment manager.

Independent private equity firm Abris Capital Partners, which has offices in Cyprus, Poland and Romania, promoted Paweł Gieryński to the position of managing partner. Chief investment officer at Abris, Gieryński joined the firm at its inception in 2007 as partner.

Avaloq set out a range of hires in recent weeks. It brought three new members to its group executive board. Chris Beukers was named regional manager for Asia-Pacific, Tobias Unger was appointed regional manager for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Brian Hurdis was made chief service delivery officer. 

BNP Paribas Asset Management appointed Matthieu Lucchesi to the newly created role of head of public affairs. Based in Paris, Lucchesi reports to Philippe Ditisheim, head of regulatory affairs, governance and coordination of group functions. He started his career in 2011 as a lawyer in New York at Sullivan & Cromwell before joining the French regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), in 2012.  Since September 2016, he has been director of the AMF’s asset management regulatory division. 

Royal London Asset Management appointed Cathy Gibson as head of dealing, a newly-created role. She reports to chief investment officer, Piers Hillier. Prior to RLAM, Gibson was at Deutsche Asset Management, where she was most recently head of fixed income trading in its UK asset management team. She also has significant experience across a range of asset classes, from her time at Pioneer Investment Management, Bank of Ireland and KBC Asset Management.

Highvern Fund Administrators, Jersey’s new independent boutique fund services business, appointed James Bryant and Ken Ritchie as head of operations and head of accounting, respectively. Bryant spent more than nine years with Link Asset Services in Jersey. His career began in 2003 as a manager at PwC Channel Islands. Ritchie also joined from Link Asset Services.

Blackburn-headquartered PM+M, the chartered accountancy, business advisory and wealth management group, made two senior appointments. The firm appointed Wendy Anderson as tax director and Terri Green as marketing and business development manager. Anderson divides her time between the firm’s Blackburn and Bury offices. 

India-based Waterfield Advisors took on a raft of senior figures over the past three months as it builds out its family office business. Recent senior hires included those of Kartik Kini, chief operating officer (previously at Avendus, Deutsche Bank and DSP Merrill Lynch); Gautami Shah, vice president, investment solutions – listed assets (previously AXIS AMC, Crisil); Deshan Tucker, assistant vice president, private equity (previously Avendus, EValuserve, Grant Thornton); Puja Shah, VP, relationship management (previously Deutsche Bank, ICICI Prudential, HDFC Bank); Tanvi Savla, VP, relationship management (previously DSP Merrill Lynch, Kotak); Sahil Grover, VP, relationship management (previously Avendus, Citibank).

Other additions were Apali Acharya, AVP, relationship management (previously Credence, EntrustFamily Office); Irshaad Kadwani, executive director, relationship management (previously Jardine Fleming, Merrill Lynch and Julius Baer); Niharika Bakliwal, manager, relationship management (Avendus, Tresvista), Saket Kamble, manager, client services (previously BNP Paribas, Credence, Alchemy) and Pankaj Sharma, manager, client services (previously working at Tata AMC, Standard Chartered AMC).

Kleinwort Hambros named John Maitland as its new chief executive, taking the reins from Eric Barnett when the latter was to retire in July this year. Maitland was commercial director at the bank. Barnett remains chairman of the Kleinwort Hambros entities in the Channel Islands and a member of the Kleinwort Hambros board. Separately, Gabrielle Branson and Mouhammed Choukeir, respectively secretary general and chief investment officer and co-head of wealth management solutions, were appointed deputy CEOs of Kleinwort Hambros. Also, Paul Kearney, head of UK Private Banking, was appointed commercial director, replacing Maitland.

EFG International appointed Christian Flemming as its new chief operating officer and a member of its executive committee. He took over from Mark Bagnall, who held the COO role since January 2011. Bagnall became chief technology officer, while Peter Fischer stepped down as head of strategy. Flemming reports to Giorgio Pradelli, chief executive. Previously, Flemming was head of finance at Banco BTG Pactual and before that, chief operating officer at BSI, the bank that was subsequently acquired by EFG. Before joining BTG Pactual, Flemming worked in investment banking for Pátria Banco de Negócios and as a consultant at Stern Stewart & Co in São Paulo.

Liontrust Asset Management appointed Donald Phillips, David Roberts and Phil Milburn to its global fixed income team. Phillips joined from Bailie Gifford. Both Roberts and Milburn joined from Kames Capital.
Baillie Gifford appointed Lesley Dunn as co-manager of the Baillie Gifford Corporate Bond Fund and Lucy Isles as co-manager of the Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond Fund. Dunn joined Torcail Stewart and Stephen Rodger as a co-manager on the Corporate Bond Fund. She is an investment manager in the high yield team, having joined Baillie Gifford from Aberdeen Asset Management in 2016. Isles works alongside Robert Baltzer in co-managing the High Yield Bond Fund. She joined Baillie Gifford as a graduate from the University of St Andrews in 2012 and became an investment manager in the high yield team in 2015.

Offshore law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman named Paul Naylor as its new chief operating officer, taking over from Stephen DeSilva, who retired after more than 25 years with the firm. Prior to joining Conyers, Naylor worked at Linklaters for over 10 years, most recently as business manager for its global dispute resolution division and COO for its India practice.

Cécile Civiale Vuillier, an experienced practitioner in the trusts and estates industry, was appointed as senior wealth planner and trust expert at Geneva-based Generations Cornerstone. Cécile Civiale Vuillier has worked with a range of firms in the sector. Prior to moving to Geneva she worked in the UK and France before relocating to Switzerland to head up a trust company. She is also a  member of several bodies including The International Tax Planning Association, and the Association of International Business Lawyers. She is currently co-chairwoman of the STEP Swiss & Liechtenstein Federation and has qualifications in company law and practice, international trust management, trust administration and accounts, and trust creation. Among other roles, Cécile Civiale Vuillier is a judge for this publication's Switzerland wealth management awards.

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) appointed Maggie Lindsay as president of the CISI Scotland branch. Lindsay has five years’ experience on the CISI Scottish Regional committee and more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services sector.

South Africa-based Carrick Wealth Management appointed Greg Stockton to head up all its international offices – Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, and Mauritius – following his promotion to its board of directors. Stockton entered the financial services sector in 2003 in a business development role, progressing to other roles as a senior financial advisor, senior manager and regional manager. In 2014, he moved to Cape Town, and three years later joined Carrick.

Dr Mark Mobius, a man whose name has become identified with the world of emerging market investing, retired from Franklin Templeton Investments, ending a career of more than 30 years with that company. A portfolio manager on the UK closed-end fund - Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust, Dr Mobius announced his retirement. The fund continues to be managed by lead portfolio manager Carlos Hardenberg and deputy portfolio manager Chetan Sehgal.

UK-based law firm Sherrards appointed Caroline Vernon as partner of its private residential real estate team. Vernon has over 15 years’ experience of banking, mixed use developments, portfolio sales and purchases, and working with ultra-high net worth clients. She was most recently at CMS Cameron McKenna. 

Financial services firm Smith & Williamson appointed Andrew Fisher as a non-executive director. Fisher stepped down as a director at UK private bank C Hoare & Co. Prior to joining C Hoare, he was chief executive of Towry for eight years until he stepped down in April 2014.

