August may be a traditional vacation month in many regions, but there were plenty of high-level moves to keep the newswires busy.

Switzerland
Harcourt, the Swiss alternative investment business ofVontobel Asset Management, appointed Deutsche’s Jack Loudon as portfolio manager. Loudon joined the Zurich team from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was a portfolio manager, responsible for the macro strategy and absolute return bond portfolios. He also led investment decisions on rates and currencies. Before this, he worked as portfolio manager at Invesco, where he was responsible for global rates and credit strategies as well as the management of Japanese pension mandates.

The UK’s Neptune Investment Management hired M&G's Valentine Bugeja as head of Switzerland.Bugeja, who joined from her position as sales manager at M&G Investments, took on the newly-created role to lead Neptune’s growth in Switzerland. Based in Geneva, she will report to the company's head of distribution, Charlie Parker.

Credit Suisse Asset Management hired Deutsche's Harald Réczek as head of EMEA and Swiss distribution. Réczek joined from Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was most recently co-chief executive of Deutsche Asset Management Switzerland. He also sat on the Deutsche Bank Switzerland executive committee and on the EMEA distribution management board of the global client group. In the newly-created role, he was responsible for managing the distribution of core and alternative investments in Switzerland, continental Europe, the UK and the Middle East. Based in Zurich, he will report to Charles Shaffer, head of CSAM global distribution, and locally to Tim Blackwell, head of global core investments.

EY, the professional services firm, appointed Achim Bauer as the new insurance leader for EY Financial Services Switzerland. Based in Zurich, Bauer replaced Thomas Brotzer, who will now serve as tax leader, financial services. Bauer joined EY almost two years ago as partner and leader of management consulting, financial services. He previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in advisory services for banks and insurance companies.

“Since September 2013, he [Bauer] has successfully positioned us as the leading management advisory firm for the Swiss financial industry, providing systemic support to the Swiss financial sector as a business transformation partner,” said EY Financial Services Switzerland's leader, Marcel Stalder.

“I would also like to thank Thomas Brotzer for his fantastic contribution as leader of our insurance auditing and consultation business over the last three years, during which time he increased sales in this area by over 50 per cent.”

Bauer's recent role of leader, performance improvement, financial services, has been taken up by Adrian Widmer, who joined EY in Zurich from Accenture this month. As managing director at Accenture, Widmer held overall responsibility for the financial services business in Switzerland and Austria.

Europe
Carey Olsen appointed Paul Burton as a senior associate within its corporate practice in Jersey. Burton qualified as an Australian solicitor in 2003 and as an English solicitor in 2008. He was then called to the Jersey Bar in 2010 while practising at another large offshore law firm. Burton specialises in corporate, finance and capital market transactions and has acted for a number of local fiduciary service providers and their clients. He also provides advice on regulatory, corporate and acquisition structuring and restructuring matters, as well as equity and debt fund raising.

Three senior employees left Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management as part of a restructure. The exits are those of director Annabel Bosman, who was with the bank for over six years; head of UK regulated wealth planning Jamie Banks; and director Damien Crommie, also in the London office.

Matteo Vaghi, head of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in Southern Europe, was appointed to lead the UK business, working alongside head of wealth management in Russia and Eastern Europe, Andreea Grob. Grob moved to London to take on the additional role of head of key clients in the UK and the bank's head of UK wealth management, Tom Slocock, report to him.

Financial advisor and asset manager Catella appointed Dennis Nygren as head of wealth management in Luxembourg, along with a trio of his former colleagues. Nygren joined the Luxembourg-based team from Swedbank, where he was the managing director of asset management. He brings 15 years' experience in private banking.

Catella also hired Olle Lindfors, Carl Kinell and Alexander Håkansson as senior relationship managers within the Luxembourg office. All three join from similar roles at Swedbank Asset Management.

UK
London-based Cazenove Capital hired Paul Atkinson and Oliver Becket within its discretionary fund management team. Atkinson and Becket joined the firm that was acquired by Schroders in 2013, as regional business development managers. Atkinson joined from Quilter Cheviot and brings over 25 years’ investment experience. He will lead business development and manage relationships with financial advisors in the North of England working closely with the company's portfolio directors. Becket, who previously held intermediary sales roles at Henderson Global Investors and Vanguard Asset Management, is responsible for the Midlands and South West of England.

Nomura Asset Management UK hired Andreas Koerner as head of marketing and client relations for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Koerner has been chief executive at Nomura Asset Management Germany, where he has spent the last 12 years. In his new role, he is based in Frankfurt and Tokyo, replacing Mark Roxburgh, who will be retiring at the end of the month after more than 15 years with the company.

Close Brothers Asset Management appointed HSBC's Nicholas Cliffe as investment director as part of its growth drive in the South West. Cliffe joined the Bristol-based financial planning team from HSBC Global Asset Management, where he spent five years as a discretionary wealth manager responsible for the South West and Wales.
Hurley Partners hired another ex-Brown Shipley executive as investment director within its recently established Manchester office. The appointment of James MacLaren, previously private client director at Brown Shipley, follows the hire in May of former Brown Shipley director Julius Manduell, who heads up the Manchester office.

Mirabaud Asset Management hired Ken Nicholson from Standard Life Investments to manage European small- and mid-cap equity portfolios. Nicholson previously served as SLI's investment director for smaller companies before going on to manage the European smaller companies fund between 2007 and 2014. He was joined in London by Trevor Fitzgerald, who previously led pan–European small- and mid-cap equity sales at Credit Suisse.

London-based Berkeley Law appointed Edward Stone as partner within its UK and international tax and structuring team. Stone joined from offshore law firm Collas Crill where he was head of the London office and a senior member of the fiduciary team. Before this, he was head of trusts and private client at Conyers Dill & Pearman.

City of London Investment Group's business development director, Carlos Yuste, stepped down after 15 years. Yuste was at the time of writing due to leave the boards of both CLIG and City of London Investment Management at the end of the year.
Investment advisor and fiduciary manager Cardano appointed Aviva Investors' Phil Redding as UK head of business development. Redding joined from his position as head of business development EMEA at Aviva Investors. Before this, he held pensions-related roles at Credit Suisse, Scottish Mutual and Hogg Robinson Benefit Consultants.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments appointed Jeremy Smith to the newly-created role of head of UK equity research. Based in London, Smith leads the UK research team. He reports to Leigh Harrison, head of equities, Europe. Smith brought over 20 years' industry experience and joined from Liberum Capital's equities sales team. He was previously head of UK equities at Neptune Investment Management.

