Move of the month:

Unquestionably, the biggest move in September was the resignation of UBS chief executive Oswald Grübel and his replacement on an interim basis of Sergio Ermotti. At the time of going to press, UBS is hunting for a permanent replacement. Meanwhile, in the US, for example, there were a number of moves at firms such as Citi Private Bank. In Asia, HSBC announced 3,000 job cuts across the entire firm.

United Kingdom

Mirabaud Investment Management, the fund management division of the Geneva-based private bank Mirabaud, appointed Paul Boughton to the position of joint sales and marketing director for the group. Boughton came from Neptune Asset Management, where he was head of sales for Continental Europe. Joining the firm in early November, Boughton will be based in the firm’s London office.

RCM, the global asset management subsidiary of Allianz Global Investors, hired Melissa Gallagher as director and head of investment trusts. Gallagher is based in RCM’s London office and is responsible for board and investor relations as well as business development for RCM’s investment trusts. Gallagher was most recently the head of investment trusts at Gartmore Investment Management, where she worked for ten years.

UK-based Collins Stewart Wealth Management appointed Chris Georgiou as head of charities, a newly-created role in which he reports to Phil Simmonds, head of intermediary and charity sales. Georgiou is a veteran of the charity sector, having previously spent 17 years working in this area for BlackRock and its predecessor firms.

Barclays Wealth made a major addition to its ultra high net worth and family offices team with the hire of managing director Laurent Gibassier. Gibassier joined from Cheuvreux, part of France’s Calyon Group, where he had been a managing director in equity capital markets since 2004, a role in which he focused on the European strategic equity transactions of corporate, private equity, family holding and sovereign wealth fund clients. He has also served as a director at Exane BNP Paribas, where he oversaw the development of corporate broking services for European companies.

Santander Private Banking made a trio of new appointments, naming Jonathan Williams as head of intermediaries, while also naming new heads of private banking operations and treasury in Jersey.

Williams, who has been with Santander Private Banking since June, was previously with Barclays Wealth, first in London and then Jersey, where he oversaw the firm’s international and offshore relationship businesses. Named as head of treasury is Simon Hayward, while the firm’s new head of private banking operations is Doug MacKenzie. In leading the treasury function Hayward is responsible in particular for ensuring the efficiency of the bank’s foreign exchange and fixed deposit services, Santander said. MacKenzie, meanwhile, assumed responsibility for operational support, running back-office functions.

Schroders added Sue Chan to its global and international equities team, recruiting her from RCM Global Investors, where she was senior portfolio manager for global equities and lead portfolio manager of the firm’s global sustainability funds.

Chan takes up her role as global portfolio manager in November, after which she will be based in London, reporting to Virginie Maisonneuve, Schroders’ head of global and international equities. Before joining RCM Chan spent close to a decade at BlackRock, holding various positions including senior portfolio manager of core and diversified institutional accounts, and manager of the US asset management giant’s global equity fund.

Schroders also appointed Chris Costanza as global sector specialist for financials, also within the global and international equities team. He has been with the firm since 2005, working as a financials analyst within the US large cap team while also collaborating with the global and international equities team.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership appointed Andrew Paisley to its UK equities team as an investment director. Paisley joined from Kempen, where he had managed €400 million ($546 million) of pan-European small cap assets during his five-year tenure as senior investment manager. In his prior career he worked for Edinburgh Fund Managers, the predecessor firm of Aberdeen Asset Management.

London-based wealth manager JM Finn & Co made five new hires from rival Williams de Broë as it moves to expand its private client offering. They were Peter Hancock, Andrew Banks, Michael Burton, Brendan Company and Mark Jeffreys; the first three join as senior investment managers while the latter two have been appointed as investment managers. At Williams de Broë, Hancock, Banks and Burton had been investment directors, while Company and Jeffreys were associate investment directors. It is understood that the five will be based across JM Finn’s London and Leeds offices in their new roles.

London-based asset manager and investment advisor Eden Financial recruited Mark Harris, the former head of funds of funds at Henderson Global Investors and New Star Asset Management. Eden was appointed to jointly manage the company’s existing multi-asset fund (CF Eden Global Multi-Strategy Fund), and play a leading role in developing the firm’s multi-asset product range. Harris first joined New Star, which was subsequently acquired by Henderson, in 2003. In addition to overseeing a team of six, Harris personally ran nine funds totalling £800 million ($1.3 billion).

Maseco Private Wealth, a specialist in serving expat US clients, added Graham Aikin to its client advisor team. Aiken joined from St James’s Place Wealth Management, where he spent time developing his own wealth management business with an emphasis on investment management and retirement planning. Before this he was with Coutts & Co, managing a portfolio of 250 private clients, many of whom were US nationals.

Amundi, the French asset manager, bolstered its London-based active global equity team with Jason Josefs as senior portfolio manager, taking the team’s headcount to five. Josefs will be in charge of the firm’s flagship active global equity thematic fund and report to Paul-Georges Moucan, head of global equities in London.

He joined from Aviva Investors, where he was hired as head of research in 2007 and moved on to manage Aviva’s global equity and balanced managed funds the year after. Between 2002 and 2007, he was a portfolio manager at Bernstein Value Equities, a unit of Alliance Bernstein. He started his career as an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1998 before joining Instinet as a quantitative analyst and also helped launching a European investment strategy group in London.

BNP Paribas, the Paris-listed banking giant, added to its London-based commodity markets strategy team with the hire of Gareth Lewis-Davies as a senior oil strategist.

Lewis-Davies covers oil markets, both in crude oil and products, and supports the company’s trading, sales, investor business as well as the commodity future desk. He reports to Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy.

Lewis-Davies was latterly head of energy commodity research at Noble Group, responsible for the development of energy trading analytics. Earlier in his career, he worked in the oil industry at supply and trading for BP, consulting for Wood Mackenzie and banking for Lehman Brothers and Dresdner Kleinwort.

F&C Thames River made an Edinburgh-based addition to its UK retail sales team in shape of Stephen McCall, who will give technical and sales support to the company’s telephone-based sales team and intermediary clients. McCall joined from Ignis, where he was a broker sales desk manager. Before that, he spent six years at Abbey National, latterly as relationship development consultant for intermediaries.

Ignis Advisors, the multi-manager business of Ignis Asset Management, hired a head of client strategies, a chief operating officer, a head of quant analytics and two investment analysts. The unit appointed Aoifinn Devitt, principal and founder of Clontarf Capital, as head of client strategies. Devitt was previously a specialist consultant at Cambridge Associates and Goldman Sachs. She will be joined by two of her associates at Clontarf, Javier Herranz and Cian O’Sullivan. Ignis Advisors also hired a new COO in the shape of Mark Long, who has held various senior roles at FRM. He will be in charge of operational due diligence, product development and operations. Andreas Schroeder - latterly of ABP - joined as head of quant analytics, responsible for risk modelling and quantitative asset allocation.

