The most dramatic executive move story of the month, and even perhaps the year was that up to 80 wealth managers in the London wealth manage...

The most dramatic executive move story of the month, and even perhaps the year was that up to 80 wealth managers in the London wealth management business of UBS have been reported to have left, or are in the process of leaving, to join a new private client business.

The former head of Laing & Cruickshank, Michael Kerr-Dineen, has taken a group of 50 senior executives to work on a new private client venture called Cheviot Asset Management. Laing & Cruickshank was bought by UBS two years ago.

Mr Kerr-Dineen resigned from UBS over a month ago to oversee the rapid expansion of Cheviot. He has enlisted the support and backing of Martin Hughes, a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager.

Mr Hughes runs the Toscafund, one of Europe’s largest single hedge funds with $4 billion under management. He bought Cheviot through Old Oak Holdings, which he has set up to create a broadly based financial services group. Old Oak is to be chaired by Sir George Mathewson, the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, who recently took over the chairmanship of Toscafund.

Mr Kerr-Dineen is believed to be speaking to private bankers from other firms to join Cheviot, which aims to have at least 100 staff in place by the end of the year.

Thibault de Fontaubert is joining the London office of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie in August 2006 as a senior private banker and Executive Vice President.

Mr de Fontaubert joins from UBS where he was a private banking director.

Taylor Young Investment Management, the private client, pensions and charities investment specialist, has appointed Peter Thomson to the role of chief executive officer.

He joined the firm from Gerard in 2004 to take up the position of chief investment officer.

Mr Thomson spent 18 years at Gerard where he managed private client, trust and charity mandates. He was also head of the investment processes committee and head of Gerard's global strategy division.

Philip Todd who had held the position of CEO at Taylor Young for the last three years will remain on the executive committee as a director and continue to take part in key investment decisions.

Mr Thomson's appointment comes at a time of significant expansion at Taylor Young. In the last three years the firm has seen assets under management grow 227 per cent, from £148 million ($277 million) at the end of March 2003 to £480 million at the end of March this year.

According to UK media reports, Gerard London has suffered two more defections.

Andrew Eliot and Lawrence Cotton, who are thought to have been major producers in one of the firm’s largest teams are rumoured to have joined UK-based stockbroker W.H. Ireland.
Elissa Bayer, former head of private clients at Gerrard Investment Management, is joining Insinger de Beaufort, the Anglo-Dutch investment bank.

In her new role Ms Bayer will be director of asset management and will help develop Insinger's private client business which at present is 20-strong.

London-based wealth management search consultants, Culliford Edmunds Associates have appointed David Grant as a director.

Mr Grant has been in financial search since 1993 and in recent years has increasingly focused on the investment management aspects of wealth management, and on specialist corporate finance roles.

He has recently initiated a parallel practice in public affairs recruitment, with particular reference to government relations in the financial sector.

Credit Suisse, the Swiss banking group, has strengthened its UK private banking operation with the appointment of Jon Wagstaffe as an advisor covering the East Anglia region, which includes Norwich, Ipswich and Cambridge.

Mr Wagstaffe will report to Richard Algar, vice president and head of the UK regional team for Credit Suisse private banking.

London-based MPC Investors has hired Miles Geldard, the former global head of JP Morgan Asset Management’s multi-asset and global strategy team. The move follows MPC’s hire of the former Deutsche Asset Management global chief investment officer, Peter Harrison, three months ago as the firm’s chief executive.

Elaine Aarons has joined specialist private client law firm Withers from Eversheds where she had been head of the firm’s London employment practice for 16 years.

Ms Aarons will focus on advising senior executives and owner-managed businesses on their employment issues.

Citigroup Private Bank has hired three new private bankers for its UK teams in London and Geneva.

Annabel Stephens joins as a senior investment counsellor, based in London and reporting to Steve Walker, director of the UK investment team. Ms Stephens joins from Credit Suisse Asset Management where she worked in institutional marketing since 2002.

In this role, she was responsible for all aspects of cross selling, documentation and trustee education as well as devising and implementing marketing strategies, specifically for pooled funds. Previous to her joining Credit Suisse, Ms Stephens worked for Barclays Stockbrokers Advisory Team.

Andrew James joins as a London-based banker from Sarasin Chiswell where he was head of sales and marketing for Southern England and Scotland, responsible for the retention and maintenance of the existing client base, sales to new contacts and the establishment of alliances with third party distribution channels. At The Citigroup Private Bank, Mr James will focus on the UK onshore market.

Andrew De Palma will join CPB’s Geneva office as an investment counsellor, reporting jointly to senior investment counsellors, Olly Gregson and Jan De Vries. Mr De Palma joins from Calyon Private Bank in Monaco where he worked as an investment advisor focusing on the Middle East since January 2005. Previously, he worked at Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for the distribution of global convertible bonds to Swiss-based institutional clients.

Curtis Childs has been hired by London financial boutique Eden Financial as the director responsible for private clients and wealth management.