Brewin Dolphin hired Graeme Bowden from Seven Investment Management as business development manager in Edinburgh. Bowden brought over 20 years’ industry experience, having most recently served as regional relationship manager at Seven Investment Management.

Hawksford appointed Jackie McLaughlin as group regulatory, compliance and risk director. McLaughlin joins from financial services provider Minerva where she was head of compliance and risk.

London-headquartered investment house New Capital, a subsidiary of EFG Asset Management, appointed Hermes' John Leahy as UK equity fund manager. Leahy joined from Hermes Investment Management, where he ran UK smaller company strategies for 14 years, including the Hermes UK Small and Mid Cap UCITS fund.

Previously, he worked as US equity portfolio manager at G Ullman Fund Management. He is based in London.

BNY Mellon, the US bank and financial services group, appointed Mariano Giralt to lead its global tax services team in a newly-created role. Based in London, Giralt is responsible for the growth and development of the company’s global tax services business. He was previously the head of tax services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will continue to report to the head of global fund accounting and issuer client service delivery, Dan Kramer.

Distribution Technology has appointed Graham Bentley to its financial planning advisory board and investment committee. Bentley founded and has been managing director of gbi², an investment marketing consultancy serving asset managers, intermediaries and distributors. Overall, he has 35 years’ experience and has worked at Henderson, M&G Investments and Old Mutual. Achievements include the launch of the first UK corporate bond fund at M&G Investments, the integration of the first UK platform end-to-end investment process with Selestia, and the launch of Spectrum, the risk-targeted fund range for Old Mutual.

Duet – CI Capital appointed Amr Helal to lead its $300 million Egypt Opportunities Fund. Helal joined from the Abraaj Group to head up the private equity fund dedicated to investing in Egyptian businesses. He will work alongside managing director Seifallah Zoghbi.

Barclays Wealth & Investment Management director Paul Pascoe left the business. Pascoe joined the bank almost a decade ago. Based in London, he was responsible for working with entrepreneurs predominantly involved in the real estate and insurance industries. Barclays declined to comment on the move. In other movements, Niall Pasco-McGregor, a private banker at Barclays W&IM, relocated from the bank’s Norwich office to London. He joined Barclays in 2007 and previously headed up operations at Laurel Consulting, a small management consultancy. Before this, he worked within RBS's private banking arm.

Julius Baer hired UBS's Loughlin Magowan as a senior investment advisor in the UK. Magowan joined the London team from his previous position as a senior investment advisor within UBS's wealth management arm. He joined UBS over 13 years ago.
Royal London appointed former pensions minister Steve Webb as director of policy and external communications. Webb was a member of UK parliament from 1997 to 2015 and served as minister of state for pensions for the last five years.

Old Mutual Wealth rejigged its management team following the launch of an investment division, naming Quilter Cheviot's chief executive, Martin Baines, as its chief investment director. Baines leads Old Mutual Wealth's newly-created investment division. David Loudon, who was promoted from head of regions to head of investment management at Quilter Cheviot, took over as chief executive of Quilter Cheviot, which Old Mutual Wealth acquired in February for £585 million ($940 million). He will report to Baines. Meanwhile, Richard Buxton, one of the UK’s most respected investors, became chief executive of Old Mutual Global Investors, also reporting to Baines.

He joined OMGI as head of equities two years ago and will take on the chief role alongside the management of his portfolio. Buxton takes the reins from Julian Ide, who is stepping down to “explore new opportunities”.
Nordea Asset Management appointed Mark Lovett as equity chief investment officer. He joined from Ignis Asset Management. Lovett was most recently head of equities and deputy chief investment officer at Ignis Asset Management.

Confluence, which provides investment data management automation for firms dealing with regulatory, financial and investor reporting needs, appointed Katie Kiss to its London office, holding the role of director of performance analytics. The role is a newly created one. Previously, Kiss accumulated more than 12 years’ experience in the performance measurement field. She previously served as global solution manager for performance at SS&C Technologies. Prior to that, she spent 10 years at UBS Global Asset Management where she served as UK head of performance for six years.

Standard Chartered appointed three senior figures to beef up its compliance teams in different regions, including a former US military intelligence officer.

The appointments were for the firm's financial crime compliance team, which is run by John Cusack, the global head of FCC. Steve Munro, head of sanctions compliance, is based in New York and reports to Cusack. He joined from GE Capital where he was global anti-money laundering leader, a role which included responsibility for sanctions. Previously Munro held senior financial crime positions with Societé Generale and served as deputy chief counsel for the US Treasury's office of foreign assets control and as a US military intelligence officer.

Carmel Speers was named as head of FCC for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), based in Dubai. Speers joined from JP Morgan in the UK and has more than 25 years of professional experience. She reports to Jeremy Trevis, regional head of legal and compliance for MENAP, and to David Howes, deputy head of FCC. David Clark was named as head of FCC surveillance analysis and academy. Like Munro, he joined from GE Capital where he was head of international financial crime compliance. Previously, he held senior financial crime positions with Barclays, ABN Amro and HM Revenue Customs & Excise. He is based in London, reporting to Markus Schulz, head of FCC controls.

In addition, Duncan Wales joined Standard Chartered as deputy general counsel. He based in London and assists David Fein, group general counsel, in managing the group’s legal affairs.

Wales joined from ICAP, the inter-dealer brokerage firm, where he served as group general counsel since 2008. Prior to that position, he occupied a number of senior roles within ICAP, including director of government affairs, general counsel for EMEA and Asia and senior counsel to the electronic broking division.

Mirabaud Asset Management appointed James Southern as sales director in the UK.  Southern, previously sales director at Sanlam Four, joined the London team in September. He has 15 years' experience in the investment industry, having also worked at Allianz Global Investors and Legg Mason Global Investors.

BlackRock named Jan Bratteberg as the new head of its exchange-traded funds provider, iShares, in the Nordics. Bratteberg replaced Geir Espeskog, who moved to Hong Kong as head of iShares distribution in Asia Pacific. Based in Copenhagen, he reports to Peter Beske Nielsen, BlackRock’s country manager for the Nordics and to Fergus Slinger, co-head of iShares sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He took on the new role of head of iShares Nordics from BlackRock’s Scientific Active Equity team, where he most recently was co-head of strategy. Over 15 years ago, he joined Barclays Global Investors, which merged with BlackRock in 2009.