Fidelity International appointed Bart Grenier as global head of asset management, a newly-created role at the firm. Grenier reports to Brian Conroy, president at Fidelity International. In the new role, Grenier is responsible for Fidelity’s investment management business across all major asset classes including equities, fixed income, multi asset and real estate. The respective global chief investment officers for these areas report to him. He joins from Fidelity Investments, where he held the role of head of investment solutions and innovation. He was previously chairman, chief executive and CIO at The Boston Company Asset Management, and was also CIO and managing director of DB Advisors at Deustche Asset Management.

Hawksmoor Investment Management appointed James Brent as non-executive director. Brent is an entrepreneur based in the South West. Previously, he spent 25 years with Schroders, progressing from being the bank’s youngest ever director to Citigroup’s global head and chairman of real estate and lodging. He holds a number of public sector roles, including chairman of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. In addition he is the owner and chairman of Plymouth Argyle Football Club.

HSBC Private Banking expanded its high net worth operation within the UK. The firm appointed Sam Ward as a senior relationship manager, Dean Stewart as a relationship manager for the Midlands region, and Mike Middleton as a strategic financial planner for the North and Scotland. Ward joined from RBC Wealth Management and has 27 years of international wealth management experience. Stewart joined from Coutts, where he gained nearly 20 years’ experience in private banking. Middleton is a chartered financial planner, who has previously held client-facing roles at Barclays Private Banking and Lloyds Private Bank.

Smith & Williamson appointed Nick Murphy as head of charities for its investment management and banking division. Murphy joined Smith & Williamson as a partner in the investment management team in 2012. In his new role, he works with investment managers within the group to raise the firm’s profile within the charity sector.

UK law firm Lodders appointed Paul Mourton as its new managing partner. Mourton has been head of its real estate team since 2015, and has also been the firm’s partner in charge of its Cheltenham office since it opened in 2013. He joined Lodders in June 2008 from national firm Charles Russell, which also has offices in the town.

London law firm Druces appointed new tax partner Paul White. White is a business and property tax lawyer with over 25 years’ experience. He has extensive tax planning, transactional and advisory expertise, particularly in UK and cross-border M&A, finance, property and corporate transactions. Prior to Druces, White trained in business taxation with Wilde Sapte (now Dentons), becoming a partner in 1996 before moving to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in 2003. From there, he moved to Chadbourne & Parke in 2010.

Penningtons Manches, the law firm, added three new lawyers in the South of the UK. Associate Rachel Spruce joined the firm’s Guilford office from GRM Law. She advises on a range of private client matters including will drafting, estate planning, lasting powers of attorney, probate and lifetime trusts. The group’s probate and trusts disputes team in Basingstoke named associates Jack Bailey and Jessica Davies. Bailey joined from Blandy & Blandy with “significant experience” in court of protection matters and mental capacity law.

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Asia-Pacific
JP Morgan Asset Management appointed Marie-Claire Bolton and Masami Takizawa as executive directors, global real estate client portfolio Mmanagement. Both were new positions.

Bolton is based in London and reports to Pete Reilly, head of real estate Europe. Bolton joined from the JPMorgan Private Bank, where she was a senior investment advisor for the UK investment team and was responsible for business development and maintaining strategic client relationships. Takizawa is based in Tokyo and reports to Ben Aiken, head of real estate Asia-Pacific client portfolio management. Takizawa joined from UBS Asset Management, where she was co-head of real estate and private markets, Japan.

Vontobel Investment Banking appointed Long Lee as head of financial products for Asia, which the firm said is part of further planned growth of its business in Asia-Pacific. Lee previously was CEO of Leonteq Securities Hong Kong. He si responsible for Vontobel’s entire structured products business in Asia-Pacific with a focus on Hong Kong and Singapore. Lee is based in Hong Kong.

After obtaining degrees in Economics and Statistics from Berkeley and Harvard, he began his career in 2000 as Trader in Hong Kong at Bank of China International and BBVA, among other institutions. In mid-2010, Lee joined Leonteq Securities Hong Kong, where he held positions including Head of Trading Asia before being appointed CEO in 2014.

J Safra Sarasin named Vinay Gandhi as chief executive of its Singapore operation, effective immediately, as the bank adds 25 new relationship managers. Based in Singapore, Gandhi, who joined the bank in March last year, continues to report to Enid Yip, Asia CEO. The ultra-high net worth division in Asia continues to report to him.

Financial services firm Chubb appointed Edward Ler as the new country president for its general insurance business in Korea. Ler replaced Edward Kopp, who was recently appointed as the new country president for Chubb's general insurance business in Thailand. He joined Chubb in 2013 as senior vice president and regional head of personal lines, which includes oversight for motor, residential, high net worth and specialty personal lines. Ler continues to report to Paul McNamee, Chubb's regional president for Asia-Pacific. The firm appointed Soledad Mune, who succeeded Ler as the new Asia-Pacific head of personal lines.

Presently chief underwriting officer, personal insurance for Chubb overseas general, Muné is responsible for ensuring the continued profitability of the company's international auto and residential insurance portfolios. 

Zurich-based additiv, a provider of digitalisation solutions to the financial services industry, hired Adrian Weiss, regional head wealth management advisory APAC and EMEA at Citibank. Weiss leads a team of sales, channel and product managers to grow the market in the South East and North Asia, with a focus on additiv's "Digital Finance-as-a-Service" offering, including digital cloud-based wealth management solutions as robo-advisor as a service. He is based on Singapore.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management appointed Aleksandar Pfajfer as managing director and head of lending and deposits Asia-Pacific, and Tony Tan as director and head of strategic lending Asia. Based in Hong Kong, Pfajfer reports to Balaji Prasanna, global head of lending and deposits and Lok Yim, head of APAC. He was previously head of banking and lending at Credit Suisse. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and has worked in London, Zurich, New York and Hong Kong. Tan reports to Mitch Matharu, global head of strategic lending; and head of lending Southeast Asia and South Asia. He is based in Singapore. He joined from Nomura Investment Banking, where he ran its Principal Finance Group covering Asia including Australia. Tan previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

Financial services firm Ping An appointed Donald Lacey Jr. and Dr. Marco Huesch as managing Director and chief operating officer, and managing director and chief medical officer, of the Ping An Global Voyager Fund and Ping An's group innovation office, respectively. Lacey and Huesch joined the team led by Jonathan Larsen, the chief innovation officer of the group and chairman and chief executive of the fund, to identify global fintech and healthtech opportunities. Lacey joined from Citigroup's corporate and investment banking division, where he worked as a managing director in a variety of senior roles across Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining the fund, Huesch was a vice chair of research and an associate professor at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in the US.

Savills Investment Management, the real estate-focused fund manager, made a spread of appointments to its senior management team. Chairman and chief executive Justin O’Connor relocated to Hong Kong “to drive growth in the region” where he also acts as CEO of its Asia-Pacific operation. Nick Cooper, who joined in January last year as a senior advisor, was appointed deputy chairman with oversight of global investor services, focusing on client relationships.

Giuseppe Oriani, current head of Italy, became CEO of Savills IM’s European business, leading its 13 offices and 250 staff. Harry de Ferry Foster, fund manager of the firm’s charities property fund, and Jon Crossfield, head of strategic partnerships in Europe, were made co-heads for the UK. Carolina von Groddeck, who in recent years has overseen the liquidation of the firm’s German SEB mutual funds, became head of Germany and will be responsible for growing the business in this market.  

