People Moves

Executive Moves - January 2010

Wendy Spires Deputy Editor 2 February 2010

Executive Moves - January 2010

January got off to a brisk start in moves to and from wealth management firms.

North America

CitizensTrust, the wealth management division of California-based Citizens Business Bank, hired William Zaleski as manager of trust services. He reports to Chris Walters, executive vice president of the bank and head of CitizensTrust. Mr Zaleski was most recently a senior wealth advisor at Dubuque Bank & Trust.

First Republic Bank, a private banking and wealth management division of Bank of America, hired Linda Cheresh as a relationship manager. Ms Cheresh joins First Republic from Wells Fargo where she was most recently vice president of its private client division.

Fidelity Investments said head of institutional platforms, Charles Goldman will leave the company at the end of March. The Boston-based firm hired Mr Goldman in November 2008 very shortly after he left Schwab Advisor Services, where he led the unit as executive vice president. No replacement for Mr Goldman has been named.

City National Bank hired Matthew Benson as a vice president at its private client services division, focusing on high net worth clients, mainly based in downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. Mr Benson joins from US Trust-Bank of America, Private Wealth Management in Pasadena.

A former Schwab Advisor Services executive, David Welling, has been appointed chief solutions officer at Black Diamond Performance Reporting. Mr Welling, recently a vice president at Schwab, will oversee sales, marketing, product management and client solutions and will be a member of the Black Diamond senior management team.

Bermuda-based Capital G Bank hired Greg Soares as a senior private banker and Nancy Stevens as a private banker. Mr Soares’ has held a number of client relationship positions at Butterfield Bank and HSBC in Bermuda, London and Hong Kong. Ms Stevens, meanwhile, was formerly an associate private banker at HSBC Private Bank, working with private clients, trusts and small institutions.

Barclays Wealth appointed Linda Willis Eydt - formerly of UBS - as a director and regional manager of its Atlanta office. Ms Eydt was most recently executive director and branch office manager for UBS in Atlanta. In her new role Ms Eydt will be responsible for managing all aspects of Barclays Wealth's Atlanta branch, along with growing the firm’s regional business. She will report to Jack Petersen, managing director and head of wealth management for the Americas.

Alfred Berg, the Nordic asset management company which is part of Fortis Investment Management, appointed Dr Larry Pohlman and Amitabh Dugar to its quantitative strategies team as chief investment officer and portfolio manager respectively.

Dr Pohlman joins the company from Wellington Management, where he was director of quantitative research, while Mr Dugar formerly managed US and international equity portfolios at Mellon Capital Management

Gluskin Sheff, the Toronto-headquartered investment manager, appointed Patrick Keeley and David Vankka as vice presidents, risk management. Mr Keeley, who will be based in Toronto, was most recently co-president of RBC Phillips Hager & North Investment Counsel, having previously held senior positions with Bank of Montreal and Charles Schwab Canada. Mr Vankka joins the firm from Tristone Capital, where he was managing director, institutional sales and trading. In his new role he will be based in Calgary.

Barclays Wealth appointed Anthony Valvo as head of credit structuring, Americas. Mr Valvo joins Barclays Wealth from Citigroup’s global wealth management division, where he was most recently a senior credit officer, managing structured lending for the high net worth business in the mid-Atlantic, and for the business finance segment nationally.

Northern Trust appointed Lyle Logan to lead its new global financial institutions group. Mr Logan most recently held the post of managing director, institutional sales and client servicing for Northern Trust Global Investments since 2005.

The US arm of Royal Bank of Canada’s Global Asset Management hired Joe Lyons, Nancy Mangraviti, Matthew McPhee and Whit Porter as part of its launch of an infrastructure investment group to be based in Boston. The team comes together from State Street Global Advisors, Macquarie and Bank of America; all had previously worked together at SSGA.

Wells Fargo's Family Wealth business named Patricia Armstrong head of Family Dynamics, expanding its multi-generational wealth management capabilities. Ms Armstrong was latterly human resources director for Wells Fargo Wealth Management.

Arne Boudewyn also joined the Family Dynamics team as a family wealth consultant. He was formerly vice president for Wells Fargo Corporate Human Resources.

Additionally, the company hired Mary Mewha as regional managing director and Kevin Long as wealth consultant. Ms Mewha rejoins the company as the new regional managing director for Family Wealth. Before returning to Wells Fargo, she was the head of family wealth at First Republic Bank. Mr Long joins the Wells Fargo Family Wealth team as a dedicated wealth management consultant. He was previously with Wells Fargo Private Bank.