BlackRock appointed Tom Holl to co-manage the $2.33 billion BlackRock Global Funds World Gold Fund, as well as the $1.04 billion Blackrock Gold and General Fund. Based in London, Holl is co-manager of the two funds alongside Evy Hambro, chief investment officer of the BlackRock natural resources equity team.

UK-based Prudential appointed its director of group finance, Penelope James, as group chief risk officer and executive director on its board. She succeeded John Foley in the role of group chief risk officer, who took on the additional role in June on an interim basis, following the departure of Pierre-Olivier Bouée. Foley remains group investment director and a member of the group executive committee. James was previously responsible for the delivery of the group’s financial results, business planning and performance monitoring.

UK wealth management house Hargreaves Lansdown appointed Chris Hill as chief financial officer. Hill joined from IG Group, the financial trading firm, where he held the CFO position for four years. He took over from Simon Cleveland, who had been performing the role of CFO on an interim basis. Hill has also worked at Travelex, General Electric and Arthur Andersen.

This appointment, at the time of writing, was subject to regulatory approval and Hill was expected to take up his new post in March 2016. Until that time Simon Cleveland, a partner from Deloitte, continues to act as interim chief financial officer.

Coutts managing director Stephen Fletcher, who helped lead the bank's suitability review, stepped down. He subsequently moved to rival Arbuthnot Latham as head of commercial banking.) Fletcher, who has also served as chief operating officer, had been with Coutts for a decade.

Ignis Asset Management’s chief investment officer, Chris Fellingham, who oversaw the integration of Ignis within the UK's Standard Life Investments over the past year, left the business.

The investment manager also announced two new additions to its Absolute Return Government Bond Fund team, which it revealed will move into SLI’s existing multi-asset investing and macro team structure, headed up by Guy Stern.

Shayne Dunlap and Richard Marshall, both from Mizuho Corporate Bank in London, joined the team in newly-created roles. Based in Edinburgh, Dunlap is responsible for managing the fund alongside Jonathan Gibbs, with both reporting to Stern. He brings 17 years’ experience of managing liquid global government bonds and currencies on an absolute return basis.  Marshall, based in London, specialises in a multi-strategy approach including relative value and macro strategies, trading in government bonds, fixed income derivatives and foreign exchange markets.
Rathbones Investment Management appointed Brewin Dolphin's Nick Liddle as investment director in Edinburgh. Liddle joined from his role as divisional director at Brewin Dolphin, to manage investment portfolios for private clients and their trusts, self-invested personal pensions and charities. He will report to Rathbones' regional director for Edinburgh, David Macaulay.

Brooks Macdonald appointed Andrew Shepherd as deputy chief executive. Shepherd is an executive director of the group and joint managing director of the asset management arm of Brooks Macdonald, which he joined in 2002. He handed his asset management responsibilities to Nick Holmes, who became the sole managing director of Brooks Macdonald Asset Management.

Neptune Investment Management hired M&G's Valentine Bugeja as head of Switzerland. Bugeja, who joined from her position as sales manager at M&G Investments, took on the newly-created role to lead Neptune’s growth in Switzerland. Based in Geneva, she reported to the company's head of distribution, Charlie Parker.

Fairstone Financial Management, part of the UK's Fairstone Group, appointed Neil Sims, Jacqueline Robinson and Paul Ellis as independent financial advisors.

Sims, a chartered financial planner, joined after 12 years as an advisor with Hays Macintyre and Helm Godfrey. Robinson, also a chartered financial planner, offers clients independent investment advice in areas including pensions, trusts and long term care as well as protection. She has 15 years’ experience as an IFA, bank trader and stockbroker. Ellis, who most recently served as director for Skilton Wealth Management, took responsibility for retirement planning, investments, mortgages and protection.

Rothschild Asset Management, the US asset management business of the Rothschild Group, appointed Jennifer Kulp as managing director and head of North America retail distribution. Kulp spent over 20 years at the independent investment management firm Brinker Capital, where she was most recently a managing director in the firm's wealth advisory sales group.

Vontobel Asset Management hired Hubert de Froberville as a senior relationship manager in London. He joined from Lazard Asset Management, where he was responsible for raising assets for alternative strategies and managing client relationships in the UK and continental Europe.

Elian, the international provider of private wealth, corporate, capital, fund and due diligence services, appointed Julia Hoskinson as an associate director for its corporate services arm. Hoskinson is an accountant with 10 years’ industry experience; she has advised on diverse matters such as GST, the EU Savings Tax Directive, tax planning for high net worth individuals moving to Jersey and due diligences exercises as part of wider mergers and acquisitions activity. She spent five years as a senior manager in the tax team at KPMG in Jersey

Omni Partners, a London-headquartered investment manager, hired Rajesh Shanmuganathan in the newly-created role of marketing and investor relations manager. Shanmuganathan previously worked for LBV Asset Management in London as a director focused on business development and investor relations.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority named its director of strategy and competition, Christopher Woolard, as a board member. The appointment is for a three-year term.
Woolard joined the regulator in January 2013 as director of policy, risk and research, which became strategy and competition at the end of last year.

The UK’s Prudential Portfolio Management Group appointed David Shairp from JP Morgan Asset Management to the newly-created role of head of research.

 

International
HSBC announced that Antonio Simoes became chief executive of HSBC Bank plc and chief executive for Europe. Simoes joined HSBC in 2007 from McKinsey & Co. He led the Hong Kong/London-listed bank’s group strategy and merger and acquisition activities, and in 2009 assumed responsibilities for planning and chief of staff to the group CEO. In January 2012, Simoses was appointed head of retail banking and wealth management for Europe. In November 2012, he was appointed chief executive of the UK bank and deputy CEO, HSBC Bank plc. Antonio Simoes succeeded Alan Keir, who stepped down as CEO of HSBC Bank effective 30 September, and was due to retire from the group as of 31 March 2016, after a 34-year career at HSBC. Keir joined HSBC in 1981 and worked in a variety of roles before being appointed to his current position in October 2013.

---

North America

Mark Hubbert was named as chief risk and credit officer of Wells Fargo Advisors, effective September 1. Hubbert will replace Jimmie Lenz, who was appointed as technology risk director at Wells Fargo's wealth, brokerage and retirement division. Hubbert is currently chief operating officer of wealth brokerage services – a position he has held since 1997.

Before joining Wells Fargo, he was president in the retail discount brokerage business of First Fidelity Brokerage Services. Before that, he worked in sales and compliance at Citigroup. In his new role, Hubbert will manage all risk at Wells Fargo Advisors, including those associated with new products and public offerings, market and trading risk, technology risk, credit risk, operational risk, business continuity planning and Basel reporting. He will also join the Wells Fargo Advisors' operating committee, which is led by Mary Mack as president.