Credit Suisse appointed Andrew Wigman as a director and head of wealth management in the Credit Suisse UK business. He previously worked at Deutsche Bank, where he was head of ultra high net worth business development and solutions in the UK. Wigman is based in London and report to Mark Hirst, head of the market area UK/international for the private banking business, and Daniel Wenger, head of international location management private banking for EMEA. Wigman will also be a member of the Credit Suisse UK executive committee in private banking.

London-based Talisman Global Asset Management named David Zobel as chief executive, recruiting him from BlueBay Asset Management, where he had been head of hedge fund strategies before its sale to Royal Bank of Canada. The CEO role is a newly-created one; Julian Sinclair, the firm's chief investment officer, has been running the business with support from the board. Before his stint at BlueBay, Zobel had been a managing director at Deutsche Bank Asset Management, overseeing a team running some $2 billion in alternatives investments.

Juergen Lanzer - latterly of Schroders – joined Alliance Trust as a portfolio manager on the global equities desk. Lanzer is based in London and report to Ilario Di Bon,the firm's head of global equities. Before Schroders, where he spent four years as a global sector specialist, he worked alongside Di Bon at UBS.

London-based Bestinvest recruited Gareth Lewis - formerly of UBS Wealth Management - to take up the role of head of investment management, filling the shoes of Mike Neumann. At UBS Wealth Management Lewis was most recently deputy head of investment management within the investment products and services team, in addition to leading a team responsible for customised portfolios.

Sanlam Fund Solutions, a division of Principal Investment Management, the UK wealth management firm, bolstered its retail investment products offering with the hire of Barry Cowen.  Cowen leads the investment management and development of Sanlam’s UK range of retail investment products, managed by Principal under the Sanlam brand. He joins from Titan Fund Management.

Impetus Trust, a UK-based charity tackling issues such as poverty and educational under-achievement, appointed former UBS manager Joanna Walker to the newly-created role of director of philanthropy and partnerships. Walker joined Impetus after four years with UBS Wealth Management in both London and Dubai.

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management reshuffled its London office and hired Chris Hocking as relationship manager and team leader, which means that John Matthews will relinquish the day-to-day running of the team and become UK head of key clients. Hocking reports to Juliet Wedderburn, head of the bank’s private wealth management business in the English capital. He joins from Barclays Wealth, where he latterly was head of Africa (offshore) and, earlier, head of UK private bank core proposition.

Old Mutual Asset Management recruited Royal London Asset Management fund manager Kevin Lilley to manage its European equity fund. Lilley was formerly manager of Royal London’s £641 million European growth fund, having first joined the firm in 2001. In his new role he will report to Ashton Bradbury, head of equities.

Berkeley Law, a London-based law firm specialising in wealth advice for high net worth individuals in the UK, added industry veterans Carly Russell and Jacqui McCoy to its 24-strong team. Russell joined from PwC Legal, where she was the founder and senior member of the private client team. McCoy, meanwhile, joined Berkeley Law from Pemberton Greenish, having worked with residential real estate transactions for over 20 years.

Edinburgh-headquartered Scottish Widows Investment Partnership named Bindesh Savjani as director of risk, reporting directly to Dean Buckley, managing director of the risk function. Bindesh joined the firm from Aviva Investors, where he had spent a decade, most recently as global chief risk officer.

Quilter, part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, bolstered its Belfast office with the addition of investment manager Chris Taggart. Taggart was latterly a senior client manager at Northern Bank Investment Management, also in Belfast, having previously worked in the institutional securities division of Morgan Stanley in both Australia and Scotland.

Rowan Dartington, the UK-based private client stockbroker and wealth manager, hired Guy Stephens and Tim Cockerill from Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management.

Stephens took on the role of chief investment officer, while Cockerill joins as head of collectives research.  

Stephens was group investment director at Ashcourt Rowan, a position he had held since the merger of Rowan & Co Capital Management with Ashcourt Asset Management in January 2010. He originally joined the company in 2001.

Tim Cockerill was latterly head of collectives research at Ashcourt Rowan.

Schroders bolstered its multi-asset investment business with the hire of Matthias Scheiber from Aethra Asset Management as a fund manager. At Aethra, Scheiber was fund manager and partner in charge of managing absolute return mandates and a hedge fund.

US-listed Franklin Templeton Investments bolstered its UK capabilities with the hire of Peter Jackson from Aegon Asset Management as part of wider expansion plans in the UK.

Part of the strategy is that Alex Brotherston took on an expanded role as head of advisory sales and strategic partnerships. He reports to Ian Wilkins.

Barclays Wealth hired a former Goldman Sachs manager, Kevin Shone, in the latest in a string of hires for its ultra high net worth team. Shone was believed to join as a managing director in the UK private bank's UHNW and family offices team in November. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management.

Kleinwort Benson, the UK-based private bank, brought in a new head of strategic wealth planning from Swiss rival Lombard Odier. Marianne Kafena starts at Kleinwort in November in the newly-created role, reporting to Guy McGlashan, head of wealth management.

RBC Dexia Investor Services, the Luxembourg-listed holding company, expanded its market products and services team with the appointment of Paul Luff as director, who will tailor bespoke solutions for important clients.

Luff will report to Blair McPherson, head of portfolio solutions, and be based in London. He joins from UBS Investment Bank, where he was latterly a senior relationship manager in its foreign exchange business.

Nucleus, the UK IFA-owned and controlled wrap platform, bolstered its operations team with two appointments.  Richard Allen joined from Standard Life as product manager. He will be part of the team that makes sure that the platform runs smoothly and will report to Andrew Smith, chief operations officer. Phillip Graham, latterly a developer at Scotweb, the online business directory, joined as operational support engineer. He will be part of the technical team responsible for developing and supporting the technical aspects of the platform.

Insynergy, the London-based fund manager, appointed Brett Williams as a non-executive director. Williams was latterly chief executive of the UK IFA platform Cofunds. He is also known for having been CEO of Selestia, the wrap platform he founded in 2001 and which subsequently merged with the Skandia platform; he then became CEO of the combined platform before leaving Skandia for Cofunds in 2008.

UBS Wealth Management made two hires at its new Leeds office and is already looking to further increase headcount as it looks to target “old money” in the Yorkshire region. The two new appointees are client advisor assistants Sunjeet Kalsi and Lisa Helliwell, who join advisors Neil King, Claire Kerr, Karen Vardy and James Copeland.

Kalsi latterly worked in foreign exchange with Raphaels Bank in London, while Helliwell has held similar support roles at the Yorkshire arms of the Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish and RBS, the publication said.