The wealth management arm of Royal Bank of Canada lifted out the Menefee/Meagher team from Smith Barney. The team, which consists of John Menefee, senior vice president – financial consultant, and Tom Meagher, senior vice president – financial consultant, is now based in RBC Wealth Management’s Bend, Oregon office. In their new roles the duo, who specialise in fixed income and equities, report to Stuart Johns, director of the Bend branch.

Sand Hill Advisors, the San Francisco-based wealth management firm, hired Brian Dombkowski as its chief investment officer. Mr Dombkowski will also serve as chairman of Sand Hill’s investment committee, and become a member of its executive committee. Mr Dombkowski was latterly the co-chief investment officer at Stafford Capital Management.

Citi Private Bank appointed Tracey Warson as a managing director and west coast regional executive in the US, to be based in San Francisco. Ms Warson joins from US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management where she was western division executive leading offices across California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Encore Bank recruited James Lykes as senior vice president, manager, private banking and Scott Shackouls as vice president, private banking. Mr Lykes was most recently SVP, private banking - Galleria at Amegy Bank of Texas. Mr Shackouls was most recently AVP at Amegy Bank of Texas.

Legacy Family Office hired Debby Kurtyka into its Naples-based multi-family office wealth management team. Before joining Legacy, she was the chief financial officer for the Collier Family Office, also in Naples.

Atlantic Trust made three hires into its Austin and Washington, DC offices: Craig Falls at the level of senior vice president in Austin, and Steven Smith and Jeff Dillman as managing directors in Washington.

Prior to joining Atlantic Trust as a relationship manager, Mr Falls was the founding partner of Falls Smith, a Texas law firm focused on complex business and personal financial issues. Mr Smith joins as a senior relationship manager and business development professional from Citi Private Bank. Mr Dillman joins Atlantic Trust’s Washington team as a senior relationship manager; he was previously a principal and senior client account manager for Bessemer Trust Company of Delaware.

Florida-based Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust appointed Aaron Pearlman as its first banker to be permanently based in Aspen. Mr Pearlman was most recently Aspen president for American National Bank.

Milwaukee-based Baird appointed Smith Barney veterans Charles (Chuck) Singer and James Carideo to lead its wealth management offices in Indianapolis, Indiana and Tampa, Florida. Both men were formerly branch managers for Smith Barney – Mr Singer formerly managed the firm’s Indianapolis branch, along with two satellite offices in Indiana, while Mr Carideo oversaw the Los Angeles office.

Bank of America’s newly appointed chief executive, Brian Moynihan, named finance chief Joe Price to head consumer banking. Mr Price will be president of the consumer, small-business and card-banking unit, and step aside as chief financial officer.

Thomas Weisel Partners Group, the US-listed investment bank, added to its teams of analysts and private client managers. Charles Chon joined as a senior healthcare analyst covering medical devices, Jordan Rohan joined as a senior analyst covering internet services, and Michael Smith joined as a managing director in private client services focused on Canada. Mr Chon was most recently a medical devices analyst at Goldman Sachs, Mr Rohan recently worked as a senior internet, media & broadcasting analyst at RBC Capital Markets, and Mr Smith was a co-founder of Vida Wealth Management.

The US-based Investment Management Consultants Association hired Sean Walters as its new executive director, taking over from Edythe Pahl, who is to retire. Mr Walters is currently the organisation’s deputy executive director.

First Republic Bank hired Julie Schneider, a senior banker, to work in its Palo Alto office. Ms Schneider will be a senior commercial lender in the bank’s business banking group. Before joining First Republic, Ms Schneider worked for Silicon Valley Bank for 17 years, most recently as a director in its private equity services group.

Cambridge Trust Company, a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Cambridge Bancorp, appointed William Yates as vice president, business development officer for its wealth management department. Mr Yates was most recently senior vice president at Cannon Financial Institute, the wealth management training and consulting company.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management recruited Lisa Simington to manage its private banking business for the southeast US, covering Florida and Georgia. Ms Simington worked with Wachovia Bank in both Florida and Georgia for nearly 18 years. Her last position at Wachovia was that of wealth management director for the state of Georgia.

Janus Capital Group appointed Richard Weil as chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors. Mr Weil joins Janus Capital Group from PIMCO, where he was most recently global head of PIMCO Advisory.