Carolina von Groddeck, who in recent years has overseen the liquidation of the firm’s German SEB mutual funds, becomes head of Germany and will be responsible for growing the business in this market.  
Deutsche Bank Wealth Management hired three new managing directors in Asia, based in Singapore and covering the Non-Resident Indian market in the Southeast Asia region. Rasik Ahuja joined the German firm from Union Bancaire Privée, where he had been desk head – NRI & South Asia since 2014. Sagar Sapra came from Standard Chartered Bank where he was principal director since 2011. And Swapnil Mishra previously worked at BSI Bank where he was deputy head of GSA Business for eight years. 

Investment firm Fidelity International appointed of Hugh Prendergast as global head of product. In this newly created role, Prendergast brings together and lead Fidelity’s product teams based around the world and will be responsible for continuing to develop its global product strategy. He reports into Bart Grenier, global head of asset management. Prendergast has over 20 years’ experience in asset management and has spent the last 16 years at Pioneer Investments. His most recent role was as head of strategic product and marketing, where he led the product development and marketing functions for Europe, Latin America, US offshore and Asia. 

Eastspring Investments appointed Colin Graham as chief investment officer for its multi-asset solutions business. Graham reports to Virginie Maisonneuve, CIO for Eastspring. He has more than 25 years of asset management experience, predominantly in global and Asian multi asset solutions. Most recently he served as CIO, multi asset solutions for BNP Paribas Investment Partners in London. 

St James’s Place Wealth Management Asia, the international business of UK-listed St James’s Place, appointed Gary Harvey as its chief executive, taking the reins from Nigel Preston, who returned to the UK having led the Singapore business since 2015.

Harvey most recently was CEO at Nexus Financial Services, a role he held from 2015. He has worked in the financial services sector for almost 30 years, including operational and strategic experience at CEO level. Harvey, a Singapore citizen, has over 20 years of experience in Asia and has been based in Singapore for the last 15 years. Previously, Harvey had an 18-year stint at AXA, including holding the position of CEO at AXA Life Singapore. He was also regional CEO at IPAC Wealth Management Asia. Harvey also worked for the Singapore Branch of Transamerica Life (Bermuda) prior to joining Nexus.

Law firm Rawlinson & Hunter Singapore appointed Katharine Haggie as a tax manager, transferring from the firm’s offices in London where she was part of the managerial team of the business tax department. Haggie has more than ten years’ experience covering private client tax, all aspects of the taxation of companies and accounting and compliance for corporates with a UK presence.  She also took over as manager of the tax team in Singapore.

Financial services firm Chubb appointed two new hires to its personal lines insurance operation in Singapore, which has just set up a new division comprising of personal risk services. It appointed Bernard Tan as division head of personal lines, and Regina Baxter as manager of PRS and regional fine arts specialist. Tan reports to Adam Clifford, country president for Chubb in Singapore. Tan has been at the firm for more than 10 years. Most recently, he was responsible for the management and expansion of Chubb's high net worth insurance.  In his new role, Tan will manage and drive the strategic growth of Chubb's personal lines portfolio across multiple distribution channels. 

Baxter reports to Tan. Baxter joined Chubb in 2011 as an underwriter, and in 2016, she was appointed as the region’s fine arts specialist. In her new role, Baxter is responsible for the management and profitability of the PRS portfolio, including all underwriting and market-facing functions.

James Hambro & Partners recruited Asia specialist Camilla Cecil in Hong Kong. She was previously deputy fund manager of the Ruffer Pacific fund. She moves from Hong Kong to London. Cecil spent six years at Ruffer, the last two of which involved working with the firm’s Head of Asia in Hong Kong. She made regular company visits across the region. Her appointment follows JH&P’s recruitment last year of the US and global equity specialist, William Francklin. 

Standard Chartered appointed Bob Fabrizio as its head of production stability and resilience for retail, private banking and wealth management in its technology services business. Fabrizio is responsible for production support services. He previously spent just under two years as Singapore-based DBS’s head of platform support for consumer banking group technology. 

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group appointed Wanlin Liu to its private equity team as a managing director and will lead the team’s growth investments in China. She is based in Shanghai. Prior to joining Carlyle, Liu was a managing director of the principal investment area (PIA) of Goldman Sachs in Asia.

Credit Suisse appointed Björn Jesch to take the role of head of investment solutions and products (IS&P) investment management, taking over from José Antonio Blanco, who led the team over the past four years. Jesch reports to global chief investment officer, Michael Strobaek. Until April 1, Blanco continued to be responsible for IS&P Investment Management. 

Jesch previously worked at Union Investment, a Frankfurt-based asset manager, where he served as CIO and head of fund management. Prior to that, he spent six years at Deutsche Bank, where he served as CIO and head of portfolio management of private wealth management, and was a member of the executive board of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.

Schroders appointed Reginald Tan as head of multi-asset product, Southeast Asia and he is based in Singapore. Tan previously worked at Amundi Singapore, where he was director, head of multi-asset strategies for South Asia. Before this role, he held senior posts at First State Investments, Mercury Asset Management, Koeneman Capital Management and Barclays Global Investors. Tan reports to Garth Taljard, who is head of multi-asset management. 

Hermes Investment Management appointed Lin Chew to its Asia-Pacific business development team as a director. She reports to Jakob Nilsson, head of business development, APAC. Based in Singapore, Lin is responsible for managing engagement with the company’s clients and prospects across the region as it continues to grow its local footprint. Lin’s focus will include providing analysis and insight into Asian markets, helping raise third party assets and delivering on new business targets. Lin was most recently at Winton Capital Asia, where she helped manage and develop the strategic growth of the business in the region. She has also held roles at Standard Chartered Bank, Lehman Brothers, Citibank and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

BNY Mellon Investment Management appointed Phoebe Ao Ieong as head of intermediary distribution, Greater China. She is responsible for growing relationships with third party distributors and private banks in Greater China. She will focus on providing clients access to BNY Mellon’s suite of investment managers across every major asset class including equities, fixed income, private debt and private equity. She is based in Hong Kong, reporting to Nicolas Kopitsis, head of intermediary distribution, Asia-Pacific ex-Japan. Phoebe Ao Ieong has over 10 years’ experience in private banking, wealth management and asset management industries. She most recently spent two years at Asian fixed income manager Income Partners, Hong Kong as director, head of private bank and retail bank distribution.

Tata Asset Management appointed Prathit Bhobe as its new chief executive and managing director. Prior to this move, he was senior general manager at ICICI Bank and heads the retail liabilities product, wealth management and private banking business. Bhobe has been with ICICI Bank for more than 11 years. Before this, he worked at Citibank for eight years.

Executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles announced a new regional leader for Asia-Pacific, Stephen McAlinden, taking over from Steve Mullinjer, who pursues client work for the chief executive and board practice globally. McAlinden leads 14 offices across Asia-Pacific while continuing his client work as a partner focusing on corporate and investment banking. McCrindle steps into the role as partner-in-charge of the Hong Kong office while continuing to serve as partner in the Financial Services Practice. McAlinden has served as partner-in-charge of the firm's Hong Kong office and as a core member of the financial service practice, focusing on Asian corporate and investment banking and markets. He has more than 25 years' experience in leadership search. He joined Heidrick & Struggles eight years ago and has placed executives across senior management within investment banks, securities firms, asset management companies, commercial banks and other financial institutions.

