May was another brisk month for executive moves in wealth management. In North America, firms such as Citi Private Bank signalled its desire to ramp up the number of advisors. Hiring continued in Asia as the region's economic strength continued to drive hirings.

United States

Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, the US private client services division of Deutsche Bank Securities and Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, hired John McCauley from UBS to head its Houston, Texas office.

In his new role he will hold a regional executive title and report to Haig Ariyan, the eastern regional head of the firm’s private client services group.

Nachshin & Langlois, the West Los Angeles family law firm, appointed two new associates to its team.

Adam Gardner returns to the company after a six-year hiatus, while Amir Kaltgrad joins the firm with prior experience working with several major law firms in the LA area.

National Financial Partners added J Barry Griswell, former chairman and chief executive officer of Principal Financial Group, to its board of directors.

His election to the NFP board brings the firm's roster of directors to eight and its number of independent directors to six.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management hired a team of four investment professionals for its ultra high net worth offering in Colombia and Venezuela.

Luis Miguel Gonzalez Ocque, now executive director, was previously with Lehman Brothers, where he spent 8 years as vice president. Alan Shlesinger, who joins the firm from Barclays Wealth, was been named vice president.

They will be joined by Christina Arguelles as vice president and Eduardo Alvarez as client sales associate. Arguelles and Alvarez are also from Barclays Wealth and will report to Adriana Pineiro, the executive director and regional sales manager of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.

Nicole Spinelli was named director of the Raymond James Network for Women Advisors.

Spinelli has been with the Network for over eight years now, working with previous directors to build educational programs for the female financial advisors within the firm.

She succeeds Karen Julien, the branch manager of the Raymond James & Associates Carillon branch in St Petersburg, Florida.

Convergent Wealth Advisors said it is transferring Ken Handy, a veteran director now within Convergent’s ultra high net worth division from its Rockville, Maryland, headquarters to head its New York office. 

John Dwyer joined Trevethan Capital Partners in San Francisco, a division of United Capital Financial Advisers, as a wealth advisor.

Dwyer was previously a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Investments in the firm's wealth management group and before that was a wealth advisor at Bank of America.

Jeffrey Russell moved from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He had reportedly been with the wealth manager, now owned by Bank of America, since 1994.

Citi Private Bank named Adam Arnold as senior vice president and ultra high net worth private banker at its Washington, DC office. Previously he had been a senior relationship manager at PNC Wealth Management Group for around three years.

Wisconsin-based M&I Wealth Management appointed Katherine Florig as a vice president and portfolio manager at its Hilldale office.

Bessemer Trust hired David Rossmiller - formerly global head of fixed income for Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management - as head of fixed income investments.

He replaces Harold Woolley, who remains with the firm in the capacity of managing director and portfolio manager. In his new role Rossmiller reports to Marc Stern, chief investment officer, and is also a member of the company’s investment policy and strategy committee.

WTAS, the US tax advisory firm, appointed James Raaf as managing director for its Chicago office effective.

Raaf specializes in individual, corporate, partnership, and estate and gift taxation. Before WTAS, he was managing director at Harris myCFO.

Jim Fletcher has joined First Republic Private Wealth Management in Newport Beach. Fletcher, who was previously the first vice president and senior director of portfolio management at BNY Mellon in Newport, will be focusing on providing customized equity and fixed-income investment management solutions to the company’s clients in the area.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Peter Berg as vice president and sales director to promote custody services to registered investment advisors across the US. He will report to Dan McCarron, head of the wealth manager’s national custody division.

Before joining BNY Mellon, Berg ran his own third-party distribution firm, Boston Light Investments, and previously worked as a senior vice president with HSBC Private Bank, where he established the bank’s Boston office.

Virtus Investment Partners appointed Jeffrey Cerutti as executive vice president and head of retail distribution.

Cerutti joined the firm from UBS Global Asset Management, where he led the mutual funds distribution and alternative investments team and served as managing director and head of third-party sales.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the firm's distribution efforts for its retail investment products, including the Virtus Mutual Funds and separately managed accounts. He will also oversee the retail sales force and manage the company's relationships with retail product partners, including national, regional and independent broker-dealers and advisors.

Edward Jones, the St Louis, Missouri-headquartered brokerage firm, reportedly fired general partner and chief market strategist Alan Skrainka.

Skrainka fired in relation to the "use of [outside] written materials without giving attribution," according to The Wall Street Journal.

AXA Financial elected Danny Hale and Richard Vaughan to the boards of directors of four of its affiliates.

Messrs Hale and Vaughan will join the board of AXA Financial, AXA Equitable Life Insurance, MONY Life Insurance and MONY Life Insurance Company of America. Hale recently retired from his position as senior vice president and chief financial officer of The Allstate Corporation, while Vaughan recently retired as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Lincoln Financial Group.

Castle Hill Asset Management, the specialist credit investment manager, appointed Tom O’Shea as a partner based in Castle Hill’s Charlottesville, Virginia office.

O’Shea joins the firm from hedge fund manager GoldenTree Asset Management, where he also was partner, based in London.

Rush Benton resigned as chief executive officer of WealthTrust, the company he founded in Nashville 13 years ago.

Benton will be replaced by Holly Deem, the firm’s chief operating officer, but will remain as chairman, while also setting up a new consulting firm that will have WealthTrust as a client.

Denver-headquartered investment firm Janus Capital Group hired Matthew Sommer, formerly of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, for its retirement strategy group.

As director and senior retirement specialist, Sommer will report to Russ Shipman, senior vice president and managing director of the retirement strategy group. He will be responsible for enhancing the services provided to the firm’s clients in the tax-advantaged marketplace.

Prior to joining Janus, Sommer had been with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for 17 years, most recently as executive director of thought leadership and professional development.

Bank of America’s US Trust unit hired Wells Fargo Private Bank's Grant Boyd as a market executive in the Atlanta area.

Boyd formerly worked as a senior vice president and private banking manager for the southeast region at Wells Fargo's private banking arm.

Additionally, attorney and tax specialist Marianne Calabrese joined US Trust from Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, in New York. In her new role, Calabrese reports to Chris Heilmann in the firm’s wealth structuring team.

Citi Private Bank named Lisa Roberts as managing director and Northern California regional executive.

Roberts joins the firm from US Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management, where she was managing director and market executive for San Francisco, Silicon Valley and East Bay.

James Flynn, Rance Hillier and Merritt Zahner joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's office in Madison, Connecticut from Merrill Lynch/Bank of America.

Additionally, Matthew Segal, Joseph Pizzo, Irwin Werbowsky and Mohammed Yassin  joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Garden City, New York office from UBS.

HSBC Bank USA appointed seven bankers to its growing Premier business in Washington, DC.

Kenneth Sparks, previously the chief executive officer of the Federal City Council, joined the Premier team's business development unit and will help with strategic planning and marketing for different bank areas.

Carter Waddell, who used to head a foreign multinational banking unit for JP Morgan Chase Bank, is now senior premier relationship manager.

Robert Klingensmith was appointed senior PRM with a focus on higher net worth individuals and families.

Ann Conger, formerly a client manager at Bank of America, is also a senior PRM working with healthcare firms and professionals.

Amanda Gu, who used to work at HSBC’s London headquarters, joined as senior PRM for Premier clients.