Citi announced the departure of John Deutch, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency who is one of the US bank’s longest-serving directors. Mr Deutch, who has been on the board of Citi for 13 years, first told the other directors he would step down after the annual shareholder meeting last April.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed two managing directors of sales in Georgia and Florida. Garrett Alton will be based in Atlanta, reporting to Georgia chairman Dana Halberg, while Timothy Goering will be based in the firm’s West Palm Beach office, reporting to Craig Sutherland, south-east US president. Mr Alton was most recently a financial advisor focusing on business development for Merrill Lynch in Atlanta. Mr Goering, meanwhile, joins BNY Mellon from Seaside National Bank, where he was a president for nearly two years.

Nashville Bank & Trust hired Peggy Craig and Bill Farris as senior vice presidents of private banking. Ms Craig and Mr Farris join the firm from SunTrust Bank. At SunTrust Ms Craig was first vice president in the wealth and investment management division and Mr Farris was first vice president and senior lender in the private wealth management group.

Bessemer Trust appointed Derek Lemke-von Ammon as managing director and senior resident officer for its San Francisco office. Mr Lemke-von Ammon, who currently oversees Bessemer’s client relationships and business development in northern California, will report to Mark Lipson, Bessemer’s managing director and Western Region Head.

US private investment firm Horizon Asset Management named Douglas Kramer, a former partner at Goldman Sachs as chief executive. Mr Kramer, who left New York-based private equity firm Quadrangle Capital Partners last year, joins former Goldman colleague Hugh Ross, who was hired as Horizon's chief operating officer in April 2009.

Atlanta-based SunTrustBanks appointed Todd LaRocca and Billy Crafton, along with their respective teams, to its sports and entertainment specialty group, forming a new San Diego office for its private wealth management division.

Mr LaRocca joins as a co-head of the San Diego office and sports practice for SunTrust's sports and entertainment division, having previously headed CSI Capital Management's office San Diego. Mr Crafton, who will jointly head SunTrust’s San Diego office and sports practice, was previously the principal of Martin Kelly Capital Management, a San Diego-based firm he founded in 2006 having begun his career at CSI Capital Management.

Private Bank of California hired David Misch as chief executive. He had served as chairman and chief executive of Mellon 1st Business Bank in Los Angeles from 2006 until 2008, when it was acquired by BNY Mellon. After that, he headed BNY Mellon’s boutique private bank in Florida.

Private Bank of California also appointed Todd Neilson, a founding director, as non-executive chairman. Mr Neilson has been chairman of the bank’s audit committee since the bank opened in 2005. Messrs Misch and Neilson replace former chairman and acting CEO Steven Broidy, who is retiring.

UK

Morningstar Associates Europe appointed Charles Barnick as managing director of international investment consulting. He will be responsible for the firm’s business development and client relationships across Europe. Prior to this appointment he was chief executive of Coronation Fund Managers, where he was responsible for the firm's international fund of funds business.

Eden Financial appointed Tiziano Chiappini and Luther Mead as co-heads of its institutional bond desk. They will also be responsible for leading fixed income development within the firm’s global markets division. They are joined by former colleagues Michele Fumagalli and Stefano Panciroli. Prior to joining Eden, Messrs Chiappini and Mead worked at Newedge.

Gartmore added Richard Turner to its distribution team. He joins as account director for Gartmore’s UK retail distribution team. Previously, he worked for Williams de Broë. Mr Turner will be responsible for the distribution of Gartmore’s funds to wealth managers, IFAs and third party distributors in the Midlands.

Sir Brian Pitman was named chairman of Virgin Money. As yet, it is unclear whether Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire intends to enter the wealth management sector.

Barclays Wealth appointed former Royal Bank of Scotland manager, Ruth Davis, as director of client management for the ultra high net worth market in UK & Ireland and Europe, Middle East and Africa. This new role will be based in London. At RBS, she was a programme manager in the global banking & markets division.

Morgan Stanley hired Umit Kumecal and Cornelia Choe as sales programme associates for its private wealth management team. They will cover the Turkish and UK markets respectively. Mr Kumecal previously worked for Citi Private Bank in London, as coverage banker for Turkey. Ms Choe joins from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation in London.

IPS Capital appointed Chris Brown as co-chief investment officer. Prior to joining IPS Capital, Mr Brown was a partner and portfolio manager at Cinnamon Capital.

Henderson New Star appointed James Rushmere as manager of global partnerships. Mr Rushmere joined from the European Finance House.