A new RIA called Las Olas Capital Advisors opened its doors last week, targeting entrepreneurs and ultra high net worth families out of offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, FL, and New York. The firm is led by founder and managing director Paul Tanner - who previously worked at UBS - and manages over $400 million in client assets. Las Olas partnered with TruClarity for its launch, a new firm looking to capitalize on the growing exodus of wirehouse financial advisors seeking independence.

As well as Tanner, the team includes Merissa Ann Davis, who leads trading and administrative services; Samantha Sullivan, who is responsible for portfolio analytics and research; and Melissa Stephenson, who is in charge of digital media marketing and assists with administrative services.

David Barrett Partners, the investment and wealth management recruitment firm, hired Elizabeth Havens in New York. Havens joined from another boutique search firm where she co-led the firm's asset and private wealth management practice. She was also previously a founding member and vice president of Busara Advisors, an investment firm which advised and invested in emerging manager hedge funds. Earlier, she worked at Morgan Stanley's private wealth division in San Francisco, CA, and began her career at Goldman Sachs in New York.

Buckhead Investment Partners hired J P Scott as a personal wealth advisor. Scott previously spent ten years as a vice president and financial consultant at Charles Schwab & Co. Before that, he was a financial advisor at Cole Wealth Management and American Express Financial Advisors. 

Scott Kaul was promoted to wealth management advisor and managing director for The Private Client Reserve of US Bank in Minneapolis, MN. Previously, Kaul was a wealth management advisor at the PCR, which serves clients with $3 million or more in net worth, also in Minneapolis. He first joined US Bank in 1994.

First Republic Bank, a private bank and wealth management firm, recruited Wendi Doyle and Catherine Chase from Credit Suisse in Century City, CA. Doyle and Chase were named as managing directors and portfolio managers at First Republic Private Wealth Management. Doyle spent six years at Credit Suisse serving individuals, family offices and business managers in the Los Angeles area. Earlier in her career, she worked at Lehman Brothers Private Investment Management and spent over 20 years at JP Morgan Private Bank. Chase also spent six years at Credit Suisse, providing investment management services to individuals and families. Earlier in her career, she too worked at Lehman Brothers Private Investment Management and spent over 13 years at JP Morgan Private Bank.

Merrill Lynch hired financial advisors Stephen Renie, Michael Arthur and Jennifer Hall in Cincinnati, OH, from Morgan Stanley. The four-person team includes Kristin Fedders, a registered client associate, and will report to market executive John Nicholson. The team, which works with high net worth families and institutions, has $300 million in client assets under management.

Glenmede, a privately-held independent investment and wealth management firm, appointed Kent Weaver as director of client service for Glenmede Investment Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmede. Weaver will serve as the primary relationship manager for Glenmede’s institutional clients (including families, family offices and foundations), consulting on investing, asset allocation and the market environment. In his previous term at the firm, he was director of institutional client service. Weaver returned to Glenmede after 13 years as a partner at Philadelphia International Advisors, where he was director of client service and sales/chief compliance officer. Prior to his first years at Glenmede, he was a senior vice president at Cutler & Company.

Rothschild Asset Management, the US asset management business of the Rothschild Group, appointed Jennifer Kulp as managing director and head of North America retail distribution, effective September 1. In this newly-created position, Kulp will lead the firm's retail distribution strategy and partner with distribution channels to ensure financial advisors are achieving their investment goals. Kulp spent over 20 years at the independent investment management firm Brinker Capital, where she was most recently a managing director in the firm's wealth advisory sales group.

Redhawk Wealth Advisors, a Minneapolis, MN-based RIA, named Rick Keast as president of the firm. Keast joined Redhawk in April 2013 to lead the firm’s retirement and wealth management business. He had previously worked at firms including Merrill Lynch, KPMG Consulting and Mercer. In his new role as president, Keast will be responsible for the strategic direction and overall performance of the firm. He will also oversee its regulatory and compliance functions. 

First Foundation, which serves high net worth individuals and businesses, opened two new offices in California, led by three new senior vice presidents. Tony Fire leads the new Los Angeles office, and Kris Lynds and Manjit Dhillon co-lead the Oakland office.

California-based Miracle Mile Advisors hired Neil Godsey as a managing director from MassMutual Financial Group and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. He previously served as senior vice president in equity research at FBR Capital Markets and director of research at SNL Financial. In addition, Miracle Mile appointed Matthew Granski as a financial analyst. Granski was previously an intern at the firm and will now work with the investment committee on portfolio analysis.

Pedro Jorge Villarreal was named as the new chief executive of Credit Suisse in Mexico, where the firm has strong private banking, asset management and investment banking businesses. Villarreal took the reins from Hector Grisi, who is leaving the bank, and maintained his role as co-head of investment banking for Latin America (excluding Brazil.) Previously, he led investment banking in Mexico for five years. 

California-based AlphaCore Capital hired Dirk Harris as a senior wealth manager to help family offices, individual investors and advisors leverage opportunities in the alternatives space. In previous roles, Harris was an investment officer and portfolio manager at a single family office in Indiana, and a senior financial advisor to high net worth clients in Baton Rouge, LA. 

Bank of America's US Trust made a raft of hires in seven states in the past month. Elizabeth Hopkins joined the Richmond, VA, office as a private client advisor from JP Morgan, where she was a private banker. In Texas, Carol Polasky joined in Dallas as a private client advisor from BB&T, where she was a corporate banker. Meanwhile, Silvia Salle also joined as a private client advisor in Houston from BBVA Compass. In Massachusetts, William Madden was added as a private client advisor in Boston, joining from Goldman Sachs, where he was a private wealth advisor. Brandon Biery joined the Wilmington, DE, office as a private client manager. He was previously a private banker at Wilmington Trust.

Additionally, Patrick Martin joined the Saint Louis, MO, office as a private client manager from Reliant Bank and, in New Jersey, Jennifer Castranova joined in Florham Park as a senior trust officer. Castranova was previously a trust and estates attorney at Berkowitz, Lichtstein, Kuritsky, Giasullo & Gross. Lastly, Xiaoyu Liu joined the New York office as a portfolio manager from Deutsche Bank’s asset insurance management division while Kenneth Rice also joined in NY as a senior trust officer. Rice previously worked at Fiduciary Trust Company.

