WealthBriefing provides a round-up of all the major people moves and employment trends in the global wealth management sector for the month ...

WealthBriefing provides a round-up of all the major people moves and employment trends in the global wealth management sector for the month of March 2006.

Trends

Are we about to see a fall off in the tremendous pace of hiring in the global wealth management sector?

Well if UBS hiring is anything to go by as a guide for trends in the sector, then the answer is an emphatic Yes.

The world’s largest wealth manager announced in its annual report a fall in the number of client advisors in its European operations during 2005. The number was only small - 35 jobs out of a total of more than 800 - and there were some technical issues involved in some of the job loses.

But the number is interesting as UBS was ahead of the wealth management growth curve when it started recruiting for its European wealth management initiative at the beginning of the new decade.

Could UBS be ahead of the curve again - but this time anticipating a fall in the demand for private bankers?

Executive Moves

Europe

Georges Gagnebin, the former vice chairman of SBC Wealth Management, the now defunct holding company of UBS’s three smaller private banks and London-based GAM, which was sold to Julius Baer last September, is to be elected to the board of the Zurich-based bank in April. A spokesman for Julius Baer confirmed the move, which will see Mr Gagnebin assuming a major role in running the enlarged private banking business. Some speculate that Mr Gagnebin will become the bank’s new chief executive.

Citigroup, the US banking group, has appointed David Poole to the position of managing director and head of business development for its private banking operation in Europe. Mr Poole’s position, which will primarily focus on supporting the building of the bank's UK business, is effective from May 2006. Citigroup said the UK has been singled out by senior management for significant investment funds within the private banking sector and that this had been the driving force behind the new position. Mr Poole joins Citigroup from Merrill Lynch. He will report directly to Marianne Hay, chief executive of global wealth management in Europe. In addition, he will have a reporting line to Peter Charrington, general market manager for the Citigroup Private Bank in the UK and Greece.

Barclays Wealth Management has appointed David Graham as chief information technology officer with immediate effect. Mr Graham, who was previously in the same position for Barclays Capital in the Americas, was responsible for major technology transformation projects at Barclays Global Investors and as a consultant and at Accenture, in its capital markets practice. Mr Graham will report to Andrea Repp who assumes overall responsibility for the infrastructure transformation programme.

Erwin Vogt, the chairman of Liechtensteinische Landesbank, has resigned. A statement from the bank said Mr Vogt was leaving for personal reasons. He will step down at the end of June. LLB said a successor will be chosen by the Liechtenstein parliament on April 19. The parliament appoints four of its seven directors, including the chairman, while the remaining three are appointed by shareholders. Mr Vogt was appointed chairman in 2002.

Dutch private bank Van Lanschot has hired nine private bankers from MeesPierson, the private banking business of Fortis. The private bankers joining the Amsterdam-based banks are: Marcel Engelbertink, Tanja van der Gaag, Rogier van Heyningen, Arnoud de Hoog, Marcel Kuijer, Roy Neyndorff, Frits van Olphen, Deborah Telling, and Omar Zee. Van Lanschot said in a statement. “These directors and employees, who are joining from MeesPierson, have extensive expertise and many years of experience in the field of private banking. Their appointment is therefore closely in line with Van Lanschot's strategy of further strengthening its position in private banking.”

Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie have tapped Credit Suisse for a new head of private client development. Arnaud Leclercq will join the Geneva-based bank on 1 July 2006 and will become a partner from 1 January 2007. He will have a particular emphasis in emerging countries such as those in Eastern Europe. Mr Leclercq has been at Credit Suisse Private Banking since July 2000 and was responsible for developing the private client base in Eastern Europe. The departure of Mr Leclercq is a big blow to the Eastern European strategy of Credit Suisse, according to insiders.

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management has appointed Alexander Classen, formerly general manager of Goldman Sachs’ Swiss Banking operations in Zurich and Geneva, as head of sales for its high net worth business in Europe and the Middle East. Mr Classen will report to Michael Durbin, head of Morgan Stanley’s international PWM business. He will be based in London and oversee all aspects of sales management, business development and client relationship activities for the high net worth businesses in the region. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2000, Mr Classen spent 10 years at Pictet, latterly as the head of its Asian operations in Singapore.