Brewin Dolphin appointed Lynne Lamont as its first head of charities for Scotland and Northern Ireland, based in Edinburgh. Ms Lamont has managed funds for charities, private individuals, family trusts and pension funds, and joins the firm from Newton Investment Management.

Allium Capital added Lindsay Coates to its relationship management team. She joins from Cofunds and will advise Allium’s board on client relationship management.

Phil Cutts, head of advisory for the British Isles at RBC Wealth Management is to retire at the end of March. He has been with the RBC group since 1985.

Guy Cornelius will return to UBS as head of sterling credit sales, after having left the firm three years ago to join Lehman Brothers. After the demise of Lehman Brothers, Mr Cornelius joined Evolution Securities.

Law firm DWF hired Paul Bricknell and Henry Venables into the private client unit in its Manchester office. Mr Bricknell joins as an associate from Mace & Jones; Mr Venables joins from Halliwells.

Farrer & Co appointed three new partners: Keir Barrie, Nick Dunnell and Rhoddy Voremberg – along with Clive Lovatt as senior consultant. Mr Barrie joins the corporate team as a private equity and venture capital law specialist. Mr Dunnell specialises in onshore and offshore trusts and personal tax planning. Mr Voremberg advises on estate planning, UK trusts, succession and taxation.

Mr Lovatt, a construction lawyer, joins the property division as a consultant advising property developers and banks providing property finance.

AWD Chase de Vere appointed Nils Frowein as non-executive chairman, while also appointing Beat Hubacher and Dr Ralph Moller-Bosling as non-executive directors.

RWC Partners appointed Lakshman Harendran to its convertible bonds team. Mr Harendran joins from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he was part of the fixed income team.

Nucleus Financial appointed Barry Neilson as business development director to lead its business development team.

In its Market Area UK/International segment, which includes the UK, Africa, Israel, the Netherlands and Nordic countries, Credit Suisse appointed Matthew Spencer head of intermediaries management with immediate effect. He will relocate to Zurich and has been at the bank since 2007.

John Stemper was appointed market officer UK, effective 1 March, also to be based in Zurich. He has worked at Credit Suisse since 2001.

In its onshore private banking business, Charlie Egerton-Warburton will become head of Credit Suisse’s combined Finance Market Professionals and Complex Clients group. He will remain a member of the UK executive management committee.

Richard Algar assumes responsibility for the Entrepreneurs and Corporate Executives group. He will relocate to London and join the UK executive management committee. Andrew Cattle and Brian McRitchie both assume senior relationship manager roles.

Collins Stewart Wealth Management hired Richard Christmas for its recently-launched Corporate Executive and Employee Trading (CEET) brokerage desk. He joins from Credit Suisse.

Saffery Champness, the private client accountants and business advisory, appointed Nicola Brooks to its marketing team as senior business development manager. Ms Brooks joins the firm from Knight Frank, the property advisory, where she was head of commercial marketing and communications.

The Standard Chartered Private Bank appointed Ali Khalid as director-private clients on its Middle East and North Africa desk. He previously worked as a client advisor at UBS up until the final months of last year.

The offshore law firm Mourant du Feu & Jeune promoted two of its Jersey-based advocates, Mathew Cook and Craig Stewart, to the position of senior associate. Mr Cook is an advocate in the litigation practice area of the firm, while Mr Swart is an advocate in the trust practice area.

UBS Wealth Management appointed Jatin Gadoya to its London international team as a senior client advisor on the global south Asia desk. Mr Gadoya joins from Deutsche Bank, where he was in the UK key client group covering resident non-domiciled and non-resident Indian clients.

Chicago-based Northern Trust named Paul Guilbert as the new head of its Jersey office. In his new role, Mr Guilbert will oversee all aspects of service delivery to clients who receive offshore fund administration support from the Jersey office.

Edinburgh-based investment management group Baillie Gifford & Co said it will appoint three new partners on 1 May this year. This includes Richard McGrail, who heads the information systems department; Will Sutcliffe, a senior portfolio manager in the emerging markets equity team; and Nick Thomas, who works mainly on Baillie Gifford’s EAFE Alpha equity product.

Peter Hollis, a partner at Baillie Gifford and head of its European equity team, will leave the firm for personal reasons at the end of April 2011.

South Africa’s Standard Bank appointed Chris Marshall as a director in its Jersey-based funds administration team and Sally Rochester as head of internal audit for its offshore group. Mr Marshall joins Standard Bank from Mourant in Jersey. Ms Rochester, meanwhile, joins Standard Bank from KPMG.