Avaloq set out the range of hires it has made in recent weeks. The firm brought three new members to its group executive board. Chris Beukers was named regional manager for Asia-Pacific, Tobias Unger was appointed regional manager for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Brian Hurdis was made chief service delivery officer. As previously stated, Peter Scott decided to leave the company, having worked at Avaloq since 2013. He was involved in setting up the Singapore service centre, creating three new regional offices in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong and forging deals with customers including Maybank, Deutsche Bank, Citic, Bank of Asia and Crestone.  He remains in Singapore.

Vontobel Asset Management appointed Andreas Faeste as senior institutional relationship manager for its business in Australia and New Zealand. Faeste focuses on distributing Vontobel’s fixed income capabilities. With more than 20 years of experience in the Australian market, particularly in fixed income, Faeste previously was engaged by firms including Voya Investment Management, Perennial Investment Partners and Deutsche Asset Management through his own marketing firm. Prior to this, he held executive management positions at both ING Investment Management and IAG Asset Management.

The vice chairman and non-executive director of the board of China Merchants Bank resigned for work reasons, leaving the bank’s board and as a member of the strategy committee. Xiaopeng confirmed that he has no disagreement with the board of directors, and there is no matter that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders and creditors of the company. He served as a non-executive director of CMB since November 2014 and as the vice chairman since November 2015. The firm has not stated if anyone will replace Xiaopeng on the board. 

India-based Waterfield Advisors, took on a raft of senior figures over the past three months as it builds out its family office business. Recent senior hires included those of Kartik Kini, chief operating officer (previously at Avendus, Deutsche Bank and DSP Merrill Lynch); Gautami Shah, vice president, investment solutions – listed assets (previously AXIS AMC, Crisil); Deshan Tucker, assistant vice president, private equity (previously Avendus, EValuserve, Grant Thornton); Puja Shah, VP, relationship management (previously Deutsche Bank, ICICI Prudential, HDFC Bank); Tanvi Savla, VP, relationship management (previously DSP Merrill Lynch, Kotak); Sahil Grover, VP, relationship management (previously Avendus, Citibank).

Other additions were Apali Acharya, AVP, relationship management (previously Credence, EntrustFamily Office); Irshaad Kadwani, executive director, relationship management (previously Jardine Fleming, Merrill Lynch and Julius Baer); Niharika Bakliwal, manager, relationship management (Avendus, Tresvista), Saket Kamble, manager, client services (previously BNP Paribas, Credence, Alchemy) and Pankaj Sharma, manager, client services (previously working at Tata AMC, Standard Chartered AMC).

Butler Snow, the international law firm, appointed John Shoemaker, a lawyer with a background in areas including trusts, wealth management and private client work to its business services practice group. He is based in Singapore. Shoemaker has more than 25 years of experience in legal and regulatory compliance. His background includes common law with an educational emphasis on taxation, trusts and estate planning, including extensive experience in ensuring multi-jurisdictional compliance for product offerings, the firm said.

Julius Baer hired Lionel Poh as a relationship manager in Asia. Poh was formerly an investment advisor at Standard Chartered Private Bank. Poh has worked at the Zurich-listed bank before, having been director of the bank's funds advisory team for almost five years, before joining Standard Chartered in 2015. He also worked at BNP Paribas.

 

US-headquartered Affiliated Managers Group appointed Kevin Haran as managing director of its Australia office. He took over from Gregor Rennie, who stepped down. Haran joined AMG at the start of this year as MD and head of distribution for Australia and New Zealand. He will be based in Sydney and has more than 15 years of sales and distribution experience in the local asset management industry. Most recently Haran was head of institutional sales for Australia and New Zealand at Natixis Investment Managers. Prior this, he held senior sales positions at Macquarie and Colonial First State.

Financial planning industry veterans Miles Goosemann and Martin Rimmer joined St James’s Place Wealth Management Asia, the international arm of UK-listed St James’s Place. The men focus on providing wealth management services to affluent and high net worth expatriates and Singaporeans. 

Safra Sarasin Singapore's head, Benedikt Maissen, left the firm, having been in the post since 2016. Prior to joining Bank J Safra Sarasin, Maissen worked at Societe Generale in Switzerland.

Credit Suisse appointed a pair of investment professionals in its Asia region. The appointees were Eddy Loh, named as senior investment strategist, and Julian Wee, investment strategist. Both men are based in Singapore and report to John Woods, chief investment officer, Asia-Pacific, Credit Suisse. Loh brings 14 years of investment management experience. He is responsible for developing regional discretionary and advisory investment strategies across multi-asset classes for private and institutional clients in Asia-Pacific. He joined Credit Suisse in December 2017 from Bank of Singapore where he was an executive director and a member of the investment counselling team.

Steven Seow, the head of Mercer’s head of wealth in Asia, left the consultancy firm to create his own business that converts bankers into management consultants. In his new role, Seow is executive director of Singapore Consultancy. At Mercer, he was head of wealth management Asia from October 2013 to December last year. Seow is well known to this publication and has been a judge for this news service’s wealth management awards programme in Asia. Seow is based out of Singapore.

Dr Mark Mobius, a man whose name has become identified with the world of emerging market investing, retired from Franklin Templeton Investments, ending a career of more than 30 years with that company. Dr Mobius spent more than 40 years working in emerging markets all over the world. He was hired by the late Sir John Templeton in 1987 to launch one of the first mutual funds dedicated to emerging markets. He oversaw Templeton’s emerging markets team from 1987 to 2016.

HSBC Singapore appointed veteran senior manager Cameron Senior as head of wealth and international. Senior has been at HSBC for 19 years. He has held various role at the firm, including his most recent position as head of distribution Singapore.

Fidelity International appointed Bart Grenier as global head of asset management, a newly-created role at the firm. Grenier reports to Brian Conroy, president at Fidelity International. He joined from Fidelity Investments, where he held the role of head of investment solutions and innovation. He was previously chairman, chief executive and CIO at The Boston Company Asset Management, and was also CIO and managing director of DB Advisors at Deustche Asset Management.

Knight Frank, the independent global property consultancy, appointed Victoria Garrett as the head of residential for Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore. Garrett is responsible for growing and developing Knight Frank’s residential business in APAC, which includes the marketing of overseas and local developments, sales and leasing. Prior to moving to Singapore, Garrett spent four years in Dubai, where she was head of the new homes team covering the Middle East selling investment and prime residential properties to clients. Garrett started in real estate 13 years ago in London. 

Financial services firm Mercer appointed Janet Li as Asia wealth business leader. This is a newly-created role. Li reports to Lisa Sun, zone leader, South and East Asia, and she is based in Hong Kong. In her new role, Li leads the Wealth business team including both investments and retirement in South and East Asia. She previously worked for Willis Towers Watson.

Law firm Carey Olsen appointed Chinese and common law layer Yang Yang to its dispute resolution and insolvency practice in Hong Kong. Yang has previously worked for international law firm Ince & Co in both its Shanghai and London offices. He was an associate in HFW's Melbourne office prior to joining Carey Olsen.

Global financial services firm Franklin Templeton Investments appointed Terence Bong as head of wholesale Southeast Asia, and Dora Seow as head of distribution, institutional and wholesale business Southeast Asia. The firm also appointed Woon Pin Chong as managing director of Franklin Real Asset Advisors, responsible for the Asia-Pacific region. Bong has more than a decade of industry experience and expertise in the asset management industry. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Bong held a similar leadership position as head of intermediary business development for Asia at Nikko Asset

Management. Before that, he spent 10 years at Schroders. His last position there was head of private banks distribution, based in Singapore and Hong Kong. Bong will report to Seow, who took on a new role as head of distribution, institutional and wholesale business Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, Seow reports to Adam Quaife, co-chief executive of Templeton Asset Management.