Simon Brewer, managing director and chief investment officer of Morgan Stanley’s European private wealth management business, has left. Mr Brewer is to join Vantage Investment Advisory as chief executive of its UK operations. Vantage Investment Advisory is the London-based research office of Jersey-based Vantage Group, which manages two Cayman Island-based funds, the Vantage Global Investment Fund and the Vantage Horizon Fund

Separately, Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management in London has lost Warwick Ryan to the London start-up fund management group, Heptagon Capital. Mr Ryan joins as vice president responsible for product development. Heptagon has also appointed Stephen MacIntyre as chief operating officer. Mr MacIntyre was previously at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was head of fund services. Heptagon Capital was set up last summer by Tarek Mooro, Fredrik Plyhr, Eran Ben-Zour and George Veltchev. The first three all came from Morgan Stanley’s PWM department in London.

Julius Baer has appointed Robert Schleichas the bank’s new head of IT and operations. Mr Schleich was previously with Credit Suisse, where he was chief information officer. He joins at the beginning of June. Mr Schleich replaces Juergen Pulm, who, according to a Julius Baer statement, is leaving the firm of his own accord “to pursue a new professional challenge”.

ABN Amro Private Banking in London has recruited Richard Nunneley from Cazenove Capital Management and Michael Betesh from Dryden Wealth Management, according to sources close to the Dutch bank. Mr Nunneley will be funds director at ABN and Mr Betesh is expected to have a similar business development role at his new employer as he did at Dryden. Late last year, ABN lost a number of senior private bankers from its London team, including Toby Thomson and Adam Gray. Mr Thomson was the former head of ABN’s London-based operations and Mr Gray was head of UK private client discretionary portfolio management.

Banca del Gottardo, the Lugano-based banking subsidiary of Swiss Life Group, has proposed Rolf Dörig and Beat Hubacher for election to the bank’s board of directors, as replacements for Henry Peter and Martin Senn. Henry Peter has been nominated for the Swiss Life board of directors and will therefore leave the Banca del Gottardo board, where he has served since 1994. He was also chairman of the bank’s audit committee. Martin Senn will resign from the board as he will leave Swiss Life on 1 April 2006 to take a new position at Zurich Financial Services. Mr Dörig chief executive of Swiss Life, and Mr Hubacher, head of group compliance & regulatory affairs of Swiss Life, will be proposed for election at the general meeting of shareholders on 27 April 2006.

Banco Sabadell, the Spanish-based financial services firm, has appointed Rafael Valera as deputy managing director of its private banking arm, Sabadell Banca Privada. Mr Valera joins from UBS, where he was a senior manager on the investment banking side. Banco Sabadell hopes Mr Valera’s new position will develop links with Spain’s family-business owners.

Zurich-based Finter Bank has appointed Marco Lanzi as the bank’s new chairman. Mr Lanzi replaces Martin Murbach, who is retiring. Mr Marco joined the board of directors at Finter Bank last October. He has had various senior positions in Swiss private banking including chief executive of Cantrade and Ehinger Armand von Ernst private banks when they were part of UBS.

Heartwood, the UK wealth management business formerly known as Cripps Portfolio, has appointed John Heskett as its new chairman. Mr Heskett joins from the Baring Group, where he had worked for more than 30 years in the fields of corporate finance, banking and asset management. Founded in 1988, Heartwood employs around 70 staff and provides wealth management services to the ultra and high net worth from its offices in London, Tunbridge Wells, Lewes and Southampton.

Liechtensteinische Landesbank, one of Liechtenstein’s three major private banks, has opened an office in Lugano. The bank has staffed the new office with a team from Banca del Gottardo, according to sources close to the bank. No further details are so far available on the Lugano expansion.

The Bank of New York has launched a new division within its private bank called Investment AdvisorServices and has appointed Stephen Doty to head the new unit. BoNY will employ 20 investment advisors in the new unit, which will target high net worth investors with at least $1 million in investable assets. Among the new staff are three from Citigroup’s SmithBarney unit in New York; they are Raymond Piacentini, Joseph Stefans and Linda Houllahan. Mr Doty previously served as head of the personal asset management division at BoNY Asset Management.

LRI Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz International, the Luxembourg fund management and private banking business of the German regional bank, has appointed Marie-Anne van den Berg and Edgar Fusenig to its board of directors. Both appointments are internal promotions. Marie-Anne van den Berg was most recently head of international finance at LRI and began her professional career in 1980 with a work placement with Crédit Suisse in Luxembourg. Edgar Fusenig was most recently head of accounting/controlling at LRI.

