People Moves

WealthBriefing: Executive Moves in May

Contributing Editor 1 June 2005

WealthBriefing: Executive Moves in May

WealthBriefing covers all the major people moves in the global wealth management sector and also in this section is a round up of the major ...

WealthBriefing covers all the major people moves in the global wealth management sector and also in this section is a round up of the major trends in the hiring and firing—which firms are hiring and which ones are firing.

The global wealth management market continues to be buoyant, although there are some signs that the strong growth in hiring of the last few months is beginning to wane. One headhunter told WealthBriefing that many private banks/asset managers are waiting a few months before issuing mandates for 2006. That sentiment was shared by another executive search specialist, who said there was a general reluctance to hire, with the exception being those with specialist skills in areas like structured products.

Another was adamant that things were very buoyant across the board and saw lots of demand. “Our books are pretty dam full at the moment,” said one London-based headhunter.

The Swiss private banking market continues to be slow, according to Zurich and Geneva headhunters. “It’s just normal here—very slow,” said one Zurich-based headhunter.

In London, Goldman Sachs and Barclays Private Clients are the two firms most mentioned by headhunters as on the look out for relationship managers—although JP Morgan Private Bank also gets plenty of mentions.

UBS continues to be the big hirer in many of the wealth management markets it is operating. It is still looking to recruit in London, but is particularly active in Spain, where the Zurich-based bank continues to seek client advisors.

But the US is where the real action is for UBS, where it said it plans to add around 500 new financial advisers per year to its current US wealth management brokerage staff of 7,400. The bank is looking to recruit staff with at least $100 million in assets as well as pursue new hires that it will train.

Also busy in the US is Bear Stearns, which is in the process of recruiting an extra 100 private client account executives in 2005.

Credit Suisse is meanwhile expanding eastwards and has recently opened a representative office in St Petersburg—although it has only recruited one person to run it.

Coutts has been pretty active. The London-based wealth manager has said that it has hired more than 30 new staff for the UK part of its business this year. Staff numbers have also grown in the bank’s international businesses.

Executive Moves

Europe

Nordea Bank SA, the Luxembourg-based private banking and fund management arm of Nordea, has appointed Claus Jørgensen as head of private banking for Luxembourg and Switzerland. Mr Jørgensen joins Nordea from the Federation of Danish Investment Associations where he was managing director. The appointment is a new one and was previously part of the wider brief for Jhon Mortensen, head of Nordea Wealth Management & Funds.

Bob Diamond , the American head of Barclays Capital as well as the bank’s asset management and private banking businesses, is to be appointed to the board of directors of the British bank. Mr Diamond has been responsible for the success of Barclays Capital and has been given greater responsibility within the British bank in the last few years, including heading up the private bank.

Peter Brabeck, the chief executive of Nestle, has been re-elected to the board of Credit Suisse, despite opposition for shareholder activist groups. Some minority shareholders tried to block the appointment of Mr Brabeck on the grounds he already had too many mandates to do a proper job at the bank. Mr Brabeck will, however, relinquish his role as vice chairman of Credit Suisse, in what is seen by some as a partial concession to his critics. Ethos, a foundation representing Swiss pension funds, wanted to prevent Mr Brabeck’s appointment and also opposed the re-election to the Credit Suisse board of Thomas Bechtler, head of his family holding company, Hesta, and Ernst Tanner of the chocolate maker, Lindt.

BNP Paribas has appointed Gilles Glicenstein as chairman of its asset management division, BNP PAM. Mr Glicenstein, who has been the division's managing director since 1999, replaces Gilles de Vaugrigneuse , who will remain chairman of the BNP Paribas Asset Management group. BNP PAM also includes the bank’s private banking division, as well as on-line broking and insurance. The asset manager has around €154 billion ($193.7 billion) of assets under management.

Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management group in London has lost five senior investment managers. Tarek Mooro, Fedrick Plyhr, and Eran Ben-Zour have left. Their departures follow the loss of Andrea Brignone and Carlo Michienzi , who left earlier last month. According to reports, the three latest departures have joined Mr Brignone and Mr Michienzi in a new venture, although the name of the new firm has yet to be disclosed.

Coutts has hired Bill Blakey from Insight Investment and Geoffrey Post from Merrill Lynch. The two latest appointments represent more than 30 new hires for the UK private bank so far this year. Staff numbers have also grown in the bank’s international businesses. Mr Blakey joins Coutts' philanthropy team, which deals in the bank’s heritage and charitable business. Geoffrey Post, previously head of product development at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, joins Coutts marketing department. He will focus on developing the range of investment products in Coutts' portfolio, specifically helping to develop the bank’s $300 million global property fund.

Sarasin Chiswell, the UK arm of Bank Sarasin, has appointed Nicholas Lambert as a director within its private department where he assumes responsibility for managing both private client and charity portfolios. Mr Lambert joins from Cazenove where he was a partner. In all he spent 18 years at the firm where he was responsible for managing portfolios for private clients and charities.

Banca del Gottardo has appointed Felix Ehrat, a senior partner of Zurich-based law firm Bär & Karrer, as its new chairman. He replaces Claudio Generali, who the bank says has decided to step down from his role after 15 years as chairman. Gottardo also announced the appointment of Reto Himmel, chief technology officer and member of the executive board of Swiss Life, to its board. Swiss Life, the insurance company, owns Gottardo.