Shane Moore, previously a financial advisor with Cary Street Partners, is now senior PRM, also assisting Premier clients.

Finally, Loren Glaser, who comes from The Potomac Group, is now HSBC's new Premier acquisition manager.

Haverford Trust Company hired Norm Lubin to provide leadership and guidance for business development and client retention strategies. He joins after having been a consultant to the firm for nearly two years.

Lubin has held sales and marketing positions at firms including State Street Advisors and The Boston Company. Most recently, he was a consultant advising wealth managers, hedge funds, mutual funds, banks and insurance companies on growing their businesses.

MorrisAnderson bolstered its financial and operational advisory business with the appointment of Michael J Musso as vice president of strategic accounts. Musso joined the firm as managing director of the Atlanta office last year.

RBC Dominion Securities, the retail-brokerage arm of Royal Bank of Canada, hired former UBS private banker O J Tuters as an investment advisor at its Toronto office.

Wells Fargo Private Bank hired Wade Meadows as a wealth advisor for its Baltimore team, a role in which he will work with high net worth individuals and families. He joined from Brown Advisory.

Winslow Capital Management named Michael Palmer as president and member of Winslow’s five-member operating committee.

Palmer will work closely with the firm’s founder, chief executive and chief investment officer Clark Winslow to focus on the firm’s client service and marketing efforts.

Palmer was recently primarily based in London, where he headed AllianceBernstein’s blend equity product for the European market. He is returning to his native Minneapolis, in his new role.

US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, named Henry Woodward Middleton as market executive for the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast markets. He joined from JP Morgan Private Bank in Palm Beach, where he was a vice president and senior banker.

In his new role, Middleton will report to US Trust regional executive, Brian Mormile and will be located in Palm Beach.

BNY Mellon named Lawrence Hughes as chief executive of BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

Hughes was previously the president of US Markets for BNY Mellon Wealth and has been with the company for 19 years. His past roles include those of chief operating officer for the private wealth management unit and executive director for the same unit's eastern US operations. He takes over from David Lamere, who has resigned, and will report to Robert P Kelly, BNY Mellon's chairman and CEO.

Citi Private Bank bolstered its Orange County office with two senior hires: Richard Stasand, who spent 18 years with US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, joins the company as managing director and ultra high net worth private banker, while Christopher Caruso, also from US Trust, is now director and investment counselor.

Stasand will report to Hale Behzadi, the region head of Southern California and Arizona. Caruso reports to Erik Ridgley, the Western region head of investments.

New Covenant Trust Co, a subsidiary of the Presbyterian Foundation, named Gregory Rousos as its new chief executive.

Rousos is the executive vice president and chief financial officer of New Covenant Trust. He takes over from Robert Leech, who retired early this year. Aside from the new designation, Rousos will still keep his old role as EVP and COO of the Presbyterian Foundation.

Harris named Kathy Weber as managing director at Harris Private Bank-Rockford and Andrea Ward as regional president-Rockford as it continues to fill leadership positions following its recent acquisition of AMCORE.

Weber, former head of AMCORE’s private banking unit, will lead a team of wealth management professionals including portfolio managers, trust administrators, private bankers and wealth advisors.

Ward was most recently regional president of Harris’s far northwest region. She will now lead the retail banking team across all branches in the Rockford region.

KeyBank named Bill Koehler as president of its Great Lakes office, which includes Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Koehler previously headed parent firm KeyCorp's Keyvolution project and has also served as president for the bank's Michigan branch. In his new position, he will lead seven district teams focused on delivering retail, business banking, commercial banking and private banking clients in the region.

Citi Private Bank’s Palo Alto office made two hires from Barclays Wealth: Bryon Botsford joined as a private banker, while Thomas Arrington joined as an investment counselor.

At around the same time, in New York Citi Private Bank added to its executive lineup with the appointment of Charles Merrill as managing director and New York regional executive.

Merrill joined the firm from US Trust, Bank of America, where he was managing director and New York market executive.

He assumes his new post in July and will report to Peter Charrington, the bank's chief executive officer for North America. Leslie Bains, who has been assuming the New York role in the interim, will return to her role as head of client development.

Barclays Wealth appointed Gary Krieger as director and investment representative for its Palm Beach office.

Krieger previously worked for 12 years at JP Morgan's Palm Beach and San Francisco offices. In his new position, he will report to Scott Sheffer, the managing director and regional manager for Philadelphia, Washington DC and Palm Beach.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management boosted its Southeast operations by bringing in Gary Rzucidlo as vice president and senior sales director for its Atlanta office.

Prior to joining the company, he was vice president and financial advisor for four years at Sanford Bernstein Global Wealth Management, where he provided asset allocation and advisory services to wealthy clients in the Southeast.

BNY Mellon appointed Jonathan Little and Mitchell Harris as co-heads of its asset management unit on an interim basis following the departure of president and chief executive officer Ronald P O'Hanley.

Little is the vice chairman of BNY Mellon Asset Management and represents the asset management on the firm's executive committee. Harris is the chairman of the fixed income, cash and currency group. Both will keep their present roles in addition to their new responsibilities and will report to Robert P Kelly, the firm's chairman and CEO.

Wilmington Trust hired Lawrence Gore as managing director and senior private client advisor in the company's wealth advisory services business in the northeast region. He will work in the New York office of Wilmington Trust FSB.

Gore was most recently senior vice president and managing director of Herald National Bank, where he was head of wealth management. He began his career with JP Morgan and later spent 18 years at UBS Financial Services and its predecessor firms. In his last role there, he served as managing director and head of the corporate and executive services group. He also spent three years as the president and founder of his own financial advisory and investment banking firm.

Wilmington Trust also appointed Pete Dawkins, a former vice-chairman of Citigroup Private Bank, to the advisory board of Wilmington Trust FSB in New York. Dawkins has held senior positions at Lehman Brothers, Bain & Company, Primerica Financial Services, Traveler's Insurance and Citigroup.

Citi Private Bank appointed Steven Gold and Edward Southerland joined Citi as managing director and ultra high net worth private banker, in San Francisco and Vancouver respectively.

Gold will report to Tracey Warson, west coast regional executive for the bank and Southerland will report to Kush Malhotra, head of the Citi Private Bank offices in Vancouver and Seattle.
Gold comes to Citi from Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services where he was a director and led a team responsible for delivering the firm's investment advisory services to clients in the western United States. 

Southerland was formerly with Royal Bank of Canada, where he was senior client advisor with RBC Wealth Management in Vancouver. 

Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust hired a team of five private banking veterans from BB&T Bank: Michael Goldberg, senior vice president, market executive; Lina Macki, senior vice president, private banker; Maria Paulsen, vice president, private banker; Barbara Assalone, private banking representative, and Marina Sendra, teller.

Fidelity Investments appointed two executives to take over the responsibilities of former president Rodger Lawson. who stepped down in March.

Abigail Johnson, the daughter of chairman Edward Johnson, will head the firm's distribution operations, while Ronald P O'Hanley, who joins the firm from the Bank of New York Mellon, will become president of asset management and corporate services.

Johnson, as president of the company's personal, workplace and institutional unit, will be focused on all client-side activities.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management made two appointments in Los Angeles as part of its US expansion strategy.