Tim Roberts joined UK-based Ignis Asset Management as its new chief operating officer. In his new role Mr Roberts, who joins from McKinsey & Company, will sit on both the group’s asset management executive committee and the Ignis board.

The Investment Management Association appointed Douglas Ferrans as its chairman. Mr Ferrans - the chairman of Invista Real Estate Investment Management - is the successor to Robert Jenkins, who has been appointed chief executive and managing partner of Combinatorics Capital. In addition, the IMA appointed Bob Yerbury deputy chairman and Alan Brown, group chief investment officer at Schroders, has been appointed to the Association’s board.

Charles Stanley, the wealth management and stockbroking firm, appointed Andrew Atkins as head of new fund sales and distribution. He joins from Lloyd George Asset Management and will be in charge of distributing the entire Charles Stanley fund range.

Boston-based MFS Investment Management appointed Stuart McPherson and Ward Griffiths to its equity analyst team. Mr McPherson was formerly with Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Mr Griffiths was most recently a vice president for pan-European equity sales at Citigroup. Meanwhile, Nicole Neubelt has joined MFS’s institutional product management team as vice president, director of product management.

Cazenove Capital Management appointed Louis Greening as a desk-based UK advisory sales consultant. Mr Greening joins Cazenove’s advisory sales team from Skandia, where he worked for two years in the London-based sales team.

Close Asset Management appointed Jonathan Gamble as a director of business development. Mr Gamble joins Close from Cazenove Capital Management.

Quilter, which is part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, appointed Richard Sneideris as an investment manager for its Manchester office. Mr Sneideris joins from Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.

RBC Global Asset Management appointed Philippe Langham and Michael Joynson to its London team. Mr Langham joins as a portfolio manager, responsible for establishing and leading RBC GAM’s emerging markets equities team. Mr Joynson, who joins from Société Générale Asset Management in London, was hired as a senior member of the European equities team.

AXA Investment Managers appointed Jon Bailie as global head of distribution and as a member of the management board, to be based in London.

Guardian Managers, the investment boutique, appointed Vincent Orlando as director and chief executive officer. Mr Orlando joins the firm from Marcol, the private equity group.

Nucleus Financial appointed Standard Life’s Aileen Mathieson as chief financial officer, succeeding Neil Howitt, who has assumed a consultancy role with the business. In her new role Ms Mathieson will be responsible for overseeing the financial affairs of the business.

Tom Woolgrove will leave the post of managing director of UK private banking at Lloyds Banking Group in order to join RBS Insurance as managing director in April this year. In his new role Mr Woolgrove will be responsible for household and life, motor, pricing and underwriting.

HSBC Private Bank appointed Stuart Chapell to the newly-created role of head of insurance and financial solutions. In his new role Mr Chapell will work closely with Private Wealth Solutions and the bank’s specialist tax group to develop insurance and tax-aware services for UK clients.

Speechly Bircham, the law firm which provides legal advice for the wealth management and private banking industries, appointed Jonathan Bayliss to its financial services group. Mr Bayliss joins from Farrer & Co, where he was a senior partner within the financial services team.

AXA Investment Managers appointed Dan Harlow as a portfolio manager at its qualitative equity brand, AXA Framlington. Mr Harlow joins AXA from Montanaro Asset Management.

UK investment house PSigma Investment Management appointed Tom Becket as chief investment officer. Mr Becket, previously head of global investment strategy, joined PSigma in 2004 within its private client team before moving over to the investment team.

Ignis Asset Management appointed Chris Fellingham as chief investment officer, fixed income. Mr Fellingham will assume overall responsibility for all Ignis’ fixed income assets; Peter Reid remains CIO responsible for all other asset classes. Mr Fellingham joins from George Soros’ London-based asset management business.

JP Morgan appointed Cesar Perez as chief investment strategist for private clients in Europe, Middle East and Africa, to be based in London. Prior to joining JP Morgan, Mr Perez was a managing director and head of equities at Al Rajhi Capital Bank Asset Management.

Morgan Stanley appointed Meltem Cagan as an executive director and investment advisor with responsibility for leading the firm’s coverage of the Turkish market. Ms Cagan joins Morgan Stanley from Citi Private Bank, where she was most recently director and head of sales for Turkey.

Coutts & Co, part of Royal Bank of Scotland, appointed Ian Copley as senior private banker for Yorkshire. In his new role Mr Copley will focus on entrepreneurial and family business clients across the region. He joins Coutts from Bank of Scotland Investment Services, where he most recently provided wealth management advisory services to private banking clients.

