March produced a flurry of moves, hires and departures in the international wealth management industry, and the pace of change was not noticeably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

International moves (Europe, rest of world excluding North America, Asia-Pacific, which are in the categories below this one).

London-based law firm McCarthy Denning, which formally partnered with Singapore’s ArrowGates, added to its teams for North and Southeast Asia. It appointed a new partner and private client specialist, Zac Lucas. Prior to joining McCarthy Denning, Lucas spent some time in-house at a fintech start-up. Before that he was a partner in Gowling WLG’s Singapore office for five years, where he founded and headed its regional private capital practice. Lucas, who was also a former partner at offshore firms Ogier and Harneys, has more than 15 years of wide-ranging expertise in international private client law. This includes developing, and advising clients on the use of innovative trust structures, as well as on compliance and disclosure-related matters.

UK law firm Harbottle & Lewis added two practitioners to its private capital business. Marianne Kafena joined as a partner and Morag Ofili joined as a senior associate working in the firm's private client and tax team. Kafena, who is a private client lawyer with expertise in advising families and their private offices in the Middle East, came from Farrers. Ofili, who came from Mishcon de Reya, is a specialist in tax investigations and civil litigation.

Nucleus, the advisor-built wrap platform, appointed Martin Ettles as its chief risk officer - a newly-created role. Ettles joined from Phoenix Group, where he was director of conduct and compliance, overseeing regulatory and conduct risk and developing its risk management frameworks. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, having started his career at Standard Life in 1999.

PIMFA (Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association) announced further staff changes. Tim Fassam joined as director of government relations and policy in a new role. Fassam leads the association on forming policy and engaging with the government on the UK’s forward relationship with the EU, and leads general ongoing policy sector needs. From April, the group’s director of regulation, Ian Cornwall, moved into a strategic advisory role supporting Fassam. On a path to retiring in October, Cornwall continued reporting to the CEO answering industry queries and supporting senior policy advisors and other team members.

River and Mercantile Group appointed fund manager James Sym. Prior to this, he worked at Schroders. At that firm Sym was responsible for the European Alpha Income Fund, the European Alpha Plus Fund and co-managed the European Alpha Focus and European Opportunities funds, in total responsible for over £1.5 billion assets.

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management appointed Angela Henderson as non-executive director of its subsidiary Hargreave Hale AIM venture capital trust. An angel investor in the healthcare space, Henderson has had senior roles at Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Citco Fund Services, and was a non-executive director at Credit Suisse Asset Management.

Investor services provider, IQ-EQ appointed Peter Golovsky to the newly-minted role of managing director, head of private wealth in Asia. Golovsky is based in Hong Kong. A chartered accountant and industry figure with 25 years’ experience in financial services, Golovsky spent eight years in Hong Kong, working in the fiduciary sector with Asian families, their family offices and their international business operations.

UK law firm Cripps Pemberton Greenish appointed a new partner for its family team. The appointee is Simon Donald. Donald, based at the firm’s Chelsea, London office, has more than 15 years’ experience advising on matters relating to family law.  He assists entrepreneurs, company owners and directors, and those working in sectors including sports, media, finance and banking. He joins from Greenwoods GRM where he led the family law team.

UK wealth management group Tilney, which oversees more than £25 billion ($28.8 billion) of assets for clients, added to its team in Edinburgh with the hire of Barry Davidson as a financial planner. Davidson spent nearly 25 years in the industry. He joins from Thorntons Investments where he had worked since 2012, most recently as head of financial planning. He also held posts at Prudential Financial Planning, and Standard Life Client Management.

Quintet Private Bank said Jürg Zeltner, its group chief executive and a member of the board of directors, had passed away at the age of 52. Zeltner, whose health problem was diagnosed last year, is survived by his wife and two children. 

Jakob Stott, who was appointed interim CEO, had led the Luxembourg-based bank since early December 2019, after being named wealth management CEO last summer. Zeltner had for many years worked at UBS, starting at the Swiss Bank Corp lender later to become UBS as an apprentice in 1984. He left UBS at the end of 2017. Zeltner’s leadership in wealth management coincided with the Swiss lender’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and a series of challenges.