Spencer Gould joined as senior director and Kimberlea Archer was appointed director for business development. Both report to Tracy Nickl, managing director of BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s southern California region.
 
Gould most recently served as a managing director for Fiduciary Trust Company International; Archer, now responsible for new business development in southern California, previously served as vice president and private client advisor for US Trust, Bank of America’s wealth management business.

First Republic Bank hired Karin Napel as a relationship manager at its Santa Barbara office.

In her new role Napel is responsible for managing relationships with high net worth individuals and families, as well as businesses and foundations. She was latterly vice president and client service manager at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust’s wealth group. 

Daniel Williams joined Citi Private Bank as managing director and ultra high net worth private banker, based in Manhattan.

Williams now reports to Leslie Bains, interim regional executive for the Metro New York area.

He previously worked at US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, where he was managing director and private client advisor in New York.

Capital Advisors, the managed futures specialist, brought in Stephen Klawitter as senior vice president of the company.

Klawitter was previously the vice president of the private client group at Altegris Investments. In his new role, he will partner with Jay Ramey and Richard Singer to provide alternative investment advisory services to both investors and wealth advisors.

UBS Wealth Management Americas named Daniel Gallagher as branch manager of its Madison Avenue office in New York.

Gallagher previously worked for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney as a non-producing branch manager.

Wells Fargo hired Merrill Lynch veteran Thomas Isaacs to head up its seven private client branches in Manhattan.

Isaacs was named managing director and New York City market manager, succeeding Richard Frick. He reports to Michael Carroll, regional president of Wells Fargo Advisors for the northeast.

Isaacs was formerly head of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management’s Jacksonville office in Florida; he resigned in March this year after 25 years at the firm.

Convergent Wealth Advisors appointed Sisi Tran, formerly of Proskauer Rose, to head up its estate planning efforts on behalf of its clients.

Tran’s practice area at Proskauer included estate, gift and inter-generational tax planning, income tax planning of trusts, probate and trust administration and charitable planned giving. 

Citi Private Bank has named Andrea Rossato as senior vice president and ultra high net worth private banker for its Los Angeles office.

Rossato joins the firm from Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, where he was vice president and private banker, also in Los Angeles. In his new role he reports to Hale Behzadi, the region head for Southern California and Arizona.
Bermuda’s Capital G Bank named Ian Truran as successor to John Kephart as its chief executive, following the latter’s appointment as president and CEO of Capital G Limited, the holding company of Capital G Investments, Capital G Trust and Capital G Bank.

Truran first joined Capital G Bank ten years ago, rising through the ranks to be appointed executive vice president and chief relationship management officer, with responsibility for credit risk, compliance and personal, private and corporate banking in 2006.

Lincoln Financial Advisors appointed Damon Wojciechowski as managing principal of its Buffalo, New York planning office.

The Private Bank of the Peninsula, based in Palo Alto, California, appointed Jon Krogstad as a senior vice president and relationship manager.

Krogstad joined the bank from MMV Financial, a Toronto-based venture debt firm. He was also a founding member of Venture Banking Group.

Lenox Advisors, the New York-based wealth management firm, appointed Ellen Snibbe Baker as an associate.

She previously worked for Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns and the Wealth Advisory Group.
Appleby, the offshore legal and fiduciary services firm, appointed Richard McMillan as managing director of Appleby Trust (Cayman).

McMillan joined the firm from CIBC Bank and Trust Company (Cayman), where he spent 19 years, latterly as director of trust services and a board director.

United Kingdom

Brewin Dolphin hired a team from Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management’s Tilney business to set up an office in Shrewsbury. The team will be headed up by Brian Price, who recently joined Brewin Dolphin from Deutsche Bank as a divisional director. He will work with Richard Jacomb, investment director and former head of Deutsche Bank’s Shrewsbury office, and Brian Boyd, who ran Deutsche Bank’s intermediary sales force in the Midlands.

Close Asset Management boosted its South West team with the appointment of Anthony Hall as business development director. Hall will be based in the Bristol area. He previously worked for Standard Life.

Future Capital Partners, the UK-based alternative investment boutique, appointed Alan Cross as business development manager. He previously worked at Scottish Widows.

GAM, the Swiss-listed asset management company, appointed Paul Udall as investment director. Udall joins the firm’s London office from Climate Change Capital, which specialises in investment in the low carbon and “transition” sectors.

Otkritie Securities, the UK brokerage subsidiary of Russian financial service provider Otkritie Financial Corporation, appointed Howard Snell as executive chairman and promoted Evgeny Kunts as deputy chief executive officer.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management appointed Adam Horowitz to the newly-created role of head of Europe, Middle East and Africa global client coverage. Based in London, Horowitz reports to Michael Sullivan, head of global client coverage, and David Jervis, head of EMEA Wealth Management. Horowitz had been with Merrill Lynch for eleven years.

UK-based PSigma Asset Management recruited former Insight director Eric Moore to join its UK team. Moore will work together with Bill Mott, who heads the team, and his colleagues Neil Cumming, David Hallam and Niall Coyne. Moore most recently spent five years at Insight Investment where he was director, UK equities.

Quilter, the UK investment manager which is part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, appointed Carl Millard as investment manager for its Leicester office. Millard joins from Barclays Wealth, where he had spent 13 years as portfolio manager.

lexander Spencer-Churchill left the wealth management firm which he co-founded with Alan Miller, the former chief investment officer of New Star Asset Management. Spencer-Churchill Miller Private, which was launched in May of last year, was recently renamed as SCM Private, apparently to reflect the split.

Richard Ford, the chief executive of WH Ireland, the London-listed wealth management and securities firm, resigned, as did its finance director Nigel Gurney.

Clydesdale Bank International recruited finance manager, Jayne White, and associate, Joni Free, to its Guernsey team. White, who is charged with overseeing the finance team, has served at a number of Guernsey-based firms and has senior level experience in private, commercial and trust environments.

Standard Life Wealth recruited a nine-strong team from Lloyds Private Bank to drive business growth over the next 12 - 18 months. The team is mainly based in London, with responsibilities for certain regions in the UK as well. David Driver was appointed network director; David Bright, Stuart Jones, Peter Balderstone and Eileen McCarthy are senior client portfolio managers; Tony Emmings joined as a client portfolio manager, and Joanne Baker, Darren MacBay and Michelle Ramsay are client portfolio manager assistants at the firm.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management has Pierre-David Bertin from Société Générale to take up the post of hedge fund specialist and vice president in product development and the alternatives group.

Sand Aire, the London-based multi-family office, appointed Charles Peacock and Karen Clark as directors, wealth management, and Katie Ferry as assistant, wealth management – appointments which follow the departure of Joan Major. Peacock was latterly a senior equity analyst, focusing on the media sector, at Teathers, and his prior career also includes roles at HSBC and ABN Amro. Clark is the former head of private client business development at Newton Investment Management, and has held similar positions at BNY Mellon Private Wealth Management and Bank of America's Private Bank. Ferry, meanwhile, joins from Hampton Investment Management, where she served in a support role.

Berry Asset Management, the London-based private client wealth management firm, appointed Jamie MacLeod as its new chief executive officer. MacLeod assumes his duties in September. MacLeod latterly worked at Skandia Investment Group, where he occupied a similar position.