Swisscanto Holdings has appointed Reto Tarreghetta as a member of the executive board. He will also head up the group's investment and pensions private clients division. In his new role, which he will assume on 1 June 2006, Mr Tarreghetta will be responsible for the development and marketing of Swisscanto investment funds and pension products. Mr Tarreghetta was previously managing director of the service company aconnect(schweiz)in Zurich. He had also been a director and member of the executive board of the private banking business line at Julius Baer, where he was responsible for the corporate services division for several years.

UK-based independent private client investment group, Brewin Dolphin, has promoted John Cowmeadow to group head of business development. Mr Cowmeadow will manage a newly appointed team that will be responsible for expanding Brewin's distribution channel to professional intermediaries and charities. The team will have oversight over all Brewin’s 34 offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Mr Cowmeadow joined Bell Lawrie, the Scottish arm of Brewin Dolphin Securities, in 2002 as a business development manager. He was appointed divisional director in 2003 and was responsible for marketing private client investment management services to intermediaries and charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

HSBC Republic Investments, part of HSBC Private Bank, has hired Kim Blackman as head of sales for France, Spain, Benelux and Greece. Ms Blackman joins from GAM where she marketed discretionary portfolio management services.At HSBCRI Ms Blackman will be responsible for developing the firm’s business as a global fund-of-hedge-funds advisor to institutional investors in these countries.

Investec Asset Management, the global investment manager, has appointed Sarah McClelland to the position of head of marketing. Ms McLeland will be based in London and will report to David Aird, managing director, Investec Fund Managers Limited, and Mark Samuelson, head of UK institutional business. Previously, Ms McLeland was head of marketing and product for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in Australia, where she was responsible for all areas of marketing and product development.

Peter Harrison, the former global chief investment officer for Deutsche Asset Management, has joined MPC Investors, a London-based hedge fund investment firm, as chief executive. Before joining Deutsche in 2004, Mr Harrison was CIO, global equities at JP Morgan and prior to that he was with Newton Investment Management, where he become a senior portfolio manager. He began his career in finance working for Schroder Investment Management where he was a UK equity analyst.

German bank WestLB said it plans to create a board level position to help oversee new client acquisition for its private client department, as well as the bank’s savings clients. The position will be a new one and report to co-chairman Norbert Emmerich.

SG Hambros Bank & Trust, part of SG Private Banking, has beefed up its private banking team in Jersey with two new senior private banking hires. Paul Newman joins from NatWest, where he serviced the local markets as a senior manager. His new role will involve attracting and retaining new locally based clients in Jersey. Matt Falla joins from HSBC International, where he focused on funds distribution across the Middle East, Africa and Mauritius. In his new role at SG Hambros he will be developing and strengthening the bank’s global relationships in the Americas and the Middle East. Mr Falla was previously with the Royal Bank of Scotland International in their private banking team.

Jupiter, the UK investment manager, has appointed Kevin Scott, formerly an international sales manager at Old Mutual, to launch a range of offshore products under its own brand name. The firm runs funds for the European market under the name of owner, Commerzbank. Mr Scott’s role will be to build sales in global markets including the Channel Islands, the Middle East, the Far East and South Africa. The aim is to target domestic investors and UK expatriots. Mr Scott was executive director of Old Mutual’s UK and offshore businesses. He will join a team which includes high profile figures such as Income Trust star Tony Nutt and Philip Gibbs.

UK-based fund manager New Star International has appointed Ghislaine Fournigault as senior business development manager for France to provide strategy support and develop new and existing client relationships. She will report to Philip Goldsmith , managing director of New Star International, and will be based in London. Ms Fournigault joins from Gartmore Investment Management where she was a development director, and involved in opening distribution channels in the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

London-based specialist fixed income boutique BlueBay Asset Management, has appointed David Zobel as principal and head of hedge fund strategies. The position is a new one. Mr Zobel joins from Deutsche Asset Management where he was a managing director, responsible for DAM’s European fund of hedge funds business.

South African insurer Liberty Group has announced that it is selling its fund of hedge funds business Liberty Ermitage Jersey to London-listed Caledonia Investments, the investment vehicle for the Cayzer shipping dynasty, and the fund's current management, for about £41 million ($71 million). The deal sees the management, led by former chairman of fund manager Gartmore and current chairman of UK-based retailer Marks & Spencer, Paul Myners owning 40 per cent, with Calendonia owning the remaining 60 per cent. Mr Myners will become the new chairman of the group. Ld by Ian Cadby, Ermitage’s management team of Andrew Whelan, Jonathan Wauton and Sarah Allen have all signed five year contracts within the new company structure. Ermitage’s new group board will be extended to include Tim Ingram and Jamie Cayzer-Colvin, who are directors of Caledonia.

