The latest moves in wealth management across North America.

BNY Mellon IM
BNY Mellon Investment Management has appointed Shamik Dhar as chief economist, with effect from October 1. 

In the newly created role, he will be responsible for conducting proprietary research and analysis in order to develop economic commentary. He will also act as the primary spokesperson for BNY Mellon IM on matters relating to global macroeconomics, geopolitics and capital markets.

​Dhar has over 30 years' experience of advising governments and institutions. He joins BNY Mellon IM from the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where he had been chief economist since September 2014. In 2000, he was at Morley Fund Management, then in 2004 co-founded Fathom Consulting, a leading economics consultancy, before moving back into asset management with Aviva Investors in 2009.

Fiduciary Trust Company International
Fiduciary Trust Company International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments, has named Michael Schiff as a managing director in its Boca Raton office. 

Schiff has more than 20 years of experience serving high net worth and ultra-HNW clients. He will work in Fiduciary Trust’s New York office until November 1, 2018, before relocating to Boca Raton. 

Schiff previously worked at Glenmede Trust Co. in Princeton, NJ, where he served as a business development director for six years. Earlier in his career, he was a senior relationship manager at PNC Wealth Management in Princeton and a senior vice president and private client advisor with US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management in Philadelphia. Schiff was also a financial advisor with Prudential Securities in Philadelphia.

Prior to entering wealth management, Schiff was an attorney whose areas of specialty included estate planning, family law, and complex commercial transactions. 

RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management has hired Felipe Branco as a senior vice president and financial advisor to its Miami branch.

Blanco has 15 years of industry experience.  He manages approximately $213 million in assets and joins from Merrill Lynch.

Raymond James
Raymond James has hired financial advisors Thomas O’Neill, Jessica O’Neill, and Thomas O’Neill Jr to Raymond James & Associates (RJA), the firm’s employee broker/dealer, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

Previously a sole practitioner, Tom O’Neill formed O’Neill Wealth Management five years ago with his two children, Jessica O’Neill and Tom O’Neill Jr. 

The team, including senior registered client relationship associate Danielle Takacs, joined Raymond James from Morgan Stanley, where the advisors managed approximately $203 million in client assets. Together they serve a variety of clients, with a focus on business owners, physicians and high-net worth families.

Tom O’Neill has more than 35 years of financial services industry experience, having worked at firms including Merrill Lynch, AG Edwards, UBS and Morgan Stanley. 

Jessica O’Neill is a certified financial planner and began her financial services career in 2014 with Morgan Stanley. Tom O’Neill Jr. began his career as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley in 2016. He is pursuing his MBA at La Salle University and is now with Raymond James in the firm’s advisor mastery program.

JP Morgan Asset Management
JP Morgan Asset Management has appointed Lynnette Ferguson as head of the Americas investments specialist team - hedge fund solutions, a newly-created position.

Ferguson is based in New York and reports to Jamie Kramer, head of JP Morgan's alternative solutions group.

She returns to JP Morgan Asset Management, where she was previously head of marketing and investor relations for the JPS Credit Opportunities Fund. She was most recently a partner at a start-up special situations manager. 

Peapack-Gladstone Bank
Peapack-Gladstone Bank has appointed June Ryan as senior managing director and senior trust officer of Peapack Private Wealth Management.  She will be based in the Teaneck, New Jersey office.

Ryan will be responsible for the advice and service to clients while managing trust, estate and agency relationships, and attracting new client relationships to the bank.

She has 32 years of banking experience, previously serving as senior vice president, US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management.

RMB Capital
Chicago-based RMB Capital, an investment and advisory firm overseeing about $9.3 billion of clinet money, has recruited a four-person team to its office in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

Tom E Kukulski, CFP®, joins as senior vice president and senior wealth advisor; Terrence M. LaBant, JD, is joining as senior vice president and director of wealth strategy; Mohini M. McCormick, CFP®, joins as vice president and wealth advisor; and Mark L. Sagen, CFA, is joining the firm as wealth advisor.

The team was most recently at Calamos Wealth Management, where they all served in senior roles.

In addition to its downtown Chicago headquarters, RMB has wealth management teams in Lake Forest, Ill .and Milwaukee, with a St Joseph, Mich., office opening in October.

Besides its Chicago HQ, the firm has offices in Denver; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Lake Forest, Ill.; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; New York; Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.; and Washington DC.