City Asset Management, the UK-based independent investment manager, appointed Mark Godwin as a portfolio manager. Godwin, who has nine years of experience in the private client arena, joins from Banco Comercial Português, the large Portuguese bank, where he was responsible for equity fund selection and monitoring the bank’s global private banking network.

Fidelity International has appointed Alistair Campbell as head of UK retail marketing.

In his new role, Campbell will be responsible for the marketing team which covers Fidelity’s IFA and wholesale channels for both the firm’s own fund range and FundsNetwork. He will report to Gary Shaughnessy, UK managing director. Campbell most recently ran his own product advisory consultancy business.

Baillie Gifford bade farewell to Ben Thompson, manager of the firm’s high yield bond fund and joint manager of the corporate bond fund, who left to work outside the financial services industry.

Nick Purves and Ian Lance, the top-rated managers of Schroder’s UK Equity Income Fund, left to join RWC Partners, the London-based fund manager. Purves is a veteran of some 16 years at Schroders, while Lance joined the firm in 2007; in his prior career Lance was head of global equity research at Gartmore and head of European equities at Citigroup. 

UK-based law firm JMW Solicitors promoted private client specialist Elaine Roche to partner. Roche, whose areas of expertise are trusts, tax planning, wills and estates, joined JMW as an associate from another regional law firm in the UK, Brabners Chaffe Street, less than 12 months ago. She since focused on developing the wills and estate practice of the firm’s private client division.

Charity Bank, which terms itself the UK’s first not-for-profit bank, appointed George Blunden – latterly of AllianceBernstein - as its chairman.

London-based boutique investment manager JO Hambro Capital Management appointed Sandy Black as investment director. Black joins the firm from Insight Investment, where he spent the last five years as head of equities; prior to working at Insight he was head of European equities at Deutsche Asset Management.

Quilter, the UK-based investment manager which is part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, added to its research team with the hires of Amrendra Sinha and Patricia Tomas Garcia, both of whom are equity analysts. Sinha joins from F&C Asset Management, where he was a fund manager and research analyst, while Garcia was latterly with AIG Investments.

Citi appointed Sarah Trehearn as a senior vice president within its London-based UK Investment Counselling Team. Trehearn joins Citi from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, where she spent the past decade covering the firm’s private clients across EMEA, including UK and pan-European family offices.

Boutique wealth manager London & Capital appointed Daniel Uzan to head the commercial real estate finance unit. He joins from Buchler Barnett Finance, where he was a commercial property finance broker – originating debt facilities for HNW investors, property companies and wealth managers.

The head of European equities at Schroders, Gary Clarke, left the group and, according to media reports, is joining JP Morgan. Clarke, who was lead manager of the Schroder ISF EURO Equity and Schroder ISF European Equity Alpha funds, joins JP Morgan Asset Management’s London-based global equities team as co-head of global thematic and retail portfolios.

Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, part of the UK-listed wealth management and financial advisory firm, bolstered its Tunbridge Wells team in Kent, in the UK southeast, with the appointment of Colin Barrett.

Alexander Forbes Financial Services Group, the UK-based IFA, named Tony Gusmao to succeed Grant Stobart as its new chief executive. Gusmao worked with the group for over 17 years, predominantly in South Africa, where he was head of the institutional cluster, which comprises the firm’s consultants and actuaries, pensions administration, asset consulting and trust services businesses.

The London-headquartered wealth management consultancy firm, Scorpio Partnership, made a number of senior appointments to its teams as part of expansion plans that include building a business presence in Switzerland and expanding into Asia next year. The firm promoted Caroline Burkart to the role of executive director. She has worked at Scorpio since 2006 and is formerly a senior manager at Credit Suisse Private Banking. Other appointments included that of Walter Rambousek, who has been appointed to a new role as senior project consultant in Zurich. He is a former managing director for UBS Wealth Management. Bill Yelverton, a client relationship manager at firms such as Merrill Lynch and Prudential, joins Scorpio as a senior project consultant in London.

Mike Godfrey has left Bluefin Advisory Services, the UK-based provider of wealth management and financial planning advice, to go on a period of leave from the firm.

Ashcourt Rowan, the UK-based wealth management subsidiary of Syndicate Asset Management, appointed Jeremy Rance to its executive committee as director of planning. In his new role, Rance will be focusing on planning the implementation of business strategies that improve operational performance.. Rance has previously worked at Barclays, KPMG and AMP.

Phil Kitto, who joined London-based consultants Carne in 2008 to head up its newly formed global wealth management and private client division, has left the firm. Kitto joined Carne from Citisoft, another consultancy that engages in areas including wealth management.

C Hoare & Co, the venerable UK private bank, has appointed James Hoare as investment risk manager within its investment management business. Hoare, who previously spent eight years with Goldman Sachs, and before that five years with BarCap, is a member of the tenth generation of the Hoare family to work in the bank, which dates back to 1672.

Coffin Mew, the UK regional solicitors, recruited Eddie Reynolds as a solicitor in its wealth management team as part of its continued growth strategy. In his new role, Reynolds, who has over a decade’s experience of private client work, including wills, tax, trusts and probate, will provide estate and tax planning advice to Coffin Mew’s high net worth clients. The firm also appointed Philip Stephenson as a partner in corporate and Jonathan Lupton as a partner in insolvency. Stephenson joins from Penningtons, while Lupton was latterly with a niche insolvency practice in Yorkshire.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, a division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, appointed Jean Murphy – latterly of ACPI Investments – as an executive director and investment advisor covering the UK. In her new role Murphy reports to Ausaf Abbas, head of sales and marketing, Private Wealth Management, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

HSBC Global Asset Management bolstered its global multi-manager team with five new hires, three of which are in London. Braam Hanekom was appointed senior portfolio manager and analyst to work on global emerging market strategies and funds out of London. He joins from Russell Investments. Also in London, Caroline Lambert, was hired as a due diligence analyst, and Haijian Fan joined the portfolio analytics team of the multi-manager business.  Lambert was most recently with Baltic Asset Management, while Fan was a fund analyst with Barclays Wealth.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Peng has been appointed as research analyst in Toronto, where he will focus on Canadian and international equity asset classes. Peng most recently worked for Russell Investments. Lastly, Manfred Lam was hired as a senior analyst in Hong Kong. His prior career includes consulting and manager research roles at Watson Wyatt, SEI and ABN Amro.

Equity Trust, the fiduciary and trust services provider, appointed James Martingale as group head of investor services, based in Jersey.  Martingale returned to the firm’s investment consultancy business; he originally joined in 2007 as European director of investor services but moved over to the firm’s global private client business in 2009. Martingale takes over the role from Philip Shu, who was based in Hong Kong but left the firm to pursue other opportunities within the industry.

AXA Investment Managers appointed Bruno Grandsard as a portfolio manager within the global equities team at AXA Framlington, its UK-based fund management business. Grandsard was latterly a senior research analyst specialising in global automotives and components at Alliance Bernstein.

KPMG named Jeremy Anderson as the new chairman of its global financial services practice, after Brendan Nelson stepped down from the position at the end of March to become a non-executive director at Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Anderson transfers to the role from within the group; he was latterly head of financial services for the EMEA region.