Polar Capital, the specialist asset management firm, hired John Regnier-Wilson, formerly a senior sales manager at Martin Currie and Axa Framlington. He will be primarily supporting Polar Capital’s UCITs funds range.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has hired Mark Connolly as director of fixed income, with responsibility for the growth and development of SWIP’s fixed income investment management business. He was most recently executive director of distribution and client services at Standard Life Investments.

John Harrison, the chief investment officer of UBS Global Asset Management in the UK, will step down in March, after having been with the Swiss bank for about 20 years. UBS will not replace Mr Harrison, instead the head of currency at UBS Global Asset Management, Jonathan Davies, will take up most of Mr Harrison’s responsibilities in the newly created role of UK investment co-ordinator.

Coutts & Co, the UK private bank, appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its office in Oxford, transferring from the firm’s offices in London.

In her new role, Ms Bradley will have a specific focus on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets.

India Investment Partners, the specialist emerging markets house, appointed former Henderson New Star manager David Cornell to the role of manager, where he will oversee the India Capital Growth Fund.

Adam & Company, the Scottish private bank, announced the retirement of Ray Entwistle as chairman after a five-years in the role. Mr Entwistle’s term ended on 31 December and he has been succeeded by Miller McLean, previously general counsel and group secretary for RBS Group.

UK-listed Liontrust Asset Management appointed Adrian Collins as non-executive chairman. He succeeds Bernard Asher, who stepped down from the role but remains a non-executive director. Mr Collins was appointed to the Board of Liontrust in June 2009 as a non-executive director.

Switzerland

Urs Roth is to resign from his role as chief executive of the Swiss Bankers Association after close to a decade of service. Mr Roth, who has been CEO since January 2001, will officially step down on 16 September 2010.

Banque Morgan Stanley Geneva appointed Mark Sexton as an investment advisor covering Brazil. Mr Sexton joins Morgan Stanley from UBS in London; his career also includes having been senior representative at Societe Generale Americas and head of trust marketing at BNP Paribas Trust Americas.

Reyl & Cie, the Swiss private banking and fund management firm, appointed Raphael Kassin to head up its emerging markets debt team. Mr Kassin comes to Reyl from Credit Suisse, where up to June last year he ran the bank’s emerging markets fixed income team.

The Swiss Federal Council appointed Michael Ambühl as state secretary for international financial and tax matters within the Federal Department of Finance, and Alexander Karrer as deputy state secretary.

Credit Suisse appointed Pamela Thomas-Graham as chief talent, branding and communications officer, joining the Zurich-listed bank from Angelo, Gordon & Co, a New York-based private equity group. Ms Thomas-Graham, who also joins the bank’s executive board, will report to Brady Dougan, Credit Suisse’s chief executive.

Geneva-based Faisal Private Bank named Mark Koch its new chief executive following the resignation of Marco Rochat at the end of 2009.

Helvetia Wealth, the Swiss and Liechtenstein-based asset manager, appointed Professor Gerhard Arminger, a prominent expert on statistics and forecasting, to its board.

Europe

RBS Coutts appointed Michael Vlahovic as the new head of its private banking division in Central and Eastern Europe and as a member of the bank's general management committee, with effect from 19 April. Mr Vlahovic joins RBS Coutts from Credit Suisse, where he was instrumental in the development of the Swiss firm’s private banking operations in Russia, the Ukraine, Kazakstan, Poland and Greece.

UBS appointed Neal Shear as global head of securities at its investment bank. Mr Shear joins the company from Morgan Stanley, where he was most recently co-head of sales and trading.

Crédit Agricole reshuffled a number of staff throughout the group and promoted Michel Mathieu to deputy chief executive, a position he will take up on 1 March upon the retirement of Bernard Mary. Mr Mathieu has worked at Crédit Agricole since 1983.

Quilter appointed John McElroy as investment manager for its Dublin team. Mr McElroy joins from Goodbody Stockbrokers, where he spent ten years working as a portfolio manager, having previously held positions at Guinness & Mahon, Ulster Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Troika Dialog Group, the Russian-based financial services firm, announced that Pavel Teplukhin, its managing director and chairman of the board of directors at Troika Dialog Asset Management, is leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.