Chong leads FRAA’s APAC investment team in research, analysis and transactions of private real estate investment opportunities in the region, and define market insights and investment themes. Based in Singapore, Chong has over two decades of experience and expertise in the real estate industry. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, he was a managing director at Savant Global Capital. Chong was also Asia managing director for Australian investment manager Centuria Capital.

Generali Asia appointed Cillin O’Flynn as chief executive for its Hong Kong operation, taking the reins from Phuong Chung. He reports to Roberto Leonardi, regional officer for Asia. O’Flynn joined the firm in 2010 as chief operating officer for its pan European business, which required him to work across the global business lines with a focus on wealth management.

Canada-basedManulife Asset Management appointed Chan Hock Fai as head of equities in Singapore. Hock Fai's is responsible to lead all of the Singapore-based equity strategies and have oversight of the local team of equities investment professionals. He has over 20 years of industry experience of Singapore's asset management sector. Prior to joining Manulife Asset Management, Hock Fai was director of investment at Amundi Asset Management in Singapore, where he managed Singapore, regional (Asia Pacific ex-Japan) and global multi-asset portfolios. 

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North America
Legg Mason appointed Regina Curry as chief diversity officer. Curry joined Legg Mason after serving as senior director of global diversity and inclusion at McCormick & Company, where she developed and implemented a multi-year global diversity and inclusion strategy.

Nomura named appointed Charlie McElligott as managing director and cross asset strategist for the firm’s global markets business. McElligott is based in New York and joined from RBC Capital Markets, where he was most recently managing director and head of US cross-asset macro strategy.

Pennsylvania-based Brinker Capital, an investment management firm, expanded its sales and investment teams with the appointments of Anthony Gonzales as regional director, Todd Cole as wealth advisory portfolio consultant, and David Hall as senior vice president and head of quantitative strategy. Gonzales is responsible for new business development and client service for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. He has 17 years of experience in the investment management industry. Prior to this, Gonzales worked at Global Financial Private Capital as a regional business consultant. He is based in Austin, Texas, and reports to Ed Kelly, executive vice president of national sales.

Cole is responsible for providing high net worth clients and prospects with information about Brinker Capital's customizable investment solutions and services. Cole is based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and has more than 12 years of industry experience. Previously, Cole worked as a financial advisor at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments. He also reports to Kelly. Hall works with the investment team to develop quantitative tools and provide analysis and recommendations to support Brinker Capital's risk-management and portfolio construction, manager research, and asset allocation processes. Hall is based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and reports to Jeff Raupp, director of investments. Prior to joining Brinker Capital, Hall worked at TFS Capital as a senior analyst and portfolio manager.

RBC Wealth Management appointed Troy, Caiaze & Reed Wealth Planning Counselors to its recently-opened Farmington, Connecticut office. Troy, Caiaze & Reed Wealth Planning Counselors is comprised of Joseph Troy, senior vice president and financial advisor, who has 35 years of experience; Robert Caiaze, senior vice president and financial advisor, who has 22 years' experience; Adam Reed, vice president and financial advisor, with 12 years of experience; and James McNair, vice president and financial advisor, with 24 years of experience. Bonnie Feinstein, client associate, also joined the firm.

Baird, an international, employee-owned wealth management firm, named John Taft as vice chairman and a member of its executive committee. Taft, who has more than 35 years of industry experience, pursues strategic business opportunities across Baird’s platform, focusing his attention initially on collaborating with Baird’s private wealth management leadership team to advance key priorities. He served as chief executive at RBC Wealth Management for more than 10 years (2005-2016). Most recently, he served in a consulting capacity for Deloitte & Touche.

Florham Park Wealth Advisors, an independent investment management firm affiliated with Wells Fargo, poached Dennis Hall from Merrill Lynch.

RBC Wealth Management hired Carlton Pace as managing director and financial advisor to its San Jose, California office. He joined from Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed approximately $200 million in client assets. Accompanying Pace at RBC WM was Lisa Ball, registered client associate.

Steward Partners Global Advisory, an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership associated with Raymond James Financial Services, hired Sarah Marks, director, Andrew Egber, senior vice president, and Miguel Lopez, vice president, from Wells Fargo, where they managed approximately $230 million in client assets. Marks and her team joined Steward's Washington office, while Egber and Lopez, who operate as the Egber-Lopez Investment Group, joined the firm's Bethesda, Maryland operation.

Guggenheim Investments, the global asset management and investment advisory division of New York- and Chicago-based Guggenheim Partners, appointed Brian Binder as a senior managing director and chief administrative officer. He is based in Guggenheim’s Chicago office. Binder has over 24 years of experience in the asset management industry. He joined from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was a managing director, president of the Deutsche Funds and head of US product, trading and fund administration.

Manulife Investments, a division of Manulife Asset Management, said Mikhail Zverev, the co-portfolio manager of the Manulife Global Equity Unconstrained Fund and the Manulife Global Equity Unconstrained Class, decided to leave Aberdeen Standard Investments in the second quarter of 2018.

O’Shaughnessy Asset Management appointed Patrick O’Shaughnessy as the firm’s chief executive. He succeeded Jim O’Shaughnessy, OSAM’s founder, who remained in his role as chairman and chief investment officer. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, previously principal and portfolio manager at OSAM, assumed all CEO responsibilities while working in close coordination with Jim O’Shaughnessy during a transition period that was expected to be complete by the end of March 2018. 

Texas-based advisor platform Kestra Financial appointed Kris Chester as chief operating officer. At Kestra Financial, she is responsible for ensuring the firm offers its advisors the latest technology and highest-quality service. She replaced the firm's former COO, John Vanderheyden, who is now executive vice president of Strategic Initiatives. Chester spent the past 18 years at Wells Fargo Bank. Most recently, she served as executive vice president, head of treasury management implementation and delivery, a position she held since 2012.

Investment firm Fidelity International appointed of Hugh Prendergast as global head of product. He reports into Bart Grenier, global head of asset management. Prendergast has over 20 years’ experience in asset management and has spent the last 16 years at Pioneer Investments. His most recent role was as head of strategic product and marketing, where he led the product development and marketing functions for Europe, Latin America, US offshore and Asia. 

Chicago-based Cresset Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisory, appointed Jack Ablin as its chief investment officer. Ablin served as executive vice president and CIO at BMO Wealth Management for nearly 17 years.

HSBC Private Banking appointed Adam Gross as head of the investment counsellor and product specialist groups in the Americas. He reports to Russell Schofield-Bezer, regional head of investment services and product solutions. Based in New York, Gross leads the investment counsellor teams to help enhance cross asset investment solutions for high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients. 

Most recently, Gross was a managing director and head of the cross asset investment sales team for the Americas at Citigroup Private Banking. He was responsible for sales to Citi’s ultra-high net worth and family office clients across all asset classes including foreign exchange, rates, credit, equities and derivatives. Previously, he spent 20 years at JP Morgan and was head of the US global investment opportunities unit within the private bank, responsible for delivering bespoke investment solutions to its most active clients.