BNY Mellon made its second hire of the week, naming Nancy Anderson as a senior wealth director in the greater Chicago, IL, and broader midwest, market. Anderson was previously a senior wealth advisor at US Trust and in her new role will report to regional president, Michael DiMedia. Before her stint at US Trust, Anderson worked at the Private Client Reserve of US Bank, as well as at Citigroup Global Wealth Management and Merrill Lynch Trust Company. 

Jasmine Jirele was appointed as director of trust operations at California-headquartered Wells Fargo. Reporting to head of Wells Fargo Retirement, John Papadopulos, Jirele will oversee a 300-strong team responsible for the back-office processing units that support fiduciary needs across the Wells Fargo enterprise - including its ultra high net worth arm, Abbot Downing. Jirele was most recently senior vice president of enterprise operations at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Before that, she was vice president of market management and product innovation at Allianz.

Michael Palace joined Bedminster, NJ-based Gladstone Wealth Group, an independent wealth manager that provides fee-based services through Private Portfolio Partners, a hybrid RIA firm supported by LPL. Palace – latterly of Wells Fargo Advisors – also joined LPL's broker-dealer platform for his commission-based business. He is going to open a new office in Red Bank, NJ, where he will add a second advisor. Gladstone Wealth was founded by Richard Dragotta and is now a team of eight independent advisors and two support staff.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed T Scott Fleming as regional president in Denver, CO, reporting to David Emmes, president of US western markets at the firm. Fleming moved from Tampa, FL, where he had been managing director and head of wealth management at The Bank of Tampa. Previously, he was senior vice president and complex manager at Wells Fargo Advisors in Orlando, FL. Earlier still, Fleming served as complex manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Kansas City, MO, and Denver.

RBC Wealth Management welcomed the Starr Group, a team of comprised of brothers Michael and Daniel Starr, at its Midtown New York office. The Starr Group is latterly of Stifel Financial - which is in the process of buying Barclays' wealth management business - in New York City and has $2.3 million in production. Michael Starr, managing director and financial advisor, has 25 years of industry experience while Daniel Starr, senior vice president and financial advisor, joined with 15 years of experience.

The Gleason Group, an independent investment advisor firm in Prospect, KY, joined Raymond James' Investment Advisors Division. The Gleason Group provides financial planning and investment advisory services to families and individuals as well as financial services to businesses. The group includes Gavin Gleason, Andrea Gleason, Sakya Schuler and Diane Johns. Gleason, chief executive, previously worked at Hilliard Lyons, where he managed around $150 million in client assets. Before that, he worked at PwC and Merrill Lynch. Gleason, chief financial and compliance officer, has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry and previously worked at PwC. Schuler, director of client experience, has ten years of experience while Johns, executive assistant, has around 25 years.

Julie Shafer joined Bank of the West's wealth management group as head of strategic philanthropy and purpose investing. Shafer will report to Steve Prostano, the newly-appointed head of Bank of the West's UHNW business, which is aimed at individuals and families with over $25 million in assets. Shafer, a 20-year industry veteran, has worked with philanthropists, foundations, non-profits and corporations nationally and globally. Before joining Bank of the West, she led a philanthropy-focused consulting firm, and earlier was director of development at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases University of California, as well as executive director of the Silver Giving Foundation.

BNY Mellon appointed Gail Nursey as a managing director of business development for the Florida west region - between Tampa and Naples - and Michael Maglio as senior director and team leader serving UHNW clients in Pittsburg. Nursey reports to BNY Mellon’s president for the western region, Lisa Simington, and joined the firm after spending the past 25 years at Wells Fargo - most recently as a senior vice president and business banking area manager in the north-central region of Florida. Meanwhile, in Pittsburg, Maglio reports to managing director Michael Foster and joined from PNC Wealth Management, where he was a senior relationship manager. Earlier, he was a market investment director at PNC, leading a team of investment advisors in Pittsburgh and Boston. Earlier still, he held investment management and family office roles across strategies including private equity, venture capital and real estate.

Heartland Financial USA appointed Nancy Tengler as chief investment officer of private client services. Tengler, who is SVP and market leader of Arizona Bank & Trust’s Wealth Advisory Services in Phoenix, will serve Heartland subsidiary banks from the Phoenix office and maintain her current role. She also serves as a board member for Arizona Bank & Trust, one of Heartland’s member banks, and was instrumental in leading the Women’s Financial Forum. 

Before moving to Phoenix, Tengler was president, CEO and chief investment officer at Fremont Investment Advisors in San Francisco. Prior to Fremont, she was president and CIO of Global Alliance Value Investors, and has also worked at UBS Asset Management. 

JP Morgan appointed retired four-star General Raymond T Odierno, former chief of staff of the US Army, to a senior advisory capacity at the firm, effective September 1.General Odierno will provide strategic advice and global insights to chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, the board of directors and members of the operating committee on issues including international planning and country risk analysis, technology, operations and physical and cyber security. He will also help structure and carry out the firm's leadership development training programs; assist on other workforce development issues; and advise on the firm's cities initiatives and military and veterans affairs strategy, among other key duties. "Ray has dedicated his life to serving our country, rising to the top of the Army with proven leadership that delivers results. His experience, vision and impressive track record of success when confronting overwhelming challenges will provide significant value to our leadership team, the firm and our clients across a range of issues," said Dimon. Additionally, General Odierno represent JP Morgan Chase through engagement with clients, government officials and policy makers in the US and internationally, and will participate in the firm's regional advisory groups in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America.

TA Associates, the global private equity firm, made four hires for financial and technology services in Boston, MA, Menlo Park, CA, and London. Amara Suebsaeng, Alex Melamud and Max Cancre rejoined TA Associates as vice presidents in Boston, Menlo Park and London, respectively. John DiCola, meanwhile, was appointed as a vice president in Boston. Cancre focuses on investments in technology and financial services companies across Europe. Before attending graduate school, he was an associate in the London office of TA Associates. He was previously an analyst in the investment banking division and structured finance group at Barclays Capital. Meanwhile, DiCola focuses on investments in technology firms, having previously been an associate at Hellman & Friedman, and, before that, an analyst at Greenhill & Co. Melamud concentrates on investments in technology and technology-based services companies. Prior to attending graduate school, he served as an associate in the Menlo Park office of TA Associates. He previously worked in the global technology investment banking group at Barclays Capital. Lastly, Suebsaeng focuses on investments in business, technology-enabled and other services companies. Before attending graduate school, she served as an associate in the Boston office of TA Associates. She was previously an analyst in the investment banking division, and global power and utilities group, at Morgan Stanley. 