Gartmore, the London-headquartered fund manager, bolstered its multi-manager team with the appointment of Nick Roberts, an analyst. In his new role Roberts will be responsible for analysing collectives for the firm’s multi-manager funds - Absolute Return, Cautious, Balanced and Active - and will work alongside the team’s existing analysts, Ari Towli and Katie Trowsdale. He joins at the start of July and will report to Tony Lanning, Gartmore’s head of multi-manager.

Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, part of AIM-listed Brooks Macdonald Group, appointed Colin Barrett to their Tunbridge Wells office. Barrett joins from Heartwood Wealth Management and will be responsible for managing private client portfolios. He will also join the research team.

At UK-based independent fund management group Liontrust Asset Management, Nigel Legge has stood down as chief executive with immediate effect but will remain as a consultant until 6 August 2010. Adrian Collins, currently non-executive chairman, will become executive chairman, and John Ions, head of retail, joins the board as chief executive with immediate effect. Vinay Abrol continues in his role as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

A number of former Tilney wealth managers left Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management after their contract lock-ins expired. They were locked into their contracts for three years after the firm was acquired by Deutsche at the end of 2006.

In Birmingham, Rathbones poached portfolio manager James Walker. He reports to regional director and Birmingham office head Daniel Faulkner. Deutsche’s investment director Ian Tamsley will also be joining Rathbones. In Edinburgh, portfolio manager Douglas Lockhart defected to Barclays Wealth.

 Saffery Champness, the UK-based accountancy and wealth advisory firm, promoted Lucy Brennan to partner in its private wealth and estates group. Brennan, who joined the firm in 2001, advises clients including landed estates and farms, limited companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, solicitors, charities, pension funds and FSA regulated entities. Her focus is on assisting them with their compliance requirements and advisory projects, including tax planning.

Barclays Wealth added Caroline Cornish to the board of directors of Barclays Private Clients International in the Isle of Man, following her having taken up the role of head of corporate affairs at the start of March. Cornish, who was latterly country head for HSBC Securities Services on the Isle of Man, joins Greg Ellison, Ian Hodgkinson, Paul Savery, Simon Scott, Alex Freeman, Karl Moore and Non-Executives Brian Dix, Peter Horsthuis and Chairman Larry Keenan on BPCI’s executive board.

Deutsche Bank bolstered its private client team in Jersey with the appointment of Thomas Cummins – formerly of Barclays Wealth – as a relationship manager within its executives and entrepreneurs business.

Martin Currie, the UK-based investment firm, bolstered its emerging markets team with the recruitment of Andrew Ness, Jeff Casson, Divya Mathur and Mohammed Zaidi from Scottish Widows Investment Partners, appointments which follow those of Kim Catechis and Alastair Reynolds, also from Swip, to lead the team. All four of the new appointees were formerly investment directors on Swips’s global emerging markets desk and have now been named portfolio managers at Martin Currie.

London-based Citi Private Bank appointed Andrew Hodson as a managing director and senior private banker in its UK ultra high net worth team. In his new role Hodson will join the firm’s UK management team and will be working alongside David Poole, head of the UK market region. Hodson was previously one of 13 managing directors in the client relationship teams at HSBC.

Mercer, the consulting and investment services firm, appointed Bill Muysken as chief investment officer for alternative alpha strategies, a newly-created position within the firm’s Investment Management business. Muysken rejoins the firm from the hedge fund industry, having recently been portfolio manager for Thames River Capital’s multi-manager alternatives team.

Lloyds Banking Group-owned asset manager Scottish Widows Investment Partnership confirmed the appointment of Peter Cockburn as head of UK equities. Cockburn has been in SWIP’s UK equities team for six years and has been acting head since September 2009.

Guy de Blonay will slot in as co-manager of the Jupiter Financial Opportunities Fund alongside Philip Gibbs, head of Jupiter’s financials team. De Blonay rejoined the UK fund manager in an advisory capacity in January 2010 from Henderson New Star, where he was responsible for a number of mandates, including the New Star Global Financials Fund.

Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management, the London-listed firm, hired Rodney Dartnall and Nick Vaill as private client investment managers from Barclays Wealth. Dartnall spent 22 years at Barclays Wealth, where he was involved in creating and leading teams of staff and managing the investments of private clients, trusts and charities.

JO Hambro Investment Management, the London-based boutique asset manager which is part of Credit Suisse, appointed James Du Boulay – formerly head of sales and marketing at HIM Capital – as manager of funds distribution.

Charteris Treasury Portfolio Managers, the independent London-based fund manager, recruited Victor Skulicz from City Asset Management as it moves to bolster its private client team. Skulicz, who has been named private client investment manager, reports to Nicholas Taylor, head of the private client team, in his new role

Switzerland

Bordier & Cie, the Swiss private bank, recruited Maurice Gravier, latterly senior portfolio manager and head of active equity at Natixis, to run its European equity fund. Gravier, who will be based in Geneva in his new role, had been with Natixis since 1998.

CMB Bank named Alberto Di Stefano as head of its private bank’s Swiss operation, based in Lugano. Di Stefano latterly managed a family office in Monaco; prior to this he was chief investment officer at BSI, where he created a fund of hedge funds unit.

Credit Suisse has appointed Michael Fleischmann as head of private client business and branch manager in Richterswil in the canton of Zurich in a move to expand its advisory services in the region. Fleischmann has nearly 25 years of experience in the financial industry. Fleischmann has been with the Swiss banking giant for about nine years.

Vontobel Asset Management, part of the Swiss private banking group Vontobel, strengthened its customer advisory service in Geneva with the appointment of a new head of business relationship management. Eric de La Chauvinière has many years of experience in the fund management industry, having been with several well-known asset managers in Switzerland and other countries.

Kevin Crowley has joined The Fox Partnership, the recruiter as the manager of the firm's business in Geneva. Crowley, who has worked in Geneva for another headhunter as a senior consultant for the last three years, originally relocated from New York in 1994 and has a background in the offshore industry as a qualified member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He has previously worked for Barclays and HSBC.

Remo Weibel, head of distribution and a member of the management committee at AWD Suisse, the subsidiary of Germany's financial service provider AWD Holding, will assume overall direction of the firm on 1 July 2010. Meanwhile, Nils Frowein, who held this position on an interim basis since autumn 2009, will concentrate on his responsibilities as deputy chairman of the management committee and chief operating officer of AWD Holding.

Union Bancaire Privée appointed Jean-Baptiste Segard as chief investment officer of long-only investments in a move which the Geneva-based banking group said is intended to drive growth on its long-only platform. Segard joins UBP from GLG Partners, where he was based in London as head of business development. In his prior career he also served as the chief executive of Société Générale Asset Management UK.

Credit Suisse private banker Leo Grüter was appointed head of the private banking, institutional and trade business at Luzerner Kantonalbank, the cantonal bank of Lucerne. Grüter also joined thee management of the cantonal bank. He succeeded Christof Strässle, who is leaving the bank after having been part of its management for 10 years.

Bank Sarasin named Bas Rijke – latterly managing director and country head for Switzerland at Fortis Banque (Suisse) – as the new head of its Geneva branch.