Northern Trust Asset Management appointed Darek Wojnar as head of funds and managed accounts. Wojnar oversees the development, distribution and management of the firm’s Northern mutual funds, FlexShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and managed accounts. He is based in Chicago, and will report to Shundrawn Thomas, president of Northern Trust Asset Management, whom he succeeds in this role. Most recently, Wojnar served as the head of ETFs at Hartford Funds. Previously, he was the managing director and head of single asset strategies at Lattice Strategies, which was acquired by Hartford Funds. 

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust appointed Roberta Langie Van Winkle as vice president of private banking. She has over 20 years of experience in private banking. Prior to her current role, Van Winkle worked as vice president of private banking at Wilmington Trust.

Mission Wealth, a US financial planning and investment management firm, appointed Steve Caltagirone as a partner. Caltagirone works in the firm’s San Francisco office and has been a client advisor with the firm since 2013. He has over 20 years of experience in the investment and financial planning sector. Prior to joining Mission Wealth, he helped launch Elmwood Wealth Management, where he served as a portfolio manager and financial planner. Earlier in his career, he also served as a client advisor with San Francisco-based Osborne Partners Capital Management.

Toronto-headquartered banking group CIBC brought in the following professionals have joined its CIBC Private Wealth Management team:
-- Rich Arnold, managing director and senior wealth advisor, St. Louis, MO;
-- Jacqueline Griffith Crowley, managing director and private wealth market leader, Minneapolis, MN;
-- Peter Kugeler, managing director and senior private banker, Boston, MA; and 
-- James “Jim” Thompson managing director and private banker, Cleveland, OH.

Arnold joined CIBC Private Wealth Management with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. As a senior wealth advisor, he serves as a leading coordinator of balance sheet management for successful families and businesses, integrating liquidity, credit and banking services with asset management, trust service and estate planning. Prior to joining our firm, Arnold worked at various privately held and international money center banks throughout the St. Louis area.

Crowley has over a decade of industry experience. In her role, she provides clients with private banking services - custom credit and investment solutions - in addition to helping them develop their estate and legacy plans. She works with both private equity professionals, as well as owners and executives of middle-market companies throughout Minnesota. Crowley joins CIBC Private Wealth Management from City National Bank, an RBC Company.

Kugeler joined CIBC Bank USA with more than 14 years of experience in the industry. In this role, he will work closely with CIBC Atlantic Trust relationship managers and their clients to advise on CIBC Bank USA’s banking and lending capabilities, focusing primarily on the strategic use of debt and deposits. Prior to joining CIBC Bank USA, Kugeler was a member of Morgan Stanley’s high net worth lending advisory team, where he was responsible for advising on complex lending strategies in the New England and Midwest regions. 

Thompson has over 30 years of industry experience. As a private banker for CIBC Private Wealth Management, he is responsible for creating customized credit, asset management and financial planning solutions for closely held business owners, corporate executives and affluent families. Previously, Thompson served as a senior vice president and private wealth advisor for Citizens Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.  He also served as vice president, director of private bank sales with Fifth Third Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.

New York-headquartered Blackstone said J Tomilson Hill, president and chief executive of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, became chairman of BAAM.  John McCormick succeeded Hill as president and CEO of BAAM. Hill stepped back from his day-to-day role running BAAM, but will maintain strong relationships with BAAM’s investor base and hedge fund relationships.  

HD Vest Financial Services appointed Crystal Clifford as chief operating officer. Clifford is based in HD Vest's Irving headquarters and reports to Bob Oros, chief executive. She is responsible for overseeing brokerage operations, administration, compliance, technology, servicing, partner support, and trading units across the organization.

Law firm Scarinci Hollenbeck appointed Paul Lieberman as partner. Lieberman is located in Scarinci Hollenbeck’s Red Bank, New Jersey and Manhattan, New York law offices. Prior to joining Scarinci Hollenbeck, Lieberman was partner at Eaton & Van Winkle, where his practice focused on administrative, regulatory compliance matters, transactional matters, and all aspects of commercial litigation and ADR.  He has over 30 years of legal expertise.

US wealth management group HighTower brought an advisor team in Santa Fe, New Mexico into its network. The team is led by managing director Gayle Johnson. The team's practice was previously affiliated with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where they managed $115 million in client assets. Prior to this, Johnson spent almost two decades with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. There she served as first vice president and wealth management advisor.

JP Morgan Securities appointed Jason Gordon and Thomas Scott Holstead to the firm’s operation in Houston. The duo were both previously part of a team at Merrill Lynch, where they were advisors that managed more than $2 billion in client assets. They report to David Jernigan, regional director.

Florida-based Trenam Law acquired a new shareholder at its private client services group in the person of Jennifer L Griffin. Griffin’s practice primarily focuses on wealth planning and preservation for individuals and families through the creation of customized estate plans. Her areas of work include advise around administration of estates, trusts and representation of fiduciaries. She has a JD from Stetson University College of Law and a BS, with honors, from University of South Florida.  She is listed in Best Lawyers of America in Trusts and Estates.

Chicago-based NOYES, a 110-year-old wealth management and investment banking firm, appointed Timothy Hoffman to its wealth management division. Hoffman joined the firm as a vice president after nearly two decades working as a wholesaler and financial advisor. He is based in the firm’s Elgin, Illinois office and provide wealth management counsel to select clients in the region.

First Republic Bank appointed Matthew Babrick and James Wilcox to First Republic Investment Management as managing directors. Babrick and Wilcox work in First Republic’s office in Century City. Both will provide investment management, retirement planning and other wealth management services to individuals, families, businesses, non-profits and foundations. Prior to this, Babrick worked for Goldman Sachs for more than 10 years and was vice president in the investment management division. Before that, he worked for Merrill Lynch in the private banking and investment group division.

San Francisco-based Union Bank appointed Ann Ormond Hamilton as a managing director and fiduciary management executive, and Peter Bogardus as a vice president and private wealth advisor. Both new hires are based in San Francisco. Hamilton reports to Kevin Rogers, a managing director who oversees all portfolio managers and trust officers at The Private Bank. Hamilton is responsible for managing a team of specialists in trust and estate services, wealth planning, and risk management. She joined from Pioneer Wealth Partners, where she most recently served as a director of strategic alliances. Bogardus reports to Lisa Roberts, managing director, and head of private wealth management for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Bogardus is responsible for providing high net-worth individuals, families, and non-profit organizations with tailored solutions that address their specific financial goals. He previously worked as a financial advisor at Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley.

Stifel, which purchased Barclays’ US private banking arm in 2015, appointed financial advisors Tom Hankins and Jay Lauzon to its broker-dealer unit.

Withers, the international law firm, appointed eight new partners from its US and London offices:

-- James Dougherty, based in Greenwich, advises on estate planning and administration, probate matters and litigation arising from trust and estate succession issues; 

-- Lian Fang, based in New York, advises on wealth planning matters, often working with multi-generational families to assist them with transferring their wealth to younger generations.  Lian frequently works with Asian clients, including advising on preparation for investing in or moving to the US; 

-- Eva Farkas-DiNardo, based in New York, advises clients on personal and business tax planning across their international interests, including pre-immigration planning for those moving to the US, as well as voluntary disclosure and audits in relation to tax; 

-- Theda Fisher, based in New York, provides corporate immigration advice to a wide range of US and foreign businesses, and personal immigration advice to successful people; 

-- Elliot Galler, based in New York, advises US domestic and multi-national businesses and high net worth individuals on the tax implications of investing in the US and abroad, as well as providing tax advice on M&A transactions; 
-- Stephen Nerland, based in London, advises US nationals based in the UK on their US tax and estate planning, as well as advising non-US individuals on tax planning ahead of moving to the US.  Stephen also advises on US tax compliance and disclosure programmes; 

-- Jaime McLemore, based in London, advises US nationals based in the UK on their US tax and estate planning and compliance, as well as advising both individuals and organisations on charitable giving; and 
Vasiliki Yiannoulis, based in New York, advises individuals and corporate investors on commercial real estate projects, including advice on debt financing and other lending transactions.