Brooks Macdonald Funds, part of UK-based Brooks Macdonald Group, named Mark Watson as new business development manager. Based in London, Watson is charged with developing key relationships with IFAs, discretionary fund managers and other industry professionals to promote the firm’s fund proposition.

Watson latterly served as an executive account consultant at Zurich Assurance Company, working with IFA firms in London. In his prior career he spent three years in the Middle East, establishing relationships with institutional clients, private banks and wealth management platforms.

The Wilson Organisation, a Nottingham, UK-based financial advisory and insurance firm, appointed Gary Cormack as non-executive deputy chairman. Cormack joined the Wilsons Group Holdings board, which is chaired by John Prow, to work alongside managing director Charlotte Perkins and chief executive Annabel Prow. Cormack’s prior career includes the roles of trading director for Boots The Chemist, commercial director for Superdrug and chief executive of Picsolve International.

JP Morgan Private Bank appointed Alex Keil as head of its EMEA FX and commodities team, recruiting him from Barclays Wealth, where he had overseen FX/treasury sales and distribution for 10 years. In his new London-based role Keil reports to Soma Rao, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities for EMEA, and Stephen Jury, global head of currencies and commodities.

Argonaut Capital Partners, the UK-based investment boutique, named Edward James as chief operating officer, an appointment which closely follows news that the firm is moving towards greater independence from its joint venture partner, Ignis Asset Management. James was latterly head of operations at Octopus Investments.

Cartesian Capital Partners, a joint venture with Ignis Asset Management, is to see co-founder David Stevenson leave the firm in December to pursue other interests, FT Adviser reports. The management of Stevenson’s Cartesian UK Opportunities fund will be taken over by another co-founder, Jeremy Hall, with immediate effect. However, the pair will work together until Stevenson’s departure at the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

Rathbone Brothers, the UK wealth and investment manager, hired James Codrington as an investment director within its London-based charities team. Codrington joined from Baring Asset Management.

London-listed Schroders appointed Rob Hall as head of multi-manager, adding to his existing role as head of manager selection. Hall, who became head of manager selection in March, received additional responsibility for portfolio management and client service. He co-manages the firm’s Cautious Managed, Strategic Balanced and High Alpha multi-manager funds.

Barclays Wealth bolstered its ultra high net worth team in the MENA region with Henry Hall as managing director. Hall reports to Stefanie Drews, head of ultra high net worth and family offices for the UK and EMEA, and Rory Gilbert, head of MENA for international private banking. Hall was latterly managing director, head of EMEA emerging markets equities at Merrill Lynch in London.

London-listed Caledonia Investments added Rod Kent and Robert Woods to its board as independent non-executive directors with effect from 1 October and 1 November respectively. Kent was chairman of Close Brothers Group up until 2008, having previously been a non-executive director and before this managing director for 28 years.

Fidelity launched new global equity fund to be run by former Eden Financial equity income manager Dan Roberts. Roberts joined Eden in July; his departure meant that the firm will delay the launch of its Global Equity Income Fund, which was scheduled for later on this year. At Fidelity Roberts joined a newly-created global equity income team headed by Paras Anand.

Kleinwort Benson named Mouhammed Choukeir as chief investment officer. Choukeir joined from Morgan Stanley, where he had been head of multi-asset class investing within the Wall Street giant’s wealth management division.

Barclays Wealth appointed Trevor Kelham as a director and international wealth advisor, based in Guernsey. Kelham joined from Rothschild Trust Guernsey, where he had been a managing director. Before joining Rothschild at the start of 2009 he had worked for Credit Suisse Trust.

Former C Hoare & Co senior manager Nicholas Hammond, brother of Richard Hammond of the Top Gear TV show, exchanged the discreet world of UK private banking for the business of precious metals trading and investment. He has taken up the role of chief operating officer at Baird & Co, a 44-year-old bullion merchant, trading and investment firm.

Skandia International, the offshore business of Old Mutual Wealth Management, appointed Victor France as sales director with effect from the start of October. France’s former roles in a career spanning more than 20 years included five years as national sales manager at Prudential, after which he headed the business partner channel at AXA Sun Life.

Culliford Edmunds Associates, the London-based executive search firm, recruited banking industry veteran Steve Seagrove as a board director and consultant. Seagrove, who has worked in the banking sector for 25 years and spent 15 years at Standard Chartered Bank, is based in London. During his time at StanChart, the UK-listed bank launched its private banking operation.

Fidelity Worldwide Investment named Paras Anand and Richard Lewis as head of its pan-European and global equities teams respectively, two-newly created positions. Anand previously worked at F&C and joins Fidelity in 2012, whereupon he will manage the UK and continental European equity portfolio management teams based in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan.

Fleming Family & Partners appointed a former editor-in-chief of the Economist magazine, Bill Emmott, as its group economic advisor, the multi-family office. Emmott held his Economist post between 1993 and 2006.

Iveagh Private Investment House, the Guinness family office and asset manager, named William Beverley as head of macroeconomics, a role in which he oversees the firm’s macroeconomic and quantitative research efforts, including its proprietary models. For the past year Beverley acted as a consultant for Traymar Capital, a London-based firm which specialises in insurance-linked investments for institutional investors.

Eden Financial appointed a fourth new member to its fund management team. Ky Van Tang joined as a fixed interest/credit analyst, having held a similar position at Aberdeen Asset Management. She previously worked for the Aberdeen group in both Australia and the UK.

UBS Wealth Management UK added two managers to its capital markets team within the Swiss bank's investment products and services unit. Jules Rahman joined IPS Capital Markets - Equities. He has more than 10 years sales and trading experience, gained at Morgan Stanley, serving ultra high net worth clients in that firm’s private wealth management division in the UK. Francois Jolly joined on the fixed income side. He spent the last six years at Union Bancaire Privee in sales, trading and portfolio management roles in the UK. Prior to this, he worked at Merrill Lynch in the UK and the US.

Bank of London and The Middle East appointed Waleed Al-Omar as director for the Middle East and North Africa, a role which saw him take charge of the firm’s business development and relationship management across the region. Al-Omar was instrumental in the establishment of BLME, having been involved right from the formation of business plans back in 2006. Al-Omar’s prior career includes him having been managing partner of Frontier Advisors, the Kuwait-based advisor.

Invesco appointed Sergio Trezzi and Miguel Rona as joint heads of its retail business across continental Europe. Trezzi has been with Invesco since 1999 and in addition to overseeing the firm’s retail business in Italy and Greece he is credited with having led the roll-out of the firm’s ETF brand, Powershares, across continental Europe. Rona, who joined Invesco in 2000, was responsible for retail business in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

UK-based Matrix Asset Management named Rebecca Ledlie as head of product and marketing, recruiting her from Gartmore, where she was also head of product.