In his new role Rijke also assumes country responsibility for the bank’s private banking activities in the Netherlands, Belgium and France and has become part of the management team of the private banking division. He reports directly to Eric Sarasin, head of private banking. Between 2001 and 2005 Rijke was head of private banking at the Geneva branch of Banque MeesPierson.

Europe

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, a subsidiary of La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild, appointed Patrick Péris as deputy managing director, in charge of development.

In this role he will be responsible for all sales, marketing and client service teams both in France and abroad.

Péris joined the firm from Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, where he was a managing director and in charge of equities in Paris.

FxPro Financial Service, the Cyprus-headquartered international retail broker in foreign exchange and contracts for difference, appointed Michael Derks as chief strategist and Simon Smith as chief economist.

Derks joins FxPro from Arch Group, an investment management boutique, where he was the chief investment strategist.

Smith joins the firm from Thomson Reuters, where he was responsible for building a cross-market analysis capability for new product development.

JP Morgan's private bank appointed Sébastien Berthon as a vice president and senior investor for its private banking team in France.

Berthon will be based in Paris and report to Jean-Baptiste Douin, head of JP Morgan Private Bank in France, the bank said in a statement.

Berthon joins from BNP Paribas, where he was head of the healthcare equity research team, based in Paris.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners appointed Michael Gordon as chief investment officer equity within BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Gordon joins the Paris-listed firm from Fidelity Investments International, where he was most recently global head of institutional investment.

In his new role, which is based in London, Gordon reports to Christian Dargnat, chief investment officer of multi-expertise investment centre and chief executive of BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Clariden Leu, the Zurich-based private bank which is part of Credit Suisse, appointed Martina Bigliardi Moehr as the new head of central and eastern Europe and Israel.

Bigliardi Moehr joins the firm from UBS, where she held various leadership roles for northern and eastern Europe, latterly having responsibility for ultra high net worth clients.

She takes over the position at Clariden Leu from Christian Sieber on 1 July 2010, who after ten years in this role is relinquishing these responsibilities to focus on his client base as a senior private banker at the firm.

Amsterdam-headquartered IMC Asset Management, the specialist asset manager, hired of a team of four senior investment professionals, as it prepares to launch an investment grade credit corporate offering.

The team joined from Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, the Swiss private bank. Rodrigo Araya joined IMC AM as head of investment grade credit strategies, the firm said in a statement. At Lombard he was responsible for the fixed income business.

The other three team members who joined are Oscar Jansen, who joined as senior portfolio manager, having previously been head of credit at Lombard Odier; Robert Manning, who joined as head of investment grade credit analysis, having been head of credit research at Lombard Odier, and Henk Wiersma, who joined as senior investment grade credit analyst, having been credit research analyst at Lombard Odier.

Crossbridge Capital, the UK-based investment advisor which counts wealth management among its services, appointed Innokenty Alekseev as director of the firm’s team for Russia and the CIS countries.

In his new London-based role, Alekseev will develop Crossbridge’s strategy in Russia and the CIS countries as well as focus on building and managing client relationships for this market, the firm said in a statement. Alekseev will also create and deliver a family office service for Crossbridge’s clients and will be working alongside Tarek Khlat, the firm’s chief executive.

Alekseev joins from Bougart Alliance, a London-based multi-family office, where he had been director, head of advisory and client relations.

The country head for Russia at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bernard Sucher, resigned after having held the role for three years.

Sucher was recruited from the Russian investment bank Alfa Capital, where he was chairman, in 2007.

Rosbank, the Moscow-headquartered firm that counts private banking among its services, appointed Sergey Degtyarev as first deputy chairman of its management board.

In his new role, Degtyarev will be responsible for corporate governance development, the firm said in a statement. He will also supervise legal and operational risk management, compliance control and remote control practices, maintenance and supply.

Prior to the appointment, Degtyarev served as the bank’s deputy chairman, a role in which he oversaw financial management, corporate planning and audit, market risk management, mid- and long-term liquidity risks and other functions.

Mercer, the consulting, outsourcing and investment services provider, named Jelle Beenen as head of its investment consulting business in the Benelux markets, continuing a string of senior appointments announced in recent months.

Beenen has led Mercer’s financial strategy group in the Netherlands since joining the firm in 2008, along with serving on the alternatives investment committee for its European implemented consulting service.

JP Morgan appointed Edouard Debost as a managing director for its private client advisory business in France, a joint venture between the Wall Street giant’s investment and private banks.

Debost latterly provided investment banking services to clients of Hawkpoint Partners, where he was a managing director and responsible for developing client relationships and executing transactions in France, Benelux and Switzerland.

In his new role, Debost will be based in Paris, reporting to Bryan Crawford, head of PCA, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Sal Oppenheim, the Luxembourg-headquartered private bank which was purchased by Deutsche Bank earlier this year, appointed Dr Gregor Broschinski to its executive board in a move which represents the extension of the board’s divisional responsibility to private wealth management.

Dr Broschinski is an expert in the field of exclusive wealth management, having worked for 22 years in the private client business at several German banks, Sal Oppenheim said in a press statement.

In 2008, he was appointed to the executive committee, private wealth management Deutschland at Deutsche Bank, where he was most recently responsible for client management and in particular key account business with high net worth private clients and family offices, as well as legal persons and foundations.

Employee-owned wealth manager London & Capital is targeting southern Europe for growth, and appointed Armando Simões Silva as executive director, family office to spearhead its expansion there.

Simões Silva, who established Knightsbridge Portfolio Services, will be responsible for driving the development of L&C’s client base and presence in the region; in doing so he will make the firm’s infrastructure available to his own portfolio of high net worth clients.

Initially Simões Silva will be based at L&C’s head office in London – it also has offices in New York and the Isle of Man – and travel to visit clients, but it has committed to establishing a local presence in the Iberian region in the medium term, assuming that operations grow in line with plans, said Daniel Freedman, founding partner and joint managing director.

Quilter, the UK-based investment management subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, appointed Damien Maltwood as an investment manager in its Jersey office.

In his new role Maltwood will be working alongside Tim Childe, head of Quilter’s Jersey branch, the firm said in a statement.

Maltwood was latterly a senior investment manager at SG Hambros, having earlier in his career worked at The Soditic Group, based in Jersey.

Close, the UK-based asset management business of Close Brothers, appointed Cameron Jack as director of intermediary acquisitions.

In his new role Jack will be a key member of the team focused on maximising opportunities in the period leading up to implementation of the Retail Distribution Review, Close said in a statement. He will be working alongside Stuart Dyer, head of intermediary acquisitions, and supporting him in the acquisition of IFA businesses.

Prior to joining the firm Jack worked as a director of the UK mergers and acquisitions team at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.

ME/Africa

BoE Private Clients, the South African wealth manager which is jointly owned by Nedbank and Old Mutual, appointed Heidie Ziervogel as head of banking product and packaging.

Ziervogel also joins the management committee.

Standard Chartered's private banking division plans to hire as many as 10 relationship managers in the United Arab Emirates by year-end as part of its expansion plan.

Standard Chartered is also looking at how its subsidiary would operate in Saudi Arabia, having taken a license to operate in the Kingdom, David Inglesfield, regional head of The Standard Chartered Private Bank, told the news service, but he declined to elaborate.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management recruited Gabriel Aractingi, a former executive at Lombard Odier in the Middle East.