Casoro Capital, a single family office, named Joy Schoffler as its chief strategy officer. Schoffler manages investor relations and develop new financial products. Prior to joining Casoro, Schoffler founded Leverage PR, a public relations firm serving the financial services, technology, real estate, and professional services sectors, where she played a pivotal role helping organizations achieve strategic objectives through communication advisory services.

Michigan-based Range Bank promoted Scott Slattery to the position of trust and wealth management officer. Slattery is a graduate of Northern Michigan University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in accounting. He retired from the United States Marine Corps after 20 years of service in 2011 and has been an employee of Range Bank since 2014.

Ontario-based Empire Life Investments appointed Albert Ngo as portfolio manager of fixed income. Ngo has more than 10 years of investment management expertise and a strong background of analyzing corporate credit across multiple industries globally. His most recent experience includes co-managing a fixed income portfolio at a leading global investment firm. 

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (Canada) appointed Jaime Carrasco on as investment advisor and portfolio manager. With more than 20 years’ experience, Carrasco specializes in portfolio management and advisory solutions for high net worth clients in Canada and Latin America, and runs a discretionary fee-based business.

Commerce Trust Company promoted its president and chief operating officer, John Handy, to the posts of president and chief executive. He took over from existing CEO Ray Stranghoener, who  remained chairman. Handy reports to John Kemper, COO of Commerce Bancshares. Stranghoener, who has led Commerce Trust since 1999, continues to work with major client relationships and will also serve as a strategic advisor to Handy in his new role. Prior to joining Commerce Bank, Handy was chief operating officer and director of TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB, the Missouri-based trust subsidiary of the national teachers’ retirement fund manager.

Wisconsin-based Bank of Sun Prairie hired Dave Tiutczenko has been hired as the bank's new senior vice president-director of wealth management. Tiutczenko has been in banking for 15 years. His most recent position was with Annex Wealth Management, local media reports said. Prior to that, he was with The PrivateBank as managing director/had of private wealth where he led a team of advisors that worked directly with high net worth clients.

Miracle Mile Advisors has expanded its team by adding investment advisor Melissa Estrada. Estrada, who joins the firm's recently renovated West Los Angeles headquarters, specializes in working with clients to structure comprehensive, goal-based financial plans. She joined Miracle Mile Advisors from Edward Jones Investments, where she advised clients on investment allocation and planning.

PineBridge Investments, the US-headquartered firm, appointed Michael Karpik as new chief operating officer. Karpik is responsible for the firm’s global operations, finance, compliance, risk management, product management, funds, and technology functions. Based in PineBridge’s New York City headquarters, Karpik reports to CEO Gregory Ehret. Karpik brings 30 years of industry experience, most recently as EMEA chief executive for State Street Global Advisors, where he had overall responsibility for their investment management business in the region. 

Janney Montgomery Scott, the US wealth management house, recruited a total of 38 professionals to its private client group in the final three months of last year. The hires included 21 financial advisors, entrusted to oversee more than $1.95 billion of assets, as well as two account executives and 12 private client assistants. 

EY the principals and staff of RPR Partners LLP joined the EY Private Client Services practice that is based in San Diego. RPR founders and co-directors Robert P Regnery and Kenneth R Van Damme II, both previous EY professionals, returned to the firm after having built their independent tax advisory practice. The RPR firm focuses on serving high net worth clients throughout Southern California and beyond. Regnery has 30 years of experience advising clients including private and public companies. He started his career in Chicago with EY before moving to San Diego. After nearly ten years with the real estate practices of EY and Kenneth Leventhal, Regnery joined Peterson & Co where he led both the Real Estate Group and the Entrepreneurial Services Group before forming RPR Partners with Van Damme. Van Damme has more than 27 years of tax advisory experience in the real estate industry and with high net worth individuals. Prior to forming RPR Partners, he had been EY’s real estate tax compliance practice area leader for Southern California, and also served as an adjunct professor at San Diego State University teaching real estate finance and taxation.

Financial sector-focused law firm Sichenzia Ross Ference Kesner added a trusts and estates practices group that is made up of Robert Birnbaum, Todd Manister and Jodi Zimmerman, as well as paralegal, Jodie Shapiro-Shahar. The new group is designed to help the firm push into the area around wealth and estate structuring. Birnbaum, a veteran of the industry with a career of over five decades, joined after a decades-long career at Kantor, Davidoff, Mandelker, Twomey, Gallanty & Kokhba, PC.

Economic advisor Diane Swonk joined Grant Thornton as chief economist and is based in Chicago. Swonk worked with a range of companies throughout her career, most recently with her private consulting firm, DS Economics. Swonk and her team have transitioned to Grant Thornton from DS Economics. Previously, she was chief economist at Mesirow Financial and director of economics for Bank One Corporation. She served two terms as an advisor to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Swonk advises the Federal Reserve. She is a distinguished Fellow and past-President of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Swonk serves on the Sitting Committee for the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and advises the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan. She sits on the NABE Statistics and Policy Committees as well as the board for the NABE Foundation. 

TA Associates, the private equity firm, promoted six staff members in its US and UK offices. Patrick Sader was promoted to managing director from director. He is based in the London office of TA Associates (UK), LLP, focusing on investments in consumer, financial and business services companies across Europe and heading the firm’s effort in France. Sader was a Director at Argan Capital and a Senior Associate at Terra Firma Capital Partners. He also worked in the M&A Financial Institutions Group of Merrill Lynch.

Max Cancre was promoted to senior vice president from vice president. He is based in the London office of TA Associates (UK), LLP, focusing on investments in technology and data services companies across Europe. Prior to joining TA in 2010, Mr. Cancre worked in the investment banking division, structured finance group at Barclays Capital.

John W DiCola was promoted to senior vice president from vice president. He is based in TA’s Boston office, focusing on investments in technology companies in North America. Prior to joining TA in 2015, he was an associate at Hellman & Friedman, LLC and an analyst at Greenhill & Co.

Lovisa Lander was promoted to SVP from vice president. She is based in the London office of TA Associates (UK), LLP, focusing on investments in the healthcare and education sectors across Europe, as well as cross-sector Nordic investments. Prior to joining TA in 2010, Lander worked in the investment banking division, consumer products and retail group at Rothschild.

Alex Melamud was promoted to SVP from VP. He is based in TA’s Menlo Park, CA, office, focusing on investments in technology and technology-enabled services companies in North America. Prior to joining TA in 2009, he worked in the global technology investment banking group at Barclays Capital.

Amara Suebsaeng was promoted to SVP from VP. She is based in TA’s Boston office, focusing on investments in business, technology-enabled, information and other services companies in North America. Before joining TA in 2010, Suebsaeng worked in the investment banking division, global power and utilities group at Morgan Stanley.