Barclays Private Clients has appointed Frank McGarahan as chief operating office and member of its executive committee. Mr McGarahan joins from Barclays Capital, where he was a member of the management committee. He will report to Rich Ricci, chief operating officer of Barclays' investment banking, asset management and wealth management businesses.

Zurich-based Bellerive Private Bank has appointed a number of new senior managers. Willi Etter has been appointed deputy chief executive; he joins from Basler KantonalBank, where he was on the management committee. Werner Sigg will also be appointed to the board of directors of the private bank. Mr Sigg was until mid-2004 chief executive of Basler KantonalBank. Bellerive has also appointed Henrik Hedman to develop its business in Scandinavia. He previously worked for Svenska Bank in Zurich. Bellerive is majority owned by Graubuendner KantonalBank.

Northern Trust has appointed Sarah Hurst as a senior relationship manager to its European multi-national client services team in London. The position is a new one. Ms Hurst joins from Bank of New York. She will be responsible for managing Northern Trust’s asset servicing relationships with family office clients and multinational pension funds across Europe.

Abacus Financial Services Group, the Channel Island's based financial services firm, has beefed up its share plan and employee benefits department by appointing ex-Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow associate Kevin Lim to its business development team in London. Mr Lim will focus on growing Abacus’ share plan business in Jersey and Edinburgh and providing ongoing legal support for Abacus’ corporate clients.

Baring Asset Management in London has appointed James Buckley as director of its Barings European Growth Fund and Europa funds. Mr Buckley joins from Premier Asset Management where he ran the Premier European Growth Fund. He will report to Susannah Lloyd, head of the specialist European equity team.

Goldman Sachs has added an additional member to its Italian private client team based in Milan and indicates that it is targeting strong growth in the Southern European country. Chiara Palmieri joins a team of five other relationship managers targeting the private client market in Italy.

Brewin Dolphin Securities is to open a private client business in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has appointed Henry Algeo and Randal Herron to head it up. Mr Algeo is a former managing director of Belfast-based stockbrokers Cunningham Coates, while Mr Herron is a former chairman of Cunningham, which is part of independent private client financial services firm Smith & Williamson Holdings. The London-based firm has said that it has aligned its Northern Ireland operation with seven offices in Scotland run by Bell Lawrie, an investment manger subsidiary of Brewin. A total of 10 staff will be employed in the Belfast office initially, although there are plans to double staff numbers within the next 18 months.

Swiss-based wealth and asset management M&A advisor MilleniumAssociates has appointed the former chief executive of Britannic Asset Management, Leslie McIntosh, as a senior advisor.

North America

The Bank of New York has appointed John Dowd as its new head of private banking. Mr Dowd’s appointment was an internal promotion; he was previously the bank’s chief trust officer. He will report to Leslie Godridge, head of investment management services at the bank. He replaces Lee Wortham, who has left the firm, according to the Bank of New York. The job is a big one in terms of US private client businesses. The Bank of New York, America’s oldest banks, manages and administers more than $60 billion in assets for high net worth clients.

Ousted ex-head of private banking at Citigroup, Peter Scaturro, has been appointed chief executive of US Trust, the private client subsidiary of Charles Schwab. Mr Scaturro replaces Alan Weber, who Schwab said is “retiring from the company”. US Trust has been struggling in recent years and many analysts have questioned the cultural fit between the New York private client specialist and the Califorinian discount broker. Charles Schwab, chairman and chief executive of Charles Schwab is taking on the added role of US Trust’s chairman. Mr Scaturro was forced last year to leave his job at Citigroup after the bank’s private banking operations became embroiled in regulatory difficulties in Japan.

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in the US has appointed Michael Smith as managing director of its trust and estates division. The position is a new one. Mr Smith will be responsible for a growing trust division, according to Deutsche, and will deal directly with intermediaries, attorneys and accountants. He was previously head of Deutsche’s wealth and responsibility programme in the US.

UBS Wealth Management USA has appointed Michael Ryan as its chief investment strategist and head of its wealth management investment strategy group. The move follows the retirement of Mary Farrell from the position. Mr Ryan is currently chief fixed income investment strategist for UBS Wealth Management USA and is co-head of the investment strategy group. Mr Farrell and Ms Ryan co-founded the strategy group in 2004, which comprises more than thirty-five investment professionals covering a broad spectrum of asset classes.

London-based private client wealth managers and fund managers London & Capital have announced the opening of its first US satellite office based in Miami. The office will initially be run by Tony McLoughlin, investment director, who is a senior member of the London & Capital team and William Dalziel executive director, who for the last eleven years has worked for Zurich Financial Services, as director for international life business in Latin America, then as distribution development director before joining London & Capital.

Los Angeles-based City National Bank has appointed Dallas Haun to head of regional commercial and private banking services in California, a newly created position. His remit includes management of City National's commercial and private banking services in metropolitan Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego, counties.

Asia-Pacific

Tribeca Global Management, the hedge fund arm of Citigroup Alternative Investments, has opened its multi-strategy hedge fund platform in Singapore, and has appointed Albert Ee, formerly of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, president of Tribeca Global Management in Asia.

HSBC plans to set up a private banking division in India and has hired a UBS banker to spearhead the new business, according to reports in the Indian press. The bank has hired Subir Mittra to head the new division.

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