Mr Childs represents one of the many who have left Dryden Wealth Management since Fortis bought it last year.

He will report to David Bearman, Eden Financial's chief executive.

Singer & Friedlander, the UK investment bank and fund manager, has managed to persuade a group of five private client specialists in the firm’s Isle of Man business to stay, despite an earlier announcement that they were leaving to join Close Private Wealth Management.

The Isle of Man team includes Richard Stanley and at least four other fund managers. A spokesman for Singer confirmed that they were staying, despite an announcement from Close over two weeks ago that Mr Stanley and 13 other portfolio managers were to join in July from Singer.

Lehman Brothers has hired Tom Douie from Morgan Stanley Asset Management to develop pan-European third-party distribution to wealth managers and institutional investors.

Mr Douie was previously lead relationship manager for private banking at Morgan Stanley.
Glyn Jones, chief executive of Thames River Capital, has resigned after a seven month review of the company. Charlie Porter, co-founder of the business and currently president, will resume the chief executive role.

ABN Amro has revealed that the bank has hired Graeme Le Saux, the ex-England and premiership footballer to be “an ambassador for the private banking sports desk”, which advises sportsmen and women where to put their money.

Mr Le Saux took the position, according to one report, after quitting the BBC when he failed to get a top commentating role for the World Cup.

Mike Mount has been appointed to the newly created position of head of intermediary sales at Seven Investment Management, a division of UK-based stockbroker Killik & Co.

In his new role Mr Mount will be responsible for establishing relationships with UK-based wealth manager networks and practices.

Mr Mount joined 7IM as a client advisor in 2004 after having worked as a portfolio manager in private client investment management at Close Brothers and Govett Investment Management.

Star rated UK fund manager Matthew Taylor has left Cazenove Capital Management and is joining London-based multi-family office Fleming Family & Partners, according to market sources.

Citigroup has hired Anthony Cockett to its UK banking team; he joins from Coutts, where he was a senior private banker.

Mr Cockett will be a director at Citigroup and report to Peter Charrington, head of the private bank for the UK and Greece.

Mr Cockett began his career with Lloyds Private Banking in 1989 where he worked as private banker until 1996.

United States
US-based Bear Stearns has appointed Bill Sappington to the firm's Private Client Services division as a senior managing director.

Mr Sappington will head the firm's initiative to build a credit and lending program, giving clients broader and more flexible financing options.

Mellon Financial, the US investment manager, has bolstered its wealth management sales team with three new hires in the Rocky Mountain region.

Sarah Williamson, Lary Weintraub, and Gregory Rosenblum will be based in Denver and report to regional president Jon Stuck.

Silvercrest Asset Management has announced that an integrated wealth management team is joining its New York office.

Matthew Arpano, Cameron Burns, and Norbert Vonnegut have joined Silvercrest as partners in the firm and as managing directors with responsibility for portfolio management.

Bank of America Wealth & Investment Management has made a series of senior hires for its philanthropic management arm. The bank has hired Carol Yonack as director of its Southwest region (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Mexico). Ms Yonack joins from Wells Fargo Philanthropic Management, where she was a senior sales director.

Diann Petrino also joins the philanthropic management arm. Ms Petrino was formerly director of client administration services at US Trust.

Canada-based Bank of Nova Scotia has appointed has Barb Mason to the position of executive vice-president of wealth management.

Ms Mason, who is currently executive vice-president of marketing, sales and service at the bank, will be responsible for growing the bank's wealth-management business.

Merrill Lynch has appointed Christine Pagliaro as sales manager for its private banking and investment group in Los Angeles. She will report to Devon Baranski, managing director of Merrill’s Los Angeles private banking office.

Ms Pagliaro is based in Merrill's Century Park East branch, which is the largest among the firm's private banking offices catering to ultra wealthy clients.

Ms Pagliaro replaces Michael Rogers, who has recently followed James Gorman to Morgan Stanley and is now regional director of private wealth management for Southern California.

Bank of America has announced the appointment of two new marketing executives for its Global Wealth & Investment Management division.

James Drury has been named marketing director for Bank of America's global wealth & investment management unit. He will report to Dean Athanasia, global wealth & investment management sales, service & execution executive and will be based in Boston.

Andrew Schell has been appointed affluent segment marketing executive, reporting to Mr Drury. In this role, Mr Schell will lead the development and execution of marketing strategies focused on the needs of affluent individuals, to be delivered through Bank of America's recently created premier banking & investments unit.

Switzerland
Law firm Baker & McKenzie has added four new associates to its international private banking practice group in Switzerland.

Belinda Bellingan joins the B&M’s Geneva office to advise on trust and estate issues. Ms Bellingan joins from Cititrust in Zurich, having also practised law in the Isle of Man and South Africa.

Dustin Milne joins the international private banking group in Zurich to advise on trust and estate issues for multi-national families and was previously with Thacher, Proffitt & Wood in New York.