First Republic Bank, a private bank and wealth management firm, hired Jeffrey Schottenstein and Stuart Wechsler of the Schottenstein & Wechsler Group as managing directors and wealth managers. Both of the new hires have more than 20 years of experience; they work in First Republic’s offices in San Francisco and Greenwich, Connecticut. The duo were most recently at Merrill Lynch as managing directors and private wealth advisor.

Fiduciary Trust Company International said its managing director and trust counsel Franckline Casimir-Benoit, CTFA began a four-year term on the American Bankers Association’s CTFA Advisory Board. The American Bankers Association provides trust and wealth advisors with the ability to obtain and keep the CTFA (Certified Trust and Financial Advisor) professional designation. Casimir-Benoit helps to shape the ABA curriculum for CTFA courses, and provide input on the ABA’s CTFA educational programming and industry events. Casimir-Benoit has more than 25 years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals and families. She joined Fiduciary Trust in November 2000 as assistant vice president and trust officer. 

Day Pitney, the law firm, elevated three of its attorneys to the status of partner. C John DeSimone, III is a litigation partner in the Parsippany office. He primarily represents clients in both real estate and business litigation matters. His real estate litigation practice includes commercial lease litigation, commercial real estate contract disputes, title disputes, construction litigation, environmental disputes and prerogative writ matters and zoning appeals. 

Susan R Huntington is a transactional partner in the Hartford office. She assists health care providers and managed care companies with the spectrum of business and regulatory needs, with particular experience in forming accountable care organizations and clinical integration networks. Huntington has focused her entire legal career in health law and has extensive clinical, business management, insurance, risk management and legal experience. She is also a certified physician assistant.

Amy R Lonergan is a trusts and estates partner in the Boston office. She assists individuals and families in all aspects of estate and tax planning. Her practice ranges from estate planning for individuals and young families to developing plans that incorporate sophisticated strategies to transfer wealth to the next generation while minimizing estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. 

Separately, Day Pitney appointed Amy Lonergan as partner. Lonergan is a trusts and estates partner in the Boston office. She assists individuals and families in all aspects of estate and tax planning. Primarily, she advises business owners, entrepreneurs and principals and partners of private equity firms in all aspects of estate planning and wealth transfer strategies. She regularly counsels fiduciaries and beneficiaries in connection with estate and trust administration, including post-mortem estate and tax planning, the probate process and preparation of estate tax returns. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts.

US law firm Bressler, Amery & Ross, which offers private client services as well other business lines, promoted a raft of individuals to the status of principal and counsel. Joel M Everest, Logan M Fisher, David I Hantman, Preston Martin and Matthew I Penfield were promoted to principal. Emily J Bordens was made counsel. Everest joined the firm in February 2014.  His practice focuses on securities litigation, with a special focus in the defense of brokerage firms and financial institutions against claims asserted by customers in state and federal court and in arbitration proceedings throughout the country.  

Fisher joined the firm in August 2009.  His practice is primarily devoted to representing broker-dealers and financial advisors in securities litigation. Hantman joined the firm in September 2007 and was promoted to counsel in January 2017. His primary area of practice is securities litigation and arbitration. He represents broker-dealers and registered representatives in these forums, as well as in investigations and regulatory enforcement actions.

Martin joined the firm in February 2014. His practice focuses primarily on the defense of brokerage firms and financial institutions against claims asserted by their customers and former employees in court and arbitration proceedings across the US. 

Penfield joined the firm in February 2014. His practice focuses on labor and employment, litigation and immigration. Bordens joined the firm in February 2009. Her primary areas of practice include labor and employment and litigation.  

Union Bank recruited Bjorn Stehr as a director and private wealth advisor. Based in Seattle, Washington, he reports to Lisa Roberts, head of private wealth management for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. 

Paducah Bank and Trust Company appointed Melinda Winchester as private banking relationship associate. Winchester worked at Lafser & Associates, a consulting firm out of St. Louis, where she was director of historic preservation. Most recently, Winchester was downtown development specialist and Paducah main street director for the city of Paducah.

Peapack-Gladstone Bank appointed David Santom as senior vice president and head of asset management at Peapack Capital, a subsidiary of the bank, which focuses on equipment finance and leasing. Based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Santom is responsible for all aspects of the asset management operation at Peapack Capital including equipment valuations and reviews, portfolio analyses, end of lease negotiations, equipment inspections and dispositions. He most recently served as director of equipment management at Santander Equipment Finance, as well as at CIT Capital Equipment Finance, where he was responsible for all asset management functions of the business units.

Fidelity International appointed Bart Grenier as global head of asset management, a newly-created role at the firm. Grenier reports to Brian Conroy, president at Fidelity International. He joined from Fidelity Investments, where he held the role of head of investment solutions and innovation. He was previously chairman, chief executive and CIO at The Boston Company Asset Management, and was also CIO and managing director of DB Advisors at Deustche Asset Management.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Ed Kleist as regional managing director in Denver, Colorado. Kleist reports to regional president, Jim Barnyak.  Kleist focuses on M&A, family office, fiduciary and the non-profit space.

Strategic Wealth Partners Group, a Chicago wealth management firm, expanded into Milwaukee, Wisconsin, adding the team from Park Place Capital Management, an independent asset 

Fiduciary Trust, a global wealth manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments, promoted Kevin Duncan to director of estate administration. In his new role, Duncan manages and develop all aspects of estate administration, and lead a team of estate specialists across the firm.  Duncan is based in New York; he reports to Gerald Joyce, national head of trust and estates. Prior to Fiduciary Trust, he served as a wealth advisory associate at Lazard.

Financial services firm Hirtle Callaghan, known for its outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) model, appointed Jim Morris as senior client engagement director. In this role, Morris works with the head of client engagement, Erica Evans, and the firm's leadership to implement Hirtle Callaghan's Western Region strategy. Morris spent over thirty years at SEI Investments, serving as senior vice president in both the SEI institutional asset management group and SEI private bank unit.

Malvern Bancorp, the parent company of Malvern Federal Savings Bank, which has a private banking operation, appointed Julia Corelli to the boards of directors of the company and the bank. Corelli has been a partner at Pepper Hamilton for more than 23 years, with a practice focusing on counseling all kinds of investment vehicles on formation, regulation and operations, as well as business and transactions counseling to family offices and life science companies.

Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation appointed Jennifer Dempsey Fox as president of BMT’s wealth management division. Fox reports directly to chief executive Frank Leto. She has more than 23 years of experience in wealth management, working with and leading teams focused on developing and delivering financial solutions for high net worth individuals, families, and institutions. She joins BMT from PNC Asset Management Group where she was executive vice president and chief wealth strategist.

US law firm Seward & Kissel promoted Debra Franzese to partner. Franzese, who has spent her entire legal career at Seward & Kissel, is a member of the firm’s investment management group.
Washington-based Viridian Advisors, a wealth management firm, appointed Maureen Jones as a financial advisor. Originally from Alaska, Jones has worked with clients for over 30 years.

Franckline Casimir-Benoit, managing director and trust counsel at wealth manager Fiduciary Trust, began a four-year term on the American Bankers Association's CTFA advisory board. Her term on the ABA's CTFA Advisory Board ends on December 31, 2021. Casimir-Benoit joined Fiduciary Trust in November 2000 as assistant vice president and trust officer. She was promoted to managing director in November 2011 and became trust counsel in October 2013. 

Law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson appointed Darren Littlejohn as a partner in the derivatives and asset management practices, based in the New York office. Prior to this, he worked at Blake, Cassels & Graydon, where he was a partner in the financial services practice.