MarketCounsel, the RIA-focused business and regulatory compliance consultancy, hired Edward Slezak as managing director and general counsel, stepping in to lead the firm’s operations. Slezak has served on and counseled numerous boards of directors and executive management teams for companies in an array of sectors such as high-tech gaming, wholesale and retail food services, and e-commerce. In his new role at MarketCounsel, Slezak is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm as well as its affiliates. Meanwhile, chief operating officer Marc Cohen was named as a managing director to focus on strategy, innovation and development.

SAGE Private Wealth Group, an Illinois-based independent firm offering securities through Raymond James Financial Services, added a wealth advisor and an investment manager from Northern Trust Securities. Eric Kaehr, a wealth advisor, and investment manager Paul Rashid, previously managed $250 million in client assets at Northern Trust. Kaehr began his financial services career in 2006 at Column Capital Group - an RIA in Indianapolis. In 2010, he relocated to Chicago and joined Northern Trust Securities, where he worked as a senior broker-dealer associate and in 2014 was promoted to senior financial advisor. Rashid began his career at Northern Trust in 2005, most recently as a portfolio manager for high net worth clients.

Susie Roh was appointed as a trust managing director for the Private Client Reserve of US Bank in Denver, CO. Roh was formerly an investment and trust manager at Guaranty Bank and Trust Company in Denver, and an attorney in a private practice. She began her career in the banking and financial services industry in 2008.

LPL Financial, the US broker-dealer giant and RIA custodian, hired Anthony Perkins as executive vice president of technology product development – a new role at the firm. Perkins will oversee the analysis, design, development and delivery of technology product solutions, including advisor-facing offerings and corporate solutions. He will also support LPL's investments in data analytics, mobile platforms, and the firm's ongoing efforts to deliver technology solutions to each of its business channels. Before joining LPL, Perkins was chief technology officer at Wells Fargo Advisors, responsible for all front-office and advisor-facing applications. He has also held senior roles at financial services firms including BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley and HSBC. At LPL, he will report to Victor Fetter, managing director and chief information officer.

Pennsylvania-based Glenmede, the investment and wealth management firm, promoted Peter Zuleba to the new role of president of its institutional strategies business, Glenmede Investment Management. GIM was founded in 2007 to provide institutional clients, broker-dealers, retail platforms and RIAs with access to the division’s institutional strategies and proprietary mutual funds. As president of GIM, Zuleba - previously director of investment strategy - will oversee the research, trading and portfolio management of equity, fixed income, alternative and risk management strategies. He will also be responsible for sales, servicing and fund administration operations. During his 11-year tenure at Glenmede, Zuleba has held other high-level roles including head of equity and senior portfolio manager. Going forward, Zuleba will work closely with Mary Ann Wirts, chief administrative officer of sales, servicing and fund administration at GIM. Omidyar Network, a self-described “philanthropic investment firm,” appointed angel investor Shripriya Mahesh as a partner in Redwood City, CA.

Mahesh, an angel investor and advisor to several private companies, will join the firm's leadership team. She will also oversee its global consumer internet and mobile initiative, which focuses on supporting new digital solutions aimed at allowing people to share ideas and do business more efficiently. The initiative has so far seen investments in for-profit companies including Change.org, Meetup and Quikr, as well as grants to non-profits including DoSomething.org.

Recently-launched Summit Trail Advisors hired from Barclays to create a new San Francisco, CA- and Boston, MA-based team with $500 million in assets under management. The RIA was launched last month by six former Barclays executives via Dynasty Financial Partners. The new team comprises Daniela Pedley and Lauren Cosulich, who joined as advisors and partners. Pedley joined the San Francisco office, having been a director at Barclays since 2008 and a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers before that. Cosulich, previously a vice president at Barclays for seven years, will be based in Boston but will divide her time between Boston and San Francisco. She previously held roles at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Private Bank. Noyes, a wealth management and investment banking firm, hired Jim Longstreth as a managing director of wealth management in Indianapolis, IN. Longstreth, who was previously a branch manager at Wells Fargo Advisors, will report to Mark Damer, president and chief executive at Noyes. He began his career at Shearson Lehman Brothers and then served as complex manager and first vice president at Prudential Securities, senior managing director and chief operation officer at Fulcrum Holdings, and managing director at MetLife/New England Financial.

Standish Mellon Asset Management Company, the fixed income investment boutique of BNY Mellon Investment Management, appointed David Leduc as chief executive. Leduc will continue to serve as the firm's chief investment officer, a role he has held for the last five years. He succeeded Desmond Mac Intyre, who is leaving to pursue other opportunities. Leduc has worked at Standish for over 20 years, having joined as a portfolio manager and analyst for US domestic fixed income in 1995. 

Kate Randall Danella was appointed as a wealth strategy and effectiveness executive at Regions Wealth Management. Prior to joining Regions, Danella was a vice president at Capital Group Companies in Los Angeles, CA, having joined the firm in 2002 and served in sales, service, marketing and management roles in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. 

CIBC re-jigged its organizational structure, although Steve Geist, senior executive vice president and group head of wealth management, and Kevin Glass, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, retained their current responsibilities. David Williamson, senior executive vice president and group head of retail and business banking, was given responsibility for “bank-wide innovation.” Meanwhile, Mike Capatides, senior executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel, was tasked with helping to simplify the bank. Stephen Forbes was appointed as executive vice president and chief commercial officer, charged with enhancing CIBC's client experience. Among other changes, Geoff Belsher, group co-head of CIBC's wholesale banking business, is retiring on September 30; Harry Culham was named senior executive vice president and group head of wholesale banking; Laura Dottori-Attanasio, senior executive vice president and chief risk officer, took on expanded responsibility for compliance and anti-money laundering; Kevin Patterson, senior executive vice president of technology and operations, took on expanded responsibility for corporate security; Jon Hountalas, executive vice president, took on a new role overseeing CIBC's business and corporate banking businesses; and Sandy Sharman was named executive vice president and chief human resources officer, responsible for talent and people strategies.

Sabrina Bailey joined Northern Trust Asset Management as global head of defined contribution, a new position created as Northern Trust looks to expand its retirement solutions business. Bailey was previously head of US defined contribution at Mercer Investment Consulting in Seattle, WA. As well as the external hires, Brian Bursua and Patrick Gaskin joined the DC solutions group in sales and service roles from within Northern Trust, to further align resources and provide focus in serving the recordkeeper channel. 