Lyubo Georgiev joins the Zurich office from Jones Day in Washington D.C. where he focused on international issues.

Marie-Thérèse Goré Yates joins the Zurich office from Curtis, Maller-Prevost, Colt & Mosle in New York, where she advised US and European clients on a range of matters.

Basel-based La Roche & Co has appointed Christoph Best Gloor as a partner. The appointment brings the bank’s number of unlimited liability partners to four and includes Johann Jakob La Roche, Andreas Michael La Roche and Francois Labhardt.

La Roche & Co is Basel’s oldest private bank and can trace its roots back to 1787. It is one of the 14 remaining traditional private banks owned by partners.

Scott Sullivan, general counsel of Julius Baer's Asset Management division, has been promoted to general counsel of the Julius Baer Group with immediate effect. He succeeds Franco Taisch who has held the position since 1998 and who is leaving Julius Baer to pursue other opportunities, according to a statement from the bank.

Christoph Hiestand, former head of corporate & regulatory matters, becomes deputy group general counsel.

Olivier Bizon, a senior private banker with Julius Baer, has left, according to reports in the Swiss press.

Mr Bizon reported to Jean-Marie de Charriere, the former head of private banking in francophone Switzerland for the Zurich-based bank, who has also recently announced his departure.

Mr Bizon previously worked for Ferrier Lullin, which was recently acquired by Julius Baer.

The departures follow the announcement that Roman von Ah, the group's head of asset management for continental Europe, has left Julius Baer "to pursue other opportunities".

Europe
Lloyds TSB International Private Banking has appointed Virginie Raux as the new country manager for its Luxembourg office.

Ms Raux joins IPB following nine years with Lloyds TSB in a number of strategy, business development and line management executive posts in London, Paris and Hong Kong. In the past two years, Ms Raux has led Lloyds TSB Offshore (Channel Islands)’s International Services strategy.

SG Hambros Bank & Trust has appointed Emma Perez as its new managing director for its Gibraltar business. The appointment is an internal promotion; Ms Perez was previously deputy managing director and joined SG Hambros from Credit Suisse in 2001.

Franco Cassar Loporto has been appointed new country manager and head of international corporate for Barclays in Gibraltar.

Mr Loporto, who will start his new role on 1 June, joins from a similar position at SG Hambros.

Mr Loporto, a Maltese national, previously ran NatWest in the UK dependency.

Reporting to Tom Kalaris, Mr Loporto's remit will include Barclay's wealth management operation in Gibraltar.

Fortis Private Banking has appointed Fred Bos as its new head after the sudden departure of the previous head Rob ten Heggeler, who left to join the board of Rabobank International after just a little more than a year in the job.

The appointment is an internal promotion – Mr Bos was previously responsible for Fortis’s commercial banking activities in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Asia and the US.

Mr Bos is also member of the executive board of Fortis Bank (Netherlands) Holdings. He started his career in 1991 with Bank Mees & Hope, one of Fortis's predecessors.

Rob ten Heggeler, the head of the private banking business of Fortis, has left to join Rabobank International.

Mr ten Heggeler had been in his position for just over a year when he was appointed from his then position as head of commercial banking for Fortis in the Netherlands.

He will be moving into a non-private banking position at Rabobank, where he will be a member of the board and will be responsible for corporate clients in the Netherlands.

Middle East
Qatar National Bank subsidiary Ansbacher, has appointed Eric Lorentz as the senior regional director of its Middle Eastern operation.

Mr Lorentz, who will be based in new offices in Doha, Qatar, joins from Barclays Private Bank, where he had recruited and led a private banking team that spanned London, Geneva, and Dubai. He has also held senior positions with JP Morgan and Citibank in the Middle East as well as in New York and London.

Joining Mr Lorentz in Doha are Rim Esreb and Scot Laing. Mrs Esreb joins Ansbacher from Schroders where she was an associate director.

Mr Laing joins the Qatar team from Ansbacher's operations in the Channel Islands where he was an investment manager for the last two years.

Asia
Yeong Phick Fui, who built up the private banking business for the Singaporean bank DBS, has resigned, according to local reports. Ms Yeong had been with DBS for more than five years and has gone to UBS.

The departure follows a spate of resignations at the bank. Steve Ingram, head of technology and operations, John Mitchell, chief credit officer and Stephen Finch, head of DBS debt capital markets, have all recently resigned.
Citigroup Private Bank has appointed Dr Fong Cheung Hong, a well-known banking strategist, to its burgeoning Singapore office. She will take up a senior private banking position from 13 June.

Dr Fong will report to Ms Tan Sushan, managing director, Citigroup Private bank, Singapore.

Before joining Citigroup Dr Fong, who has thirteen years experience analysing Asian banking markets, headed up the Strategy/Asset Allocation/Resource Centre at DBS Banking Group in Singapore. She has also held positions at Nomura and JP Morgan.