JP Morgan Asset Management recruited Nima Tayebi from Polar Capital to take responsibility for its emerging market currency investment strategy. Tayebi reports jointly to Pierre-Yves Bareau, head of emerging market debt, and Jonathon Griggs, head of FX strategy.  Tayebi was latterly a portfolio manager at Polar Capital.

F&C Investments hired fund manager Diliana Deltcheva to its emerging market team. Deltcheva joined from ING Investment Management. The firm also hired Peter Svoboda as a product specialist in its emerging market debt team. He joins F&C in November, reporting to Jonathan Mann, head of emerging market debt. Svoboda previously worked at Vienna-based Erste Group, where he worked since 2005.

It also hired Stuart Hastie as an associate director with responsibility for business development within its Edinburgh-based private equity funds team. He latterly spent four years with Lloyds as a relationship manager responsible for the origination and monitoring of private equity and loan funds

Investec Trust named Philippe Gex as head of investment services, a Geneva-based role.  Gex has been with Investec Trust since 2004, when he joined as investment officer for the Swiss trust office.

Insert the rest

Europe

Liechtenstein-based VP Bank promoted Siegbert Naescher to be the private client bank and wealth manager’s chief financial officer, a post he takes up on 1 April 2012. The current incumbent Fredy Vogt will be nominated for election to the bank’s board of directors at the annual general meeting on 27 April 2012. Naescher has worked at VP Bank as head of group finance and risk since 2010.

UK-listed Aberdeen Asset Management bolstered its Benelux business development team by appointing Christophe Palumbo as business development manager, based in Luxembourg. Palumbo joined Aberdeen from Carmignac Gestion.

Jones Lang LaSalle, the commercial property and investment firm, appointed Frank Pörschke as its new chief executive for Germany, effective from 1 January next year. He takes over from Andreas Quint who, after three years as CEO, moved to a Europe, Middle East and Africa role as head of the firm’s corporate finance arm. Pörschke was until 31 August the chairman of the management board of Eurohypo, Eschborn.

JP Morgan Private Bank hired appointed Sebastien Verdeaux as executive director and senior private banker within its French business, a Paris-based role. He reports to Jean-Baptiste Douin, head of the private bank in France.

Sal Oppenheim, a wealth management division of Deutsche Bank, hired Thomas Albert at its Luxembourg asset management subsidiary, heading up international sales.  He spent the past 12 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as head of retail sales in Europe (excluding Switzerland and Italy) and Latin America. Before that, he worked for Fleming Asset Management (now amalgamated into JP Morgan), where his responsibilities included managing mutual fund sales for Germany.

Middle East

Lombard Odier bolstered its Dubai operation with the addition of Sameh Temraz to its advisory team. Temraz joined from VP Bank Group & Wealth Management in Dubai, where he was an executive director and senior private banker.

Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management business for Europe, the Middle East and Africa appointed former Credit Suisse relationship manager Michelle Penney, this publication has learned. Penney has joined Morgan Stanley as a vice president and investment advisor, based in Dubai, working with Middle Eastern and UK clients.

Latin America

UBS appointed Edinardo Figueiredo as desk head for its ultra high net worth business in Brazil, recruiting him from Banco Itau. Figueiredo had worked at Banco Itau for five years, most recently as head of Itau's private banking operations in Europe and chief executive of the bank in Switzerland, based in Zurich.

Switzerland

UBS appointed Edmund Kian-Chew Koh to the position of Singapore country head and chief executive for Wealth Management Singapore, taking on the role early next year. Koh, a Singaporean, became a member of UBS’s global wealth management executive committee. Koh took over from Gerald Chan, who assumed the role three years ago and is an 18-year UBS veteran, and Christine Ong, CEO Wealth Management Singapore. She is on an extended leave of absence for personal reasons and returns to the bank early next year to take on a new leadership role.

UBS chief executive Oswald Grübel resigned to be replaced by senior UBS executive Sergio Ermotti on an interim basis. Grübel resigned in the wake of the $2.3 billion loss caused by unauthorised trading. The firm is seeking a permanent CEO replacement. Ermotti took up the post with immediate effect. He joined the Zurich listed bank in 2010 as chairman and CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa and member of the Group Executive Board. He had previously been deputy group CEO at Italy’s UniCredit.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers shifted a team of emerging markets debt specialists to London from Geneva. The emerging markets debt team saw the appointment of senior portfolio manager Michal Wozniak, who formerly co-managed an emerging market debt portfolio at JP Morgan Asset Management in London. Stéphane Monier remained in Geneva and is supported from London by Ian Clarke, deputy chief investment officer for the unit, who joined in June 2011 after working as head of fixed income at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Lombard Odier Investment Managers named Philip Chew as head of risk, operations and IT. Chew was latterly a managing director at BlackRock Solutions, the risk analytics and investment platform of the US asset management giant, where he headed a team based in the US and UK for five years.

Michal Wozniak, working with co-fund manager Guilherme Maciel De Barros, took over management of the LOF Emerging Local Currencies and Bond Fund, and the LOF Emerging Market Bond Fund. They are supported by Laurent Moulin, LOIM’s fixed income economist. Richard Walsh, who was also involved in managing these funds since joining the firm last year, left the company. 

Jean-Louis Platteau, the former global head of private banking and member of the executive board at BCGE, resurfaced at BSI Bank, having been appointed as head of its Geneva branch with responsibility for private banking in French-speaking Switzerland. Platteau’s new role included responsibility for the firm’s private banking activities in Lausanne, Crans Montana and Martigny. Platteau had been head of private banking at BCGE since the autumn of 2008.

Pictet Asset Management, part of Pictet & Cie, hired Mathias Leijon as a senior investment manager in the European equities team, based in Zurich. Leijon previously worked at Cheuvreux (Credit Agricole Group), covering the Nordic region.

MASECO Private Wealth, a firm specialising in catering to expat US citizens, appointed Gordon Hunt as chief operating officer. Hunt joined a team in a team in Switzerland. He previously was a senior vice president and member of the management committee of Rothschild Bank in Zurich.

Lloyds Banking Group’s international wealth management arm in Geneva appointed Nigel Putt, who has been with the firm since November 2009, as a ultra high net worth director. Previously, Putt, a UK national, had been head of Middle East at the bank.

Bank Sarasin named Marco Strimer as new head of operations business unit as the incumbent, Julius Zuercher, retires at the end of the year after 12 years at the bank. Strimer was latterly chief executive of SIX x-clear, where he worked for six years and provided securities and clearing services to Swiss and international market players. He began his career with Union Bank.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management made two appointments to its Swiss bank, naming Jean-Marc Guillot as Geneva office manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa clients, and Valérie Bastardoz as head of marketing and communications for Merrill Lynch Bank (Suisse). Guillot joined from Banque Bénédict Hentsch & Cie, where he had been head of markets, responsible for providing advisory and portfolio management support to client relationship managers. Bastardoz joined Merrill from Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, where she was communications director responsible for marketing, sponsorships and events.