---

Former Merrill Lynch advisors Michael Carr, Kirk Ruth, Jeff Hogue and Jeff Rizzo joined UBS’s new office in Florida to serve high and ultra high net worth clients. The appointees have a combined T-12 of around $4.6 million and $870 million in assets under management. Carr joined UBS on his own while the other three operate as a team. All of them report to Tom Isaacs, complex director of the Gainesville, FL, office.

Vanare | NestEgg, the wealth management technology platform aimed at RIAs, hired David Coyle as senior vice president of business development. Coyle was previously part of the wealth management solutions team at Interactive Data Corporation, and before that worked at Northstar Systems International, Research in Motion and Outercurve Technologies. He spent the first ten years of his career as a private client advisor at Merrill Lynch, and later at First Union (now part of Wachovia).

Jeff Mazer and Katya Baron joined Aequitas Capital to push forward its alternative investments business, based in Lake Oswego, OR, and New York City, respectively. Mazer, senior managing director of capital markets and treasury, was previously a director within Bank of America Merrill Lynch's global liquidity investment solutions unit. At Aequitas, Mazer will manage the company's investment offerings and advise management on all matters relating to liquidity and capital structure. Meanwhile, Baron joined as managing director of capital markets, with 15 years of experience working at firms including as Sterne Agee, Gleacher, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan Securities. She will be responsible for sourcing and structuring new asset financing transactions, as well as capital markets outreach. Mazer and Baron will report to chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Scott Gillis.

Two former RBC Wealth Management advisors joined Philadelphia, PA-based Janney Montgomery Scott, the wealth management, financial services and investment banking firm. Gregory Dupée, senior vice president of wealth management, and Scott Karpiak, vice president of wealth management, had formed the Karpiak-Dupée Investment Group at RBC. Dupée has nearly 30 years of industry experience while Karpiak has over 16, including six years at Charles Schwab, where he helped develop the private client program.

Former Wilmington Trust executive, R Samuel Fraundorf, was appointed as chief investment officer at Diversified Trust, the Southeast-based wealth management firm. Fraundorf replaced Eli Niepoky, who retired in April, and will be based in Atlanta, GA. He will oversee Diversified Trust's investment teams across Atlanta, Greensboro, NC, Memphis, TN; and Nashville, TN, serving clients across the US.

At Wilmington Trust, Fraundorf served as director of research, chief operating officer of investments, chief investment officer, and president of Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors. He started his career at Arthur Andersen in the mid-1980s, and then served as a lead consultant at KPMG Investment Advisors, where he worked with high net worth investors.

Vaughn Wealth of Orlando, FL, left NFP Advisor Services and joined Commonwealth Financial Network, the US broker-dealer and RIA firm.

---

Asia-Pacific

The global chief executive of HSBC’s $500 billion asset management arm, Sridhar Chandrasekharan, moved from London to Hong Kong as the British banking group looks to capitalise on growth opportunities in Asia. HSBC said Chandrasekharan continued to serve as the division's global chief and will still oversee the 30 locations in which it operates.

Morningstar appointed Lorraine Tan as director of equity research in Asia. Tan brings 20 years' experience in equity research and led Standard and Poor’s equity research business in Asia from 2000 to 2014. She took on the newly-created role to lead 11 equity analysts in Hong Kong and Shenzhen and oversee Morningstar’s Asian equity research, which includes company reports, industry and sector research, along with qualitative ratings. She is based in Singapore.

Eric Chong, a senior private banker, left Citi Private Bank. His future plans are as yet unclear.

RBC Global Asset Management hired Ken Tam, formerly of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, to lead its business in the Asia-Pacific region. Tam left his position as Deutsche AWM's managing director and head of global client group, Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, earlier this year. He previously spent 19 years at JP Morgan Asset Management, where he served as managing director and head of North Asia. Based in Hong Kong, Tam replaced Adam Matthews, who stays with the business until at least the end of 2015. He oversaw Asia-Pacific operations, excluding BlueBay Asset Management. He reports to Clive Brown, chief executive and managing director of RBC GAM International.

LGT, the Liechtenstein-headquartered private bank operating in regions including Asia, has brought over a former UBS banker to its non-resident India client group. The relationship manager was Jaya Jayaraman, who is located in in Hong Kong. Previously, she was an NRI banker at UBS. She has also worked at Deutsche Bank and Société Générale.

Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission reappointed two executive directors for another three-year term. Brian Ho and Keith Lui are executive directors of the SFC's corporate finance division and supervision of markets division respectively. They took on their positions back in 2006.

Credit Suisse appointed Abhishek Mehrotra, previously a director at HSBC Private Bank from 2010 to July 2015. Before that, he was a vice president for commercial banking at HSBC from 2008 to 2010. He also attended the Asian Institute of Management, and held the role of associate vice president at HSBC India from 2004 to 2006.

Nomura hired Harry Ng from Julius Baer to head its trust business and wealth planning in Asia, excluding Japan. Ng, based in Singapore, assumed the new role of head of Nomura Trust Company and head of wealth planning strategy and solutions, Asia excluding Japan. Reporting to the firm's head of wealth management in Asia, excluding Japan, Nobuhiro Sano, he manages Nomura Trust Company’s client relationships and estate administration activities, as well as leading the trustee services business. Ng joined from his position as North Asia head of wealth planning at Julius Baer in Singapore. He was also Asia-Pacific wealth planning team head at Merrill Lynch’s wealth management unit in Singapore prior to the division’s acquisition by Julius Baer. 

Standard Chartered appointed Enoch Tan as managing director and regional head, UHNW clients, Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Based in Singapore, Tan is responsible for leading the bank’s initiatives specific to UHNW clients in the ASEAN region.

He reports to Stephen Richards-Evans, head, global UHNW clients, and locally to Peter Kok, regional head, ASEAN, private banking clients. Tan was most recently managing director, head of client solutions, Asia, at Royal Bank of Canada. Prior to that he was an investment banker at NM Rothschild & Sons as well as UBS Investment Bank.

Willis Group Holdings, the global risk advisory, re/insurance broking, and human capital and benefits firm, appointed a number of senior figures to roles across the world – including Asia - for its wealth planning division, Willis Global Wealth Solutions. Craig Ellis was appointed chief executive, GWS Singapore. Ellis joined from Old Mutual International where he served as head of region and CEO of Singapore and Southeast Asia. Ellis reports to Odd Haavik, who now focuses on his regional role as CEO, Asia and Europe for GWS.