Swedbank’s board nomination committee has proposed the replacement of the board’s chairman, while also announcing the nomination of several new board members and the re-election of others. The committee nominated Lars Idermark as new chairman of the board of Swedbank, replacing Carl Eric Stålberg. Mr Idermark and the other proposed members of the board will need to be confirmed at the annual general meeting, which will take place on 26 March in Stockholm.

The management board of HSBC Trinkaus – the group’s German private banking business – appointed Friedrich Merz to the advisory board, and proposed that the advisory board elect him as its chairman to succeed Otto Graf Lambsdorff, who passed away recently.  

FirstRand Wealth Management parted company with wealth manager Mark Taft. Mr Taft was recruited by FirstRand last November as an advisor with the goal of providing bespoke solutions to private clients. Prior to joining FirstRand, Mr Taft was a private banker at Coutts.

Royal Bank of Canada appointed Jim Pettigrew as a non-executive director of Royal Bank of Canada Limited, its London-headquartered European subsidiary. He currently holds non-executive directorships at Hermes and the Edinburgh Investment Trust.

Barclays Wealth appointed William Mussat as managing director of Barclays Wealth Managers France, the asset management division for the Barclays Group in France. Mr Mussat joined Barclays Wealth from ABN Amro.

Carmignac Gestion expanded its fund management team with two new appointments, and reshuffled staff at its Paris-based office. Maxine Carmignac has taken over the Carmignac market neutral fund, which she previously co-managed at its launch in 2007 before leaving the company for two years to work in New York and London, where she worked with Visium Asset Management and Cheyne Capital.

London-based asset manager Schroders hired Marina Bottero to be head of property fund management, Italy. She will be responsible for Schroders’ Italian property business and its expansion. Ms Bottero has worked in the Italian commercial real estate sector for 20 years, most recently leading the investment team of Hines, Italy.

Middle East

Citi Private Bank hired Daniel Gay as a senior private banker with primary focus on Abu Dhabi-based ultra high net worth clients.

Mr Gay was formerly head of UBS’s private bank in Abu Dhabi and has also held senior positions at Credit Agricole Indosuez and Credit Suisse, again with a primary focus on the Middle East.

Asia Pacific

MLC, the wealth management arm of National Australia Bank, hired Dean Thomas as general manager of its MasterKey investment unit. Mr Thomas joins the company from BT Financial Group, where he serves as the head of transformation, investment and superannuation.

American Century Investments, the US-based asset management firm, appointed Elizabeth Trinh as vice president of its Hong Kong office. Ms Trinh was previously an associate manager at Macquarie Bank in Australia.

HSBC named Anita Fung as the head of global banking and markets for Asia-Pacific. This newly-created role places Ms Fung at the helm of HSBC's asset management strategy in the region. Previously, she was the bank’s head of global markets.

Walkers, the international law firm, appointed Carol Hall as the head of its newly created investment funds group in Hong Kong. Ms Hall, whose merger and acquisition, investment and corporate finance experience spans over 17 years, has been with the company since 2005 and specialises in private equity funds and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley appointed Jenkin Leung to assume the newly created role of head of capital raising for Asia. Mr Leung, who was previously the chief executive officer of the now-defunct Hong Kong hedge fund company Hindsight, will be part of a six-person global team.

US private bank Brown Brothers Harriman announced the relocation of senior partner Andrew Tucker to Hong Kong to assume responsibility for its Asia Pacific operations. He will still retain his existing position in the markets divisions.

Credit Suisse appointed Neil Harvey as head of Asia Pacific and emerging markets globally for asset management. Mr Harvey joins Credit Suisse from Renaissance Group, where he was most recently deputy CEO and chairman international.

Citigroup appointed Alastair Morrison to the newly created role of senior advisor for Citi Asia. Mr Morrison was previously the chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley. He will also join Citi’s senior strategic advisory group.

Credit Suisse appointed Neil Harvey as managing director and head of Asia Pacific, and also as head of emerging markets globally for asset management.

Mr Harvey, who will be based in Hong Kong, returns to the Swiss bank from Renaissance Group, where he was most recently the deputy chief executive officer and chairman international.

Mr Harvey takes over from Salman Shoaib, who has been appointed head of corporate development for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Mr Shoaib will also be assuming the role of branch manager for Credit Suisse Singapore and senior corporate officer for Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd, subject to regulatory approval.

Houlihan Lokey named Bing Chen as the new managing director of its Hong Kong office. Mr Chen was previously the chief executive officer of a European speciality financing firm.

MetLife appointed Peter Smyth as regional managing director of Asia Pacific for its international operations. Mr Smyth previously served as the head of the international business at The Hartford in the US, covering the firm's operations in Europe, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Bermuda.