Aractingi was head of the Middle East at Lombard Odier until December 2009, when the role was taken over by Arnaud Leclercq, Lombard's head of new markets.

Barclays Wealth expanded its Africa team with the appointment of five new private bankers to its International Private Bank (IPB) for Europe, Middle East and Africa, led by recently-appointed Chris Hocking.

Hocking, who was recently appointed as head of Africa team within the International Private Bank, has taken on responsibility for coordinating the strategic growth of the business across the market.

Prior to this role, Hocking spent two years on secondment with Absa where, as chief executive of Absa Wealth, he drove its wealth proposition across South Africa.

Further appointments include Nimi Akinkugbe, who joined as a director, covering Nigeria and West Africa. She has worked within wealth management for 20 years and joins from Stanbic IBTC Bank, where she was general manager and head of private client services. Akinkugbe reports to Hocking.

Banou Malonga joined as director and will also report to Hocking.  Malonga, based in Geneva, joined from Credit Suisse where he was a key member of the ultra high net worth team. 

Linda Asafo-Agyei, Diaraye Diallo and Segun Okubanjo have also all joined the Africa team based in London. All join as vice-presidents.

LATAM

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management hired a team of four investment professionals for its ultra high net worth offering in Colombia and Venezuela.

Luis Miguel Gonzalez Ocque, now executive director, was previously with Lehman Brothers, where he spent eight years as vice president. Alan Shlesinger, who joined the firm from Barclays Wealth, was named vice president.

They are joined by Christina Arguelles as vice president and Eduardo Alvarez as client sales associate. Arguelles and Alvarez are also from Barclays Wealth and report to Adriana Pineiro, the executive director and regional sales manager of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management.

International

Ashley Hillier was promoted to chief operating officer for international private clients at Johannesberg-listed Standard Bank's offshore centre in Jersey.

Formerly director of infrastructure, Hillier will be responsible for the private clients division’s IT, operations, projects, facilities and administration.

Prior to joining Standard Bank Hillier consulted with a number of financial institutions in Jersey and was previously a vice president at JP Morgan in Geneva and a director at UBS Jersey.

Law firm Carey Olsen, with offices in Guernsey, Jersey and London, hired four new legal staff as part of a drive to be seen as the offshore jurisdiction's firm of choice.

David Jones developed the insolvency practice of UK regional firm Howes Percival in its East Midlands office.

Vanessa Moussaieff joined as a pension specialist having completed her training at Clifford Chance.

Legal assistant Sophia Harrison joined the Guernsey litigation team; she trained as a barrister but was with London law firm Lovells’ litigation department before joining Carey Olsen.

Joining the firm’s corporate team as an associate is Oliver Quarmby, a specialist funds lawyer from Laven Legal Services, a boutique funds legal service provider in London.

Asia Pacific

Ex-Fortis Investments chief executive officer Ian Manton-Hall joined Hermes Fund Managers Australia as its new director.

Manton-Hall is known for managing all aspects of Fortis' operations in Australia. Prior to Fortis, he held several key positions at the likes of William M Mercer and Prudential Corporation.

Withers, the international law firm that caters to high net worth individuals, appointed two new lawyers to its Hong Kong office, in response to the growing demand for US tax advice.

Todd Beutler was named partner at the firm and will be based in Hong Kong. Beutler has over 13 years of experience as a US tax lawyer. His appointment follows the addition of Lawrence Ho as associate to the Hong Kong US tax team recently.

Beutler's specialisation covers cross-border tax and estate planning advice for HNWIs, families and their businesses, trusts and family offices, and related charitable organisations. Meanwhile, Ho focuses on international tax, trust and estate planning and also advises individuals in relation to voluntary compliance and foreign bank account reporting issues.

Credit Suisse announced the appointment of Vasundhara Pradeep as head of prime consulting for the Asia Pacific.

Pradeep was previously a director in prime brokerage sales and business consulting at UBS. She joins Credit Suisse as a director, based in Hong Kong, and will report regionally to Kevin Meehan, the head of prime services coverage Asia Pacific, and globally to Jeremy Siegel, the global head of prime consulting in New York.

RBS Coutts announced the appointment of Nancy Lee as head of human resources, Asia.

Lee has 20 years of experience in HR, with a particular focus on private banking, investment banking, financial markets and transaction banking. She previously managed a team of 25 at Goldman Sachs and was responsible for wellness, global mobility and reward for the Asian region.

In her new role, she will be based in Hong Kong and report to Nick Pollard, the Hong Kong-based chief executive officer of RBS Coutts Asia.

RBS Coutts, the international private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, named Ignatius KK Chong as its new head of private banking for North Asia.

Chong has been with the company for over 15 years and was most recently head of the Hong Kong market, managing a team of 40 private bankers and staff. He is also one of the branch's earliest employees, having come on board when it was established in 1994.

In his new role, he will be managing a team of 90. Aside from heading the bank's North Asia operations, he will also have responsibility over the China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippines markets. He reports directly to Nick Pollard, RBS Coutts Asia's chief executive officer, who is also based in Hong Kong.

Chong succeeds Ester Heer, who left RBS Coutts.

Walkers, the offshore law firm, added a number of senior lawyers to its offices in Hong Kong and Jersey, focusing on areas including insolvency and corporate recovery.

Guy Locke – currently global head of Walkers' Insolvency and Corporate Recovery Group – was named head of Asia.

Locke specialises in corporate restructuring and contentious insolvency, as well as matters arising out of distressed investment vehicles.

Carol Hall, head of Walkers' Investment Funds Group in Hong Kong, was named managing partner of the firm's Hong Kong office. A specialist in hedge funds and private equity funds, Hall has been based in Hong Kong since 1999.  She assumed the role of managing partner from Hugh O'Loughlin, who will head up Walkers’ Jersey office in the summer as the firm continues to expand its Finance and Corporate Group in Europe.

Nigel Weston, a partner, joined from Mourant du Feu & Jeune. Weston co-heads Walkers' Finance and Corporate Group in Jersey alongside partner Alexandra Corner, who is based in both Jersey and London.

Neil McDonald joined Walkers' Jersey office as an associate in the Finance and Corporate Group. McDonald joined from Slaughter and May in London.

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management appointed Teddy Chu as head of wealth planning North Asia and Andrew Chan as wealth planner. Both are based in Hong Kong.

Chu and Chan previously held senior wealth planning positions at HSBC Trustee in HSBC Private Bank in Hong Kong. Both are full members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Besides helping build wealth preservation and success strategies for clients in North Asia, Chu also assumed responsibility for leading the wealth planning operations for the said market. They report to Mark Smallwood, the Singapore-based head of wealth management solutions Asia Pacific.

Religare Capital Markets appointed Tarun Kataria as chief executive officer of its Indian operations.

Tarun joins the company from HSBC, where he was managing director of global banking and markets. He also held a dual role as vice chairman of HSBC Securities and Capital Markets India. His appointment is effective once he completes his ongoing obligations with HSBC, Religare said in a statement.

Citi India announced the appointment of five new senior executives to its key divisions, including its human resources and legal arms.

Anuratna Chadha became head of strategy for India, with the additional role of head of the microfinance business. Stephen Cronin was named head of human resources for India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; Piyush Agrawal became head of risk for the firm's institutional operations in the said three countries; Sandip Beri became head of legal, while Munish Nagpal became head of the company's capital markets origination and global banking business in India.

