Below is a list of key personnel moves in May. It is edited by Stephen Harris. Please contact Stephen Harris with any relevant details of appointments, p...

Below is a list of key personnel moves in May. It is edited by Stephen Harris. Please contact Stephen Harris with any relevant details of appointments, promotions, restructuring and related news.

UK

Mike Bussey, the co-chief executive, emerged as the biggest casualty of Schroder & Co’s recent clear out. Altogether the bank axed as many as 19 private banking positions from its London office. Among the others chopped were Rupert Caldecott, head of the international business, and David Rowe, managing director of UK business. At least four relationship managers and 12 support staff are being made redundant, reducing the UK private banking workforce to around 130. Sally Tennant, appointed by Michael Dobson, the chief executive of Schroders, as co-chief executive of the private bank in March, now takes on full responsibility for running the bank. Tennant previously worked with Dobson at Beaumont Capital Management, the hedge fund group he founded in 2000.

Barclays Private Clients has appointed Mike Pedersen as its new head of private banking. He takes over from William Oullin who is moving over to a new role of non-executive chairman of Barclays Private Banking International. Pedersen was previously head of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's retail banking operation. Pedersen will report to Bob Hunter, CEO of Barclays Private Clients. Pedersen's appointment represents the third major shift at the top of Barclays Private Clients in a little over a month. John Eaton was recently appointed the new managing director of international banking; in early April, Pascal Roche was appointed country manager and managing director at the bank's French private client operations. Anthony Cooke-Yarborough was appointed at the same time head of UK private banking, and he will now report to Pedersen. Pedersen joins Roche and four other managing directors; Michael Pinder, head of premier banking; Jacobo Gonzalez Rabatto, head of Barclays Iberia business, John Eaton, head of international offshore, and Bob Dench, head of investment management. Oullin joined the bank two years ago when he took over from Graeme Hanson.

Malcolm Roberts, a senior private banker at JP Morgan Private Bank, was the biggest name of the eight-strong team to defect to rival Rothschild Asset Management. The hires and additional ones in recent months suggest RAM is building up substantial onshore private banking operations, based on asset management, in the UK.

Toby Thomson has taken over from Maria Lagoussis-Vrettos as head of international private banking in London for ABN AMRO. Lagoussis-Vrettos is moving back to Greece where she will work as a senior private banker for the Dutch bank.

Credit Suisse Asset Management has appointed Lori Cohane as managing director of its tax-advantaged fixed-income products for high net-worth investors. Cohane joins CSAM from Morgan Stanley Investment Group where she was head of fixed-income portfolio management. Former colleagues Frank Biondo and Maureen Grover will join Cohane on the HNW team. Biondo joins from UBS Warburg Global Asset Management and Grover was previously vice president of client services at Morgan Stanley.

Pierre Gerbier, the former head of Credit Suisse’s family office business in London, is to launch his own family office business. Gerbier told Private Client Management he intends to launch TEN UK in September at a polo match apparently attended by Prince Charles and his sons. The venture will target clients with in excess of $100m. The exact details of the initiative and his other partners were at this stage sketchy and Gerbier declined to discuss the details of the project. He was also vague on why he left Credit Suisse after being in the job for less than six months, only saying there were managerial differences. Separately, Credit Suisse confirmed to Private Client Management they were close to making an offer to one of two candidates they are considering to replace Gerbier.

Switzerland

UBS announced some major changes at the top of its private banking operations in May, with Georges Gagnebin, currently chief executive of UBS Private Banking, becoming chairman of UBS Wealth Management and Business Banking (the new name for the UBS Switzerland business group). Alain Robert and Raul Weill will lead UBS’s private banking businesses. The biggest promotion went to Marcel Rohner has been appointed chief executive of the wealth management business; he was previously chief operating officer and deputy chief executive of UBS Private Banking.

Pictet has created a new post of managing partner by appointing Remy Best, bringing the total number of managing partners to nine. Best’s appointment will be effective from the beginning of next year and will run the Pictet Funds business from the beginning of July 2002. He formerly was in charge of the bank’s Luxembourg business, Pictet’s largest office outside of Geneva.

Millenium Associates has appointed Denis Raeburn to its global advisory board. Raeburn worked for Global Asset Management between 1987 and 1999, and served at one point as managing director. "Raeburn's experience and knowledge of international capital and investment markets will be invaluable in expanding Millenium Associates coverage in Switzerland and beyond," noted Ray Soudah, founder of Millenium.

US

Merrill Lynch’s international private client group has created a number of new positions as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts. The US private client group has set up new positions based around market and segment appointments under the control of Raymundo Yu and Phil Sieg head of IPC’s global markets group and head of the global segments group respectively. Darcie Burk, first vice president, has been appointed market executive for the Americas. Based in Miami, Burk will develop IPC's wealth management business in the US and Latin America. Previously, Burk supervised IPC's Asian US offices in San Francisco, Cupertino, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and New York.

Stephanie Villalba, first vice president, has been named market executive for Europe, excluding the UK. Villalba was head of IPC private banking products and credit for Merrill Lynch International Bank. Bruno Daher, first vice president, is the new Middle East market executive. Based in Geneva, he will continue to manage IPC's Middle East offices. Albert Lee, first vice president, has been appointed Asia Pacific market executive based in Hong Kong. Previously, Lee was manager for Taiwan, including the IPC business in Taipei and Kaohsiung. Junji Okabayashi, first vice president, is market executive for Japan. He is responsible for IPC's offices in Japan. Most recently, he was vice chairman of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities' private client business.

New York investment advisory specialist Neuberger Berman has appointed Joseph Stein as managing director and as a money manager in its private asset management group. Stein was previously with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York where he was a managing director.

Asia Pacific

Merrill Lynch has appointed Francis Chan as chairman of its international private client group for the Asia-Pacific region and Hidemi Fukuhara has been appointed chairman of IPCG Japan. Chan has been with Merrill Lynch for 36 years. Fukuhara was previously head of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities’ private client business. Both will report to Jose Malbran, head of client relationship management.