Santiago Lombardozzi was appointed to the global position of head of products and solutions for Wills GWS. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts. In his global role, he reports to Yves Guélat, global CEO of GWS. Lombardozzi has 13 years of experience in the high net worth planning field and joins Willis from International Planning Group. GWS has also appointed two new directors for relationship management: Nikki Koh is channel manager for GWS Singapore and Benny Tsoi is channel manager for GWS Hong Kong.

One of the luminaries of Singapore’s banking industry, Lee Seng Wee, the former chairman of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, passed away at the age of 85. He had been a board member of OCBC – owners of the private bank, Bank of Singapore – for five decades and was reappointed in April this year.

Former Credit Suisse banker Jimmy Lee joined Julius Baer, becoming head of Asia-Pacific and member of the firm’s executive board. Lee took over from Dr Thomas Meier, who wanted to return to Switzerland and continues as non-executive vice chairman for wealth management, reporting to Boris Collardi, chief executive. In his new role, Meier took over a number of key roles at group level. 

Having worked at Credit Suisse Group for a total of 11 years, Lee was most recently market group head for Hong Kong at that firm; prior to this, Lee acted as CEO Asia of Clariden Leu from 2009 to 2012 and headed the integration of the bank into Credit Suisse in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012/13. Before this, Lee was head of the private wealth management arm for Southeast Asia / South Asia at Deutsche Bank for five years and also held a number of other top management positions in the financial industry in Asia.

In Meier’s case, his change of role came after he helped to build and led Julius Baer’s business in Asia-Pacific for ten years and managed the integration of Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management business into Julius Baer’s local operations.

Also at Julius Baer, a team head for the bank in Asia, Saurabh Gupta, left his role as executive director. Gupta has been based in Singapore. For the past two months, according to his LinkedIn profile, Gupta had been managing director of M! Capital Ventures Pte in Singapore, of which he is also co-founder. Gupta's other recent roles included working at ANZ, where he was head of strategic business development from February 2010 to July of that year, based in Singapore. After that, he was senior director and market head in Singapore for Julius Baer.

Standard Chartered appointed three senior figures to beef up its compliance teams in different regions, including a former US military intelligence officer. The appointments were to the firm's financial crime compliance team, which is run by John Cusack, the global head of FCC.

Steve Munro, head of sanctions compliance, is based in New York and reports to Cusack. He joined from GE Capital where he was global anti-money laundering leader, a role which includes responsibility for sanctions. Previously Munro held senior financial crime positions with Societé Generale and served as deputy chief counsel for the US Treasury's office of foreign assets control and as a US military intelligence officer.

Carmel Speers was named as head of FCC for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP), based in Dubai. Speers joined from JP Morgan in the UK and has more than 25 years of professional experience. She reports to Jeremy Trevis, regional head of legal and compliance for MENAP, and to David Howes, deputy head of FCC.

David Clark was named as head of FCC surveillance analysis and academy. Like Munro, he joins from GE Capital where he was head of international financial crime compliance. Previously, he held senior financial crime positions with Barclays, ABN Amro and HM Revenue Customs & Excise. He is based in London, reporting to Markus Schulz, head of FCC controls.

In addition, Duncan Wales joined as deputy general counsel. He is based in London and assists David Fein, group general counsel, in managing the group’s legal affairs. Wales joined from ICAP, the inter-dealer brokerage firm, where he served as group general counsel since 2008. Prior to that position, he occupied a number of senior roles within ICAP, including director of government affairs, general counsel for EMEA and Asia and senior counsel to the electronic broking division.

Prior to its acquisition by ICAP in 2003, Wales was director of legal affairs at BrokerTec. He began his career as a solicitor at Clifford Chance and served as in-house counsel at ING Barings.

AXA Investment Managers hired Kelly NG as director, private bank, Asia. Based in Singapore, Kelly is responsible for boosting AXA IM’s coverage of private banks and wealth managers in Asia. He reports to the company's head of sales and marketing for Asia, Terence Lam. He joined from Permal Singapore where he was vice president, business development, covering South Asia from 2011. Before this, he held various business development and marketing roles at Citi Singapore.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors appointed one of its senior members, Tony Ho, as managing director of RICS East Asia. Ho is responsible for overseeing RICS' business development and the recognition of RICS’ standards and qualifications for the East Asia region, covering Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South Korea and Macau. A graduate of Indiana State University, Ho has been working in real estate and asset valuation consultation for close to two decades. He was based in Shanghai during his tenure as the deputy director of RICS North Asia last year.

A prominent network of former top-level policymakers from the worlds of diplomacy, defence, security and business appointed William Zarit, former minister for commercial affairs at the US Embassy in Beijing, as a senior counsellor at the firm. He is based in the Chinese capital. The Cohen Group’s range of coverage areas includes financial services and investment. Comprised of more than 60 professionals, and with offices in Washington, London, Beijing, Tianjin, New Delhi, and Dubai, it provides clients with insights and assistance to better understand and shape the business, political, legal, regulatory, and media environments in which they operate. It is affiliated to international law firm DLA Piper.

Professional Investment Advisory Services appointed Winson Yap to the newly-created role of chief distribution officer. Yap, who brought 20 years of life insurance and financial advisory experience, most recently worked at Tokio Marine Life Insurance as chief insurance officer.

Fidelity Japanese Values, part of Fidelity Worldwide Investment, appointed Nicholas Price as portfolio manager of the company. Price joined Fidelity's Tokyo office over 20 years ago. In his new Tokyo-based role, he will assume full responsibility of the company's portfolio in September, taking over from Shinji Higaki.

Nikko Asset Management promoted Eleanor Seet to head of Asia ex-Japan and Yasuaki Ogiwara to president of its Hong Kong business. Based in Singapore, Seet joined the firm in 2011 and helped to grow its footprint in the region through its suite of Asian fixed income, Asian equity and global multi-asset capabilites. Ogiwara, based in Hong Kong, joined Nikko in April and previously served as president of Nomura Asset Management in Hong Kong. Before this, he worked at Nomura Securities, where he headed up sales and business development in markets including Taiwan and Europe.

Edmond de Rothschild appointed Jing Zhang Brogle to the role of chief executive for its Hong Kong branch. Her new post is the same position that had been vacated by the departure of Monique Chan, who has left the firm. Brogle reports to Emmanuel Fievet, head of international private banking at Edmond de Rothschild Group. Most recently, Brogle founded a multi-family office business, which Edmond de Rothschild said would be integrated into its business.