Daiwa Capital Markets India appointed Ashok Jha as non-executive advisor.

Jha is the former finance secretary of the India Ministry of Finance. After retiring from the Civil Service, he held several executive roles, including that of president of Hyundai Motors India and, most recently, as chairman of MCX-SX.

In his new position, works closely with Daiwa's senior management team to help build the company's businesses in India and the rest of the Asian region.

Anja Balfour, a fund manager at Axa Framlington, left the firm following a reorganisation of its Japanese equities team.

Chisako Hardie takes over Balfour’s funds as part of an enlarged role at Axa Framlington. Hardie is supported by the global sector team, which was recently strengthened with the appointment of Bruno Grandsard as a portfolio manager.

Balfour, who joined the firm from Baillie Gifford, managed the £59.5 million Axa Framlington Japan Fund since 2004. The fund reportedly fell by 12.5 per cent in the past three years, compared to a 3.4 per cent fall in the IMA Japan sector.

New York investment manager Millenium Management expanded its Asian footprint with the appointment of Kunho Cho as its chairman for region.

Cho was previously the head of investment banking, Asia Pacific, at Lehman Brothers. In this newly created role at Millenium, he is responsible for overseeing the company's growing business in the region, particularly activities that necessitate interaction with government officials, regulators and Asia-based investors.

His hiring came alongside the naming of Hyung Lee as senior managing director, head of Asian capital markets. Lee used to be the head of Asian fixed income markets at Millenium and has been with the firm since 2008. Michael Robinson will remain as Asian regional manager and will take charge of day to day business operations, including the management of more than 70 professionals in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. In addition to his designation, he will also be general counsel, international.

Prime Fund Solutions, the hedge fund administration firm, announced a number of key hires across its Asian offices.

Jay Moghe, the founder of Asian Alternative Consulting, joined the Singapore office as deputy managing director in charge of sales and relationship management. Moghe has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services sector and has worked with the likes of OPAM/Stork Capital and APS Asset Management.

Martin Lui also joined as director of client services and operations in the city-state. Lui was most recently with the alternative fund services unit of Citibank.

The firm also announced appointments to its US offices, naming Jason Ganz as vice president of sales and relationship management in New York and Stephen Kane as manager of middle office services for single manager clients.

RBS Coutts, the private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland, named Ranjit Khanna as market head for NRI and South Asia.

Based in Singapore, Khanna will have responsibility over non-resident Indian and South Asian clients across the region and the Middle East. He was previously the managing director of private banking at Bank Sarasin Alpen in Dubai.

Khanna joins the Singapore office in June and will report to Paul Davies, head of private banking for South Asia.

Steven Barg, the head of global capital markets Asia at UBS, left the company to join Goldman Sachs Group.

Barg quit to join rival Goldman to become co-head of equity capital markets for Asia excluding Japan.

ANZ Private Bank made two senior leadership appointments to its Asia Pacific operations.

Craig Burgess, presently the head of private bank in Hong Kong, is relocating to Singapore to become head of investment advisory and planning, Asia, effective 1 July. Also named was Samuel Suen, who joined the company as head of private bank, North and North East Asia in Hong Kong on 24 May. Suen worked as an independent consultant prior to the appointment. Both report to Nina Aguas, the managing director private bank Asia Pacific.

Bank of Singapore, the subsidiary of OCBC, named Aseem Arora as managing director and head of strategic initiatives and new markets for the Indian subcontinent.

Arora was managing director and global head of NRI markets at Merrill Lynch International Bank in Singapore and has 16 years of experience in the wealth management industry. In his new role he will still be based in Singapore.

Societe Generale Private Banking named Vincent Magnenat as deputy to the chief executive officer for marketing in Singapore and South Asia.

Magnenat previously worked for Winterthur Life Insurance and Credit Suisse Private Banking in Switzerland, until he was relocated to Singapore in 2002. He joined Societe Generale in March 2004.

In his new role, he will be assisting CEO Pierre Baer in all business initiatives and will also head the private bank's Global Wealth Management platform in the Asia Pacific. The unit oversees the affairs of non-Asian high net worth investors and financial intermediaries.

Bank Julius Baer made several senior appointments within its Asian private banking and products teams as it further builds its business in the region.

Vincent Lim Chuan Hoo, previously the country market manager for Singapore and Malaysia at Societe Generale, was named team head for private banking South East Asia. Evelyn Yeo, who joined the firm from Deutsche Bank where she was vice president, investment consultant for private wealth management, is head of investment advisory services for Bank Julius Baer.

Nine other appointments were made, including specialists for the firm's treasury, capital markets, structure products, and investment advisory units.

Credit Suisse made a number of high-level executive appointments in Asia, with a number of the most senior developments taking place in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Marcel Kreis, head of private banking for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse – and a former senior UBS executive – took on the added role as Private Bank chief executive for Hong Kong. “[Kreis] will be spending a significant amount of time in Hong Kong until a suitable permanent appointment is made,” a Credit Suisse spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, in addition to his responsibilities as Head of ultra high net worth individuals for Asia Pacific, Tee Fong Seng assumed the role of CEO Private Banking Singapore. 

Francois Monnet (previously head of private banking Southeast Asia) assumed the role of Head of UHNWI in Singapore covering all APAC markets excluding Hong Kong, PRC and Taiwan.

Monnet also took on the additional responsibility as deputy head of UHNWI APAC. In this new role, he leadsa team of senior RMs servicing ultra high net worth individual clients in the different markets, and reportsto Tee Fong Seng, Head of UHNWI Asia Pacific, as well as to Kreis.

Anuj Khanna (previously head of private banking North Asia) assumed the role of chief operating officer for PB APAC, reporting to Kreis.

Swiss management consultant Solution Providers appointed Dr Mario Bassi as managing director and head of Asia.

Dr Bassi takes up his new position on 15 July 2010 from Deutsche Bank Singapore, where he was the managing director and head of strategy and business development for the Asia Pacific region. He succeeds Beat Latanzio, who will return to Solution Providers in Switzerland.

EFG Bank, EFG International’s business in Asia, recruited a team of Commerzbank client relationship managers and other professionals in Singapore as part of an agreement between both firms.

“EFG Bank has entered into an agreement with Commerzbank (South East Asia) Ltd regarding the latter's wealth management clients in Asia. A team of Commerzbank's Client Relationship Officers and Customer Service Officers - headed by CEO, Henrik Mikkelsen - will join EFG Bank shortly,” the firm said in a statement.

The two organizations agreed on a referral of Commerzbank's Asian wealth management clients to EFG Bank, and will work together to ensure a smooth transfer of client relationships, the statement said.

The move forms part of EFG Bank's plans to expand its business in Singapore, where it currently has over 130 employees, including circa 70 Client Relationship Officers.

Mercer reinforced its commitment towards Asia with the appointment of Hansi Mehrotra as regional wealth management head.

Mehrotra will relocate to Singapore from Sydney in June to join Desmond Lee, who was named wealth management consultant. She retains her position as head of wealth management services for Asia Pacific and head of investment consulting for India. Lee was previously with DBS Asset Management.

 

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