Walbrook Group, the Channel Island-based trust and financial services firm, has promoted four of its senior managers to the rank of associate director. Walbrook’s new directors are: Chris Tushingham, who heads up the company’s fiduciary team; James Michel; Andrew Duncan; and Alison Mahoney, a senior manager for the private client team. Before moving to Isle of Man, Mr Tushingham worked in the Bahamas and Jersey. Mr Michel joined Walbrook in 2004 to head up the group’s Middle East and Far East desk and now has overall responsibility for fiduciary services in the Jersey office. Mr Duncan joined Walbrook in 2003 as a senior manager and will now take on a broader business development role while maintaining his client portfolio. Miss Mahoney, who is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, will head up the Guernsey-based fiduciary team.

Ozannes, the Guernsey law firm, plans to open a legal practice in Jersey and has appointed Marcus Stone as its new head. It will be the first Guernsey law firm to open on the neighbouring island.

The Americas

Morgan Stanley’s new wealth management head, James Gorman, is re-engineering the business through a management shake-out. The former head of Merrill Lynch’s private client business took charge of Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group last month and has already assumed the new role of head of national sales. In this capacity, he will have direct oversight of the firm's 9,526 financial advisors.
The new overhaul, which is designed to strengthen management and remove unnecessary bureaucracy, involves the departure of two senior executives, Rick Sanchez, head of client coverage, and Michael Burke, director of national sales. Morgan’s headcount will be swelled by the appointment of two of Mr Gorman’s former colleagues from Merrill Lynch. Jerry Miller, who was chief operating officer of one of Merrill's asset management businesses, will run the newly formed mid-west region, while Richard Skae, will head the north-east region.

Paul Gordon, managing director of Bank of New York’s wealth advisory group, has left the firm. A spokesman for the bank was not able to say why he was leaving, or where he was going. Mr Gordon had been in role since March 2004, according to the spokesman.

Separately, The investment management arm of Bank of New York, BNY Asset Management, has appointed three executives to oversee investment strategy, research, and advisory services for its private client asset management division. Patrick Crowe, managing director and chief investment officer of personal asset management, will be responsible for overseeing equity strategies and investment research for the bank's private clients. Kevin Connolly, managing director and chief investment officer of personal fixed income, will direct fixed income investment strategies. Burton Siegel, managing director of the investment advisory group, will be responsible for devising and implementing customized, open architecture asset allocation strategies for clients. All three will report to Kevin Bannon, The Bank of New York's chief investment officer and chairman of the bank's investment policy committee.

JP Morgan in the US has appointed Joe Kenney as national investment practice leader for private client services. Mr Kenney most recently headed the West Coast and Denver investor teams for the bank’s private banking clients. The 16-year JP Morgan veteran will report in his new role to Steve MacLellan, chief executive of private client services for JP Morgan.

Citigroup Global Wealth Management is spitting its Manhattan team into two groups and appointed Wayne Yang, the former head of the bank’s wealth management business in Australia, as head of one of the groups. An internal memo from Citigroup Wealth Management senior managing director Rich Ditizio to staff at the private bank said: “I am pleased to announce that Wayne Yang has been appointed global market manager of the Manhattan 1 team, reporting directly to me (Mr Ditizio). Wayne will co-head our Manhattan high net worth business, leading the Manhattan 1 team.”

Mr Ditizio added that Citigroup recently decided to return “to the co-head structure” for the Manhattan business. A co-head for the Manhattan II team is currently being searched for, according to the memo. The bank said that in the meantime the group will be headed jointly by Paul Hubert and Mr Ditizio.

Mellon Financial Corporation, the Pennsylvania-based financial services firm, has made three senior promotions within its private wealth management group. Steven Reiff, formerly managing director of sales and marketing for private wealth's family office unit, has been promoted to national director of wealth management. Tom Hurlbrink was promoted to national sales director for the group. He had been managing director in charge of sales for private wealth management's mid-Atlantic region. Michael Murphy, formerly managing director for operations, fiduciary support and estate-settlement services, was promoted to national director of client service. All three report to Craig Sutherland, vice chairman of the private wealth management group.

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management has beefed up its San Francisco office by hiring Peter Lowry and Christoper Biotti as vice presidents and private bankers from Bank of America Private Bank. Mr Lowry was a private client advisor at BofA. Prior to that, he was a director in the corporate finance technology group at UBS Warburg. Mr Biotti was also a private client advisor at BofA and previously worked as an attorney in private practice in Boston.