North America

North America moves

First Foundation Bank, the Irvine, CA-based investment and wealth planning firm,  appointed Stuart Bailey as vice president and private banker. Bailey most recently served as regional president for Sunrise Bank in Palm Desert, CA.

Manulife Asset Management named Jacqui Allard as president of its Canadian operations. Allard added this new position to her role as global chief operating officer for the company. She is charged with building Manulife's asset management business in Canada.

Sandy Cove Advisors, the Massachusetts-based multi-family office, appointed David Duval as a partner. Duval has 30 years of financial, administrative and investment management experience to the role and will be working with high net worth clients on wealth creation, transfer and preservation.

Florida-headquartered Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust appointed former JP Morgan banker Jumah Hamilton as an assistant vice president and private banker.

First California Bank, a subsidiary of First California Financial Group, promoted Stacy Peterson to the newly-created role of market president. Peterson joined the company in 2009 as senior vice president and regional manager in commercial lending.

The wealth management arm of Australian banking group Macquarie appointed its first regional manager for Eastern Canada, recruiting him from the investment business of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Tom Williams joins Macquarie Private Wealth from CIBC Wood Gundy, where he had spent 16 years as a non-producing branch manager.

Gary Reamey, country leader for Canada at Edward Jones, steps down from his post at the end of 2011. He will be replaced by David Lane. Reamey retires from the role after a 35-year career but will remain a senior partner with the firm and a member of the senior management team until the end of 2012.

ThinkEquity, the subsidiary of Panmure Gordon that provides wealth and asset management services, appointed Bruce Nollenberger as president of the asset and wealth management division.  Nollenberger joined the company after selling his firm, San Francisco-based Nollenberger Capital Partners, to Sterne Agee early this year.

StanCorp Investment Advisors, a StanCorp Financial Group subsidiary, named Kristie Cahill as senior investment counselor for its San Francisco office. Cahill was most recently a registered client service associate at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

BlackRock added Marco Antonio Slim Domit, son of multibillionaire Carlos Slim, to its board of directors. Slim Domit is the chairman and chief executive of Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a Mexico-based holding company that provides banking among other services - a role he has held since 1997.

Northern Trust appointed Marie Dzanis, latterly of BlackRock iShares, as a senior vice president and head of ETF sales and servicing. In her new role Dzanis is based at Northern Trust’s Chicago headquarters.

Washington Trust Wealth Management brought in two senior executives to its Wellesley, MA-based division, Weston Financial. Joining as president and chief operating officer of Weston is Jake Filoon. He comes to the firm after 20 years at Bank of America, where he held various roles including in wealth management. Washington also appointed James Scanlan as director and planning officer, responsible for business development and financial planning at Weston. He was previously a partner in an independent wealth management firm.

Sidley Austin, the law firm, added six members to its executive committee and three to its management group. Joining the Chicago executive committee were Brian Fahrney and Craig Griffith. Jennifer Hagle joined the Los Angeles executive team.

Matthew Sheridan steps in for both Singapore and Hong Kong. Sheridan joined the company in 2000. Susan Stone entered the Chicago and New York teams. Stone is co-head of the firm's insurance and financial services group, a global coordinator of the insurance and reinsurance disputes practice and a partner since 1995. Effie Vasilopoulos stepped in for Hong Kong. Vasilopoulos joined the company in 2003 and is head of the investment funds practice in Asia.

The management committee has also been expanded, bringing the current count to 11 members. Larry Barden and Larry Nyhan are now part of the Chicago management committee. Mark Hopson joined the Washington DC management committee. Hopson has been a partner since 1992.

KPMG appointed Lynne Doughtie as vice chair for advisory and Carl Carande as national managing partner for advisory. Doughtie most recently served as national managing partner, the position Carande is assuming.

Treliant Risk Advisors appointed Waldo Abbot as general manager and head of its New York office. Before Treliant, he was the chief executive of BNP Paribas Fortis in New York.

Highland Capital Brokerage, the insurance and wealth management firm, appointed David Braun as managing principal of the Los Angeles branch. Braun previously worked at the life insurance unit of Wells Fargo and served wholesaling roles at Travelers and Reliastar.

AEPG Wealth Strategies, the wealth management unit of New Jersey-based American Economic Planning Group, appointed Ray Hawkins as vice president of financial and estate planning. Hawkins most recently served as a financial advisor at AXA Advisors.

Cary Street Partners, the Virginia-based wealth management and investment banking firm, appointed William Akmentins as director of research. Akmentins was previously the director of public investments at Southern Methodist University.

JP Morgan hired Jasmine Abouzied, latterly of Goldman Sachs Group, as an executive director and private banker at its New York office.

Citi appointed Nathan Sheets as global head of international economics within its investment research and analysis division. Sheets joined from the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC where he was director of the division of international finance. He also previously acted as the Fed chairman's international advisor at the onset of the European financial crisis in 2010. 

Hynes, Himmelreich, Glennon and Company, a wealth management firm based in Darien, CT, named Paul Papapostolou as senior advisor with immediate effect. Papapostolou was most recently a managing director for Joel Isaacson & Co in New York.

Soros Fund Management, which legendary investor George Soros recently decided to convert to a family office, named Scott Bessent as chief investment officer, while Jonathan Soros, son of George, stepped down from day-to-day management at the firm. Bessent took over from Keith Anderson, who resigned in connection with the decision to turn the firm into a family office. Anderson, who joined the firm in 2008, left to seek other opportunities.

BNY Mellon hired Rod Riggins as sales director for its wealth management business in the Texas region, a newly-created role in an important market for the firm. Riggins is responsible for new business development and connecting high net worth families and foundations with BNY Mellon’s services. He reports to Erich Smith, executive director within the wealth management business.

First Foundation Bank, the private banking and wealth management firm, named Carl Vonderau as vice president and private banker, charged with expanding its new office in San Diego. Vonderau joined from San Diego Private Bank.

New York-listed First Republic hired a private banker specializing in the entertainment industry in Southern California. Kathy Attaii was appointed as managing director in Century City. She joined from Comerica Bank in Los Angeles, where she was a private banker.

Bank of America restructured its wealth management teams in the US following the departure of its former head, Sallie Krawcheck. Greg Franks, who had been the director of wealth management's western division, retired. Riley Etheridge will lead a team of four other managers that stretch across the country and focus on each client base. Etheridge, who is a regional head in the private banking and investment group, reports to John Thiel, who was put in charge of the Merrill Lynch brokerage business in April this year.

