The latest moves in wealth management senior roles across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Finantix
Finantix, a global provider of technology to the wealth management, insurance and banking industries, has appointed Jérôme Vasamillet as part of its Swiss expansion plans. The move comes after the firm unveiled a new team in Tokyo to cover sales in Japan and South Korea. It also hired a new chief financial officer and global marketing director earlier this year.

Vasamillet has worked in a number of start-ups and accelerators, including Fusion, where he was entrepreneur-in-residence supporting new fintech firms. He also brings direct banking and wealth management experience, having previously been a senior investment counsellor at Deutsche Bank and EFG Asset Management. 

In his new role, Vasamillet will work with the research and development team and clients continuing to extend Finantix’s core product suite.

“Switzerland is truly a world-class hub for the markets in which we operate, so it made complete sense that this was the next phase of our global expansion plan. Jérôme is an ideal addition to the team, with his hands-on expertise in established wealth management firms and new FinTech start-ups,” Alessandro Tonchia, co-founder and director, Finantix, said. 

Click here for a recent interview this publication carried out with the firm.

FCA
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has appointed Sheree Howard as executive director of risk and compliance oversight. Howard is interim director of R&CO having joined the FCA as a senior advisor in December 2017. 

Prior to joining the FCA, Howard spent more than 25 years in financial services, in the insurance and banking sectors. During this time, she had a range of senior roles and gained valuable experience of pricing, acquisitions, sales, divestment, risk and compliance alongside the more traditional actuarial roles. 

Epoch Investment Partners
Epoch Investment Partners, an investment firm with offices in London, New York and Chicago, has announced that its chief executive, William Priest, will step down from 1 April 2020. 

Under the change, Priest will become Epoch's executive chairman and will continue to lead the investment team and serve as co-chief investment officer. He will also retain his portfolio management responsibilities, including his lead portfolio manager role with Epoch's Global Choice and Global Absolute Return strategies.

Philipp Hensler, Epoch's president and chief operating officer, will become the firm's chief executive. He has had extensive leadership experience at asset management firms globally. His earlier background as a portfolio manager imbued him with an investment-oriented perspective that aligns with Epoch's investment-centric culture.   

“Investing remains my lifelong passion," said Priest, who helped found Epoch in 2004. “Best practice suggests a separation between the 'business of investing' and the 'business of the investment business.' This evolution of duties will allow me to focus solely on the former function. I will continue to lead the investment team and focus on our clients' portfolios.”

Epoch, which was formed in 2004, is the steward of £29 billion ($36.2 billion) in client assets under management as of 30 June 2019.

Collas Crill
Offshore law firm Collas Grill has promoted senior associate Jennifer Colegate to counsel in its Cayman office. She joined the firm's dispute resolution team in July 2017, specialising in cross-border insolvency and restructuring.  

Colegate has experience in advising on the restructurings of various structured products that were adversely affected by the financial and liquidity crises, across a number of jurisdictions. In addition to her work in private practice, Colegate has extensive experience of working with banking clients, following secondments in both Hong Kong and London. She joined the firm on 18 September.