Wilmington Trust, the Delaware-based wealth advisory firm, is expanding the management team of its New York City office. The newly hired executives are Murray Stoltz, senior private client advisor and head of sales management; James Nesci, chief operating officer; and Lisa Hurwich, regional marketing director. Mr Stoltz joins Wilmington from Fiduciary Trust Company International in New York, where he was senior vice president and director of individual business development. Mr Nesci joins Wilmington Trust’s wealth advisory group from the company’s corporate client services office in New York, where he was responsible for the development of fiduciary and agency services to corporations, municipalities, and financial institutions. Ms Hurwich joins Wilmington Trust from advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi in New York, where she was an account supervisor.

An internal investments group has been created by US-based Wachovia's wealth-management division to give clients with at least $2 million in investable assets more objective investment advice. Wachovia has been building the group over the past year and has nearly finished the hiring process, according to Ernest Dawal, managing executive of investments, who joined the group in August from Evergreen Investments, the bank's mutual-funds arm, where he was chief operating officer of the private asset management division. A team of nine analysts has been hired, most of whom are located in Winston-Salem and in Jacksonville, Florida, where the team's managing director is based.

Michael Carpenter, chairman and chief executive of Citigroup’s alternative investments unit in New York, which handles $40 billion in private equity, hedge funds, real estate and other investments, to start an venture believed to be also in alternative investments. Lewis Kaden, the company's chief administrative officer, will oversee Citigroup Alternative Investments on an interim basis while a search is conducted for Mr Carpenter's successor. Mr Carpenter is expected to continue to advise management during the transition.

US fund of hedge funds manager Arden Asset Management has poached John Rogers from Ivy Asset Management. Mr Rogers joins as a managing director. He was previously a managing director at Ivy and head of Ivy Ventures. In his new role Mr Rogers will work closely with Averell Mortimer, president and chief executive of Arden, and other members of Arden's senior management team, to develop and structure new, global investment products.

The US arm of international private client law firm Withers, Withers Bergman, has appointed Henry Steinway Ziegler as a counsel in its New York office. Mr Ziegler is a specialist in wealth transfer, trusts and taxation. His clients include US and international families. Before joining Withers he was previously partner in charge of the private client group at Shearman & Sterling and was chairman and chief executive of Deutsche Bank Trust Company.

Asia-Pacific

Julius Baer Group are beefing up their Asian presence with the appointment of Wilfried Kofmehl as regional head of South East Asia and chief executive of Singapore. The appointment will start from September this year at the latest and Mr Kofmehl will be responsible for growing Baer’s private banking operation in the region. Andrea Benenati, regional head of North Asia, was appointed head of the Julius Baer representative office in Hong Kong in mid-March and, since the beginning of the year, three additional representatives have been added. Julius Baer’s Japanese team, led by Laurent Rupp, has also been expanded recently to include three relationship managers.

UBS’s Australian head Liz Cacciottolo has hired Dean Surkitt, the former head of Citigroup Wealth Advisors in Australia. The hire is a major one for the burgeoning Australian wealth management business of UBS. Mr Surkitt has left his position at Citigroup Wealth Advisors, formerly Smith Barney’s business in Australia, last August. Australian press reports have linked his resignation to problems at Citigroup’s Australian wealth management business, which led to the departure of Wayne Yang, head of the overall wealth management business for the US bank in Australia, late last year.

Stuart Grimshaw has been appointed head of premium business services at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He was previously head of wealth management. He replaces Michael Katz who has left to pursue other interests. Premium business services deals with institutional and business banking and some high net worth individuals.

Middle East

Julius Baer is expanding in the Middle East with a new team of private banking specialists led by Rolf Schaerer in Dubai tasked to develop new business in the Indian subcontinent.

Lloyds TSB International Private Banking has appointed Manoj Kapur as its new market head in Dubai. Mr Kapur joins from HSBC Private Bank where he was a senior manager, responsible for the non-resident Indian market in the Gulf region. According to Lloyds, Mr Kapur’s “key priority for this year will be to build the Dubai relationship management team in preparation for growth in 2007 and beyond. He will also have a key role in defining our strategy and footprint for the whole of the Middle East and Indian region.” David Tunbridge, who has been acting market head for the region will be moving to a new position within the business to be announced shortly, according to Lloyds.