The 11 regional wealth management heads are: Brett Bernard, Mid East;

Chris Dupuy, Pacific Northwest; Linda Houston, New England;

Paul Lambert, Mid America; Bill Lorenz, Mid Atlantic;  Jeff Markham,Greater Texas;

Sabina McCarthy, NYC Metro; Don Plaus, South Atlantic; Jeff Ransdell, Southeast.

Citi Private Bank added to its Phoenix, AZ private banking office with three appointments. Michelle DeJean Schechner stepped in as managing director and private banker, effective in November. Schechner was most recently a senior vice president and private client advisor at US Trust's Phoenix branch.

Canada-based CI Investments appointed portfolio manager Robert Swanson at its Cambridge Advisors investment subsidiary. Swanson has more than 27 years of investment experience and previously served as lead portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments.

Citi Private Bank appointed Ida Liu as managing director of the newly-created North America Asia clients group. Liu is a senior private banker based in Citi's New York office.

First Republic Bank named Gregg Palmer as managing director, wealth advisor for its private wealth management office in San Diego. Palmer moves from Wells Fargo where he worked for 15 years.

CAIS, a New York-based alternatives investment platform provider, appointed Landon Stone as chief operating officer and general counsel, responsible for legal, compliance and operational matters. Stone, who is also a member of the firm’s broker-dealer CAIS Capital, joined from Merrill Lynch, where he was a director in the alternative investment origination and product management group.

BNY Mellon appointed Fred Young from Glenmede as managing director of sales for investment management, within its wealth management business, in the Boston region. At Glenmede Young headed up marketing and sales for two of the firm’s New Jersey offices.

Bank of America added 180 Merrill Edge financial solutions advisors in New Jersey and 50 in Central New England including Boston and Hartford. BofA’s Merrill Edge service targets preferred customers, with between $50,000 and $250,000 of investable assets.

Connecticut-based Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust brought in a marketing veteran, Michael White, who has worked for the likes of Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, to head up its branding efforts. Michael White joined the firm at its Greenwich, CT headquarters.

Aurion Capital Management, the Canadian investment manager, appointed David Doritty as vice president for business development.  Doritty most recently served as vice chairman at Dundee Capital Markets. Before that, he was an equity sales specialist for the institutional unit of National Bank of Canada.

Financial Symmetry, the North Carolina-based wealth planning firm, appointed Grace Rooth as operations specialist. Rooth joined the company in October 2009 as a financial intern.

Cook Associates Executive Search, the human resources firm that specializes in top-level management searches, named Harry Wilson as managing director. Wilson joined from Freddie Mac where he was director of executive recruiting since 2006. Prior to that, he was senior vice president and managing director of executive recruiting at Wells Fargo.

Tompkins Financial Advisors promoted Laurie Haelen to managing director of the Western New York division.  Haelen has more than 20 years of wealth management and financial services experience and most recently served as senior vice president and director of investment services.

John Mack stepped down from his role as chairman of Morgan Stanley and leaves the board of the Wall Street firm by year-end. He was replaced as chairman by chief executive James Gorman.

Three senior Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management advisors left the US firm to create an independent San Francisco boutique, called Seven Post Investment Office. Ali Bastani, who spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, Eldridge Gray, and Charles Wyman, 15 years in the brokerage industry, started the new firm on 2 September.

Citi Private Bank appointed Daniel Batista as managing director and ultra high net worth banker for the New Jersey office. Batista is from JP Morgan where he served as managing director and private banker in Morristown, New Jersey. Prior to that, he was a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch.

Morgan Stanley appointed Vincent Reinhart as chief US economist in New York.   Reinhart stepped in from the American Enterprises Institute in Washington where he was a resident scholar. Prior to that, he held several key positions at the US Federal Reserve.

Advent Software appointed Asiff Hirji to its board of directors. Hirji has over 20 years of experience in operations and technology in the investment management industry. He has been a partner at the private investment firm TPG Capital since 2007, prior to which he was president of TD Ameritrade Holding Company.

Sunbelt-based BBVA Compass, part of New York-listed BBVA, appointed Tom Tuter as market president for Northern California. Tuter assumes his new role after serving ten years in commercial banking at Bank of America.

The Hartford, the insurance and wealth management services company, hired Michael Gregg as head of strategic markets for its wealth management business, joining from AXA Global Distributors in Paris, where he served as managing director of a unit that distributes guaranteed investment products through third-parties in Europe and Asia.

UBS Wealth Management Americas hired advisor duo Jonathan Mitchell and Nick Abdy in Arizona. Mitchell and Abdy are part of the Tuscon, Arizona office and report directly to Charlie Cajero, the branch manager. They moved from Wells Fargo.

Former DundeeWealth ultra-high-net-worth private banker Diane Blondeau moved to Citi Private Bank Canada. Blondeau is now part of a team of private bankers overseeing at least C$25 million ($25. 3 million) in liquid assets.

Dynasty Financial Partners, which provides software platforms for independent advisors, hired Timothy Bello as a partner and director of strategic implementation. Bello joined from SkyBridge Capital, a New York-based alternative asset manager, where he served as head of global platforms.

Citi Private Bank appointed Robert Laughlin as managing director and head of Citi Trust, North America. He joined from Neuberger Berman where he was chairman and president of the trust unit, which caters to high net worth individuals and small- to mid-sized institutional clients.

Exhilway, the Canadian wealth management group, is setting to hire 7,000 staff in India this year. The hires will mostly be done via major social networking media like Facebook and Twitter. The move is in line with its strategic expansion plan for the Asian country.

Houston-based US Capital Advisors hired of Bill Hurt and Titus Harris as managing directors. Harris and Hurt manage approximately $350 million in client assets. They joined from Sanders Morris Harris, the broker-dealer arm of The Edelman Financial Group.

First Republic Bank, the California-headquartered private bank and wealth management firm, named Matt Krusko as a managing director and wealth advisor at its private wealth operation in New York. Krusko joined from Bernstein Global Wealth Management where he served as a vice president and financial advisor.

New York-based Signature Bank appointed a new six-strong private client banking team – all from HSBC – and three further private client staff members.Joseph Alexander and John Kourkoutis were named group director and senior vice president of the new team, which will be based in the firm’s private client banking office in Long Island City, Queens, NY.

Alexander was latterly branch manager and vice president at HSBC at the Long Island City location and has also spent 18 years at JP Morgan Chase, 15 of which were spent as branch manager and vice president. Kourkoutis' banking career spans more than two decades. During his 13 years at HSBC Bank USA/Republic National Bank, he was vice president and business banking market manager for Queens and the Bronx.

Genworth Financial Wealth Management appointed Myra Rothfeld as chief marketing officer, joining from Citibank where she led the development of a new advisor channel for high net worth clients.

Barclays Wealth appointed Michele Huff Powell as director and investment representative for the Dallas branch. Powell joined from US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, where she served as senior wealth advisor.