Baring Asset Management appointed Colin Ng to the newly-created position of head of Asian equities in Hong Kong. Mr Ng was previously the head of Asia Pacific equities at MFC Global Investment Management. He will report directly to the head of Asia Pacific investment, Henry Chan.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch named Chris Gammons as the new head of financial sponsors for the Asia-Pacific region. Mr Gammons, previously the head of the region's financial entrepreneurs group for Citigroup, officially takes over from Doug Speegle, who left in the second quarter of 2009.

India-based boutique investment bank Avendus Capital has hired Nikhil Kapadia as chief executive officer of its Private Wealth Management business. Mr Kapadia, whose appointment took effect on 19 January, was previously the managing director and chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank's onshore private wealth management unit for Asia. He joins Avendus as a partner and will be awarded a stake in the new business.

Macquarie Securities Group strengthened its Indian footprint with three new hires for its equity sales and research units. Sudhanshu Bhuwalka, previously the co-head of equity sales for Reliance Equities, joins the firm as associate director. Former Daiwa India specialist for Europe Neil Nathwani also joins the equities team. Meanwhile, Suresh Ganapathy, previously from Deutsche Bank's cash equities business in India, steps in as head of the Macquarie Securities' financial research team for India.

Merrill Lynch in Singapore hired private banking senior executive Yang Fang Ong from Julius Baer. Ms Ong had been at Julius Baer since 2006, when she joined as market head of private banking in Singapore. Ms Ong joins as senior director, team head, with a focus on Indonesia and Thailand.

UBS recruited Vinay Gandhi as a managing director at UBS Wealth Management, charged with growing its non-resident Indian (NRI) business. Mr Gandhi will be country team head for India International Asia, to be based in Singapore, from where he will develop the India operation. Mr Gandhi has previously held senior leadership positions at JP Morgan Private Bank and Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management.

The head of Asian equities at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia, Peter Hames, is to step down later this year in order to leave the industry and relocate to Europe. Mr Hames joined Aberdeen in 1990 and set up its Asian subsidiary in Singapore with Hugh Young, the managing director of Aberdeen Asia, in 1992.

Mark Jackman, the former head of Asia at Rothschild Private Banking & Trust, joined Standard Chartered Private Bank as head of its global trust and fiduciary business, based in Singapore. Previously he was a managing director of Credit Suisse’s trust group in Singapore.

Julius Baer recruited a former UBS senior manager, Dr Lee Boon Keng, to be co-head of its investment solutions group in Singapore. He will also serve as deputy chief investment officer Asia-Pacific, working with Dr V Anantha-Nageswaran, CIO for Asia. In his previous job, Dr Lee was chief investment strategist Singapore at UBS Wealth Management.

UBS appointed Reto Marx as managing director, UHNW country team head based in Singapore, joining the Swiss firm from Bank Sarasin-Rabo (Asia). At his previous firm Mr Marx was head of Southeast Asia, leading its marketing and business activities. In his new position he will report to Daniel Harel, head of UHNW, South Asia.

International

Harneys Services has appointed Monique Adams as head of private client services. In her new role Ms Adams will be based in the British Virgin Islands and will be responsible for managing the company’s fiduciary services group. 

International law firm Withers has hired Denis Petkovic as a partner and head of its international finance and projects practice in London. He joins from Pillsbury where he was a partner and head of the European and Middle East practices, London office leader of the financial practice and a co-leader of the energy team.

Guernsey law firm Collas Day has hired Marcus Hinkley as its head of fiduciary. In his new role he will work closely with the commercial and dispute resolution departments to consolidate and coordinate all fiduciary matters handled by Collas Day. Mr Hinkley moves to Guernsey from Maples and Calder in Cayman where he specialised in trusts and fiduciary services.

Global investment firm Janus Capital Group has appointed Richard Weil as chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors, effective from 1 February 2010. Mr Weil joins Janus Capital Group from PIMCO, where he worked for 13 years, most recently as global head of PIMCO Advisory.

Multi-jurisdictional law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman has made a fresh round of hires to its corporate team with the addition of associates Tara Rivers in the Cayman Islands and Claire McConway, Robert Alexander and Victor Richards in Bermuda. The firm has also hired Michael Swain as head of Codan Management in Bermuda and Jacqueline Shannon as manager for Codan International in Dubai, to offer trust, corporate secretarial, accounting and management services.

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