Citi Private Bank named Russ Labrasca as managing director and head of the Houston office. Labrasca joined from Wells Fargo Private Bank where he was a senior managing director responsible for the Southern region.

Washington Wealth Management, which was launched in December last year, named Scott Wilson – latterly of UBS - as its new western regional director as part of its ongoing growth strategy. Wilson is based in San Diego, California, and responsible for developing branch offices in the area, as well as in Palm Springs, California, and Denver, Colorado.

UBS appointed Edinardo Figueiredo as desk head for its ultra high net worth business in Brazil, recruiting him from Banco Itau. Figueiredo had worked at Banco Itau for five years, most recently as head of Itau's private banking operations in Europe and chief executive of the bank in Switzerland, based in Zurich.

Lexington Wealth Management moved its office in Massachusetts from the New England Executive Park in Burlington, to Lexington. Along with the move the firm appointed Karen Van Voorhis as client relationship manager, based at the new branch at 12 Waltham Street.

Atlantic Trust appointed Paulina Mejia as managing director and senior wealth strategist for the New York office. Mejia brings 10 years of trusts and estates practice and advisory experience to her new role, having specialized in high net worth clients and tax-exempt institutions.

Harris myCFO, the US-based family office advisory unit of BMO Financial Group, appointed Francine Lee as director. Lee was previously the senior vice president and head of family wealth advisory services for the Americas at HSBC Private Bank.

Evercore Wealth Management, the financial services firm that caters to high net worth clients, opened a new office in Minneapolis and named six new partners there. Martha Pomerantz, Julie Krieger, Pam Lundell, Jason Anderson, Stacie Price, and Michael Seppelt joined from Lowry Hill, a Minneapolis-based private asset management firm and part of Wells Fargo Bank. They report directly to Jeff Maurer, the chief executive based in New York.

Carson Wealth Management Group, the Omaha-based firm, was named Brett Carson as director of research and Aaron Foster as a financial analyst. Carson spent the last 11 years as an equity analyst at GARP Research, where he specialized in studies on mid-to-small cap companies.

Peoples Financial Advisors, the wealth management unit of Peoples Bank, named Michael Gheen as vice president and retirement plan manager. Gheen joined from Heartland Financial USA where he served as business development officer for retirement plan services for five months.

Société Générale named Michael Haigh as managing director and global head of commodities research at its cross asset research division, based in New York. Haigh previously worked for the company in global research between 2007 and 2009. He joined from Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, where he was global head of commodities research.

Western Asset Management, the fixed interest specialist subsidiary of Legg Mason, saw the departure of fund manager Dipankar Shewaram. Head of global credit Mike Buchanan and Prashant Chandran, global head of derivatives, took over portfolio management responsibilities.

San Francisco-based Wealth Management Associates brought in Andrew Eakin as a financial professional, focusing on business development. Eakin was most recently a planning associate at Legacy Capital Group.

City National Bank appointed Ralph Dickman as vice president and senior private client advisor for its San Jose regional center.  Dickman joined from Wells Fargo Private Bank where he served as a private banker.

BNY Mellon reorganized the charitable gifts services division of its wealth management business. Sally Rubin was appointed as director of charitable gifts services investments. She joins the firm after 12 years in the institutional investment industry, to lead the charitable gifts investment team, and with overall responsibility for the division’s relationships.

Robert W Baird hired a branch manager and six financial advisors in the US.

Thomas Parkins, previously a principal and director of new business development at Kenilworth Asset Management, is now vice president and non-producing branch manager for the Kansas office.

The company also named three advisors to its Sioux City, Denver, and Charlotte branches. David Silverberg and Jeff Pedersen of the Silverberg Pedersen Group joined as senior vice president and vice president respectively. The duo came from Morgan Stanley. Joining the Denver branch are Dominic Capuano and Timothy Butler of the Capuano Butler Group as senior vice presidents.

William McCollum and Travis McCollum of the McCullom Group are now director and vice president respectively of the Charlotte branch at Robert W Baird, previously of Wells Fargo Advisors.

The Dreyfus Corporation appointed Christopher Sheldon as chief investment officer, replacing Phil Maisano, who retired earlier this year. Sheldon joined BNY Mellon in 1995 and was most recently managing director of the firm’s wealth management business on the West Coast.

RBC Wealth Management named Samir Dewan as chief operating officer and head of business development for the emerging markets, a Singapore-based role in which he oversees strategy, operations, overall business management and strategic initiatives for this side of the business. Dewan reports to Barend Janssens, the Canadian bank’s head of emerging markets, and Ingrid Versnel, global head of operations and technology.

Asia Pacific

HSBC revealed plans to cut about 3,000 jobs over the next three years in Hong Kong, or 13 per cent of its staff in the city, as part of global efforts to reduce costs and boost profitability. The London-based bank aims to become more efficient and will redeploy people whenever possible.

Hang Seng Bank, the Hong Kong-based bank owned by HSBC Group, appointed Nixon Chan Lik-Sang as head of retail banking and wealth management to replace William Leung Wing-Cheung, who resigned. Leung was previously head of personal banking.

Dillon Eustace, a Dublin-based legal investment funds advisory firm, opened a new office in Hong Kong. Partner Paul Moloney will head up the new venture, moving to Hong Kong from the corporate and taxation departments of Dillon Eustace.

UBS announced five senior hires for its Asian high net worth division, bringing its total recruited for July and August alone to 100 people. The five hires include Stephen Lam, who is now country team head of the Taiwan international HNW unit, and Seigo Yoshida. Lam joined from Citibank, where he was managing director for Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia; Yoshida joined from Nomura Holdings, where he most recently served as deputy branch manager for the Osaka branch. Jourdan Gozali joined as the desk head for wealth management in Singapore from OCBC and HSBC, where he was part of the Indonesia private banking team. Alun Branigan joined as head of the corporate advisory group for Singapore and Daniel Harel joined as head of the UHNW unit for South Asia. Branigan previously ran his own consultancy business. David Hayward-Evans, previously a manager for health financing group Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, is now the head of philanthropy and values-based investing Asia-Pacific and family services in Singapore.

 Citi appointed Gary Kuo as managing director and vice chairman of Asia global banking.  Kuo joined from Barclays, where he was co-head of the China investment banking business.

Bendigo Wealth, the Australian financial services firm, added three senior members to its distribution team. Diego Del Rosso joined as senior manager for strategic partners and alliances from OnePath Australia, where he was the national sales manager for employer superannuation.

Catherine Robson, an 11-year veteran of National Australia Bank left to start her own boutique financial planning firm, Affinity Private. Robson will open the doors of the Victoria-based firm in October, providing strategic wealth advisory services to private client.

Northern Trust, the US investment manager and custodian, named a new managing director for its Australia and New Zealand business, along with a new country head for the Channel Islands. Rohan Singh was appointed managing director for Northern Trust in Australia and New Zealand. Singh replaced Paul Cutts, who is transferring to the role of country head for the Channel Islands, based in Guernsey. Both appointments are effective from 1 November 2011.

London-listed First State Investments appointed Mario Maia as a senior analyst covering the soft commodities sector to the group’s nine-strong global resources team based in Sydney. Maia joins from Merrill Lynch Australia .

Manulife Asset Management announced a quartet of key appointments to its fixed income, equity, sales and compliance teams in Singapore. Khim Hau Ng was named senior director for fixed income, having joined from AXA Investment Management Asia Pacific. Lisa Yong was named senior director for equities, having worked at Lion Global Investors, Allianz Global Investors and Deutsche Asset Management in Asia. Vincent Teo joined the newly-created role of head of wholesale sales, from AIA. Keith Cheang joined as head of compliance, from Wellington International Management Company where he was associate director for the legal and compliance team.

RBC Wealth Management, part of Royal Bank of Canada, continued its emerging markets push with two senior hires based in Singapore. Li Li Seah joined as vice president of risk management and Leslie Glass as head of human resources. Seah joined from RBS Coutts Asia, where she was regional head of credit risk. Glass was latterly at ABN AMRO.

Deutsche Bank announced two senior appointments for its direct securities services business in the Asia Pacific region. Mrugank Paranjape, previously based in the UK as managing director of direct securities services was promoted to become head of the division for Asia Pacific. Joseph Barnes, previously a managing director for securities services based in India, is now head of direct securities services sales and relationship management, Asia Pacific. He has been with Deutsche for 13 years.

JP Morgan Treasury Services strengthened its Southeast Asia team with the appointment of three executives, two of which are from US rival Citi. Abdul Latiff was promoted to head of treasury services, while Hooi Ching Wong joined from Citi Malaysia as head of TS for Malaysia. Also from Citi isNadia Schiavon who becomes head of TS for Australia and New Zealand.

Citi hired Deutsche Bank executive David Murphy as managing director and head of prime finance in Asia Pacific. Murphy was previously the head of prime finance for Deutsche and was instrumental to the division's growth in Asia over the last two years.

RBC Wealth Management named Samir Dewan as chief operating officer and head of business development for the emerging markets, a Singapore-based role. Dewan reports to Barend Janssens, the Canadian bank’s head of emerging markets, and Ingrid Versnel, global head of operations and technology. Dewan will also join the operating committee for RBC Wealth Management Emerging Markets.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group appointed Kiseok Kim as chief executive for Korea. Kim previously served as managing director, branch manager and head of global markets for Korea at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He took over from HJ Kim, who is believed to be pursuing other interests.

Citi Private Bank named fashion business high-flyer Ida Liu as managing director of the newly-created North America Asia clients group. Liu was a senior private banker at Citi's New York office and manages soe $1.8 billion in investment assets for clients. Before Citi, she was the global head of sales, marketing, public relations and business development at Vivienne Tam, the international fashion house, and managed European designer collections at Bergdorf Goodman.

Barclays Wealth added to its advisory and investment team in North Asia with two senior appointments. Chi Lee joined as director, head of active advisory and investment solutions for North Asia, while Fabian Neo joined as head of FX advisory, Asia. Lee previously was the head of the Bank of Montreal's private banking unit in Hong Kong. Neo was the regional head of North Asia advisory for Credit Suisse.

Manulife Singapore established a wealth management business in Singapore made a trio of appointments to spearhead the unit. Kwok Keng Han transfered from Allianz Global Investors Singapore to become the wealth arm's senior vice president and chief of wealth management. Hitesh Shah, from Prudential Assurance Singapore, joined as senior vice president and chief marketing officer, while Goh Lee Kian was named senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountant, expanded its Hong Kong operations with three senior appointments. Now part of the firm as its newest partners are Tony Evangelista, Carlyon Knight-Evans and Angelica Kwan. PwC said it intends to double its asset management team to 24 partners and more than 250 staff over the next five years.

ClearView Wealth, the Australian financial services company, announced the addition of Sydney-based financial planner Ron Lambert and his team Lambert Investments as partners. Lambert offers financial advice to some 6,000 clients with some A$100 million (around $99.7 million) funds under administration.

Deutsche Bank Asset Management appointed Leslie Chua as head of research and strategy for Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan and Korea, for its RREEF Real Estate, real estate investment management business. Chua joined from Pacific Star Holdings where he was head of research and strategic planning.

UBS named Edmund Kian-Chew Koh as country head and chief executive for wealth management in Singapore. Koh assumes his new role in early 2012 and takes over from Gerald Chan and Christine Ong. Chan is joining the FICC while Ong is on an extended leave of absence and will not return to the bank until early next year to take a new leadership post.

Christie's, the international auctioneer appointed Sam Hines as head of watches for Asia based in Hong Kong, to take effect in 2012.

Tokio Marine Life Insurance Malaysia named Toi See Jong as chief executive officer with immediate effect. Toi previously served as managing director at Prudential Assurance in Singapore. He replaced Kenneth Wong.

BNP Paribas, the French banking group, appointed Laurent Couraudon as the new country head for China effective 1 October. Couraudon took over from Francois Cristofari who has retired. He is now based in Beijing.

BlackRock, the investment management and advisory firm, named Joel Kim as head of Asia-Pacific fixed income based in Singapore. Kim was previously at ING Investment Management, where he led the fixed income team for Asia.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia announced that Ian Narev was to assume the chief executive role effective 1 October, replacing Ralph Norris who has retired. Grahame Peterson, the head of the group's wealth management unit, was also promoted to group executive for business and private banking. Also appointed was Annabel Spring as group executive for wealth management effective 1 October. Spring was previously the group head of strategy. Her old position was to be occupied by Robert Jesudason, who joined the company from Credit Suisse where he was a managing director and head of global emerging markets. Jesudason begins at his new role in December this year.

Prudential Real Estate Investors, the real estate asset management arm of Prudential Financial, made five senior appointments for Pramerica Real Estate Investors (Asia), its Singapore-based Asian arm. Koichiro Maeda was named managing director and portfolio manager for Prudential Real Estate Japan, Benett Theseira became managing director for Southeast Asia, while Taeyun Won was made managing director for investments and client management in Korea. For the Hong Kong office, Henry Chin was appointed head of Asia-Pacific research and strategy and Joyce Lo was appointed senior vice president. In a statement, the company said the hires were in response to increasing growth opportunities in the region and support plans to expand.

HSBC named Diana Cesar as head of the wealth management division based in Hong Kong. Cesar was previously the head of marketing and communications for the Asia-Pacific at the bank. At her new role, she is responsible for the retail banking and wealth management business, as well as marketing, in Hong Kong.