HSBC announced that Noel Quinn had become permanent chief executive, having been the interim boss since John Flint stood down last August. 

Digital asset management firm Wave Financial Group hired Matteo Dante Perruccio in the newly-created role as president international. Based in London, he is in charge of Wave’s international expansion and developing the firm’s relationship with Toronto-listed fintech provider Fineqia International. Perruccio brings 30 years’ experience to Wave, which also operates from Los Angeles, having been a chief executive at Pioneer Investments SGR and Hermes BPK Partners, where he was also founder. He was non-executive board director and global head of key accounts and strategic relationships at FTSE-listed Jupiter Asset Management, and most recently chairman of the Secofind multi-family office.

Sanlam Wealth opened a new office in Royal Tunbridge Wells to improve its service to clients in the Kent area and strengthen its professional services network. The office, located in Wallside House on Mount Ephraim Road, is served by an investment team previously based in Sevenoaks. They include Kenneth Fry as senior portfolio manager and joint head of office; senior portfolio managers Paul Stevens, Kathie Langfield, Tom Planterose and Hugh Weston; and portfolio managers’ assistant, Rachael Adams and team administrator Liz Stow.

ZEDRA, the international corporate, fund and wealth services business, appointed Steven Bowen as managing director of its Jersey office. He leads the development and growth of ZEDRA’s corporate, fund administration and active wealth business on the island. Most recently, he was chief risk officer at JTC Group PLC respectively as group MD and head of Jersey at Minerva Trust. Bowen worked in the offshore financial services industry for more than 35 years.

Mishcon de Reya, appointed Madalina Dumitrescu as a partner joining its Mishcon Private practice. Dumitrescu is a dual-qualified English solicitor and Romanian lawyer who specialises in complex commercial dispute resolution, energy and natural resources, construction, sale of goods, and civil fraud cases. She acts for individuals, their families and corporate interests in respect of all their specific individual requirements including global commercial disputes, employment and reputation management matters. She advises successful entrepreneurs in relation to white-collar crime with multi-jurisdictional ramifications involving extradition measures and claims before the European Court of Human Rights. She has been a partner at both Constantine Cannon and Withers.

City law firm Wedlake Bell added to its private client group appointing partner Antoaneta Proctor to join its offshore practice. She was a lateral hire and joined from Taylor Wessing. Proctor acts for ultra and high net worth domestic and international clients and their families, entrepreneurs, family offices and trustees, typically with complex and multi-jurisdictional legal needs. She brings 15 years’ experience of advising on global tax and cross-border succession and family governance, with a particular expertise in onshore and offshore trust structuring and other wealth preservation offerings.

American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation appointed a senior legal figure as its president. ACAGF is a sister educational and research organisation to American Citizens Abroad, an advocacy and membership body. Glen Frost continues to serve as associate legal counsel for both entities. He took over the presidency role after a predecessor retired. Frost is also the managing partner for Frost & Associates. He focuses his national and international practices on tax controversy and tax planning matters, business law matters, and estate planning matters and has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent® Lawyer Rating. 

Sanlam UK, part of South Africa-listed Sanlam, appointed Stephen Wood as a chartered wealth manager and promoted Eleanor Ingilby to head of its Harrogate office, Yorkshire.

Wood has over 16 years of experience. He works with David Battersby, portfolio manager, Sukhbir Lall, assistant portfolio manager, and Eleanor Ingilby, head of Sanlam’s Harrogate office. He began his career in accountancy for multinational corporates including Exxonmobil and AstraZeneca. He managed portfolios for high net worth individuals, families and trusts at HSBC Private Bank and Brown Shipley across the Yorkshire region.

Raymond James appointed a new branch principal for its Chichester office, Sussex. Greg Mahon manages private clients, their family trusts and pensions, as well as charities. As former regional head for Rathbones’ Chichester branch, Mahon serves clients from Chichester, Sussex and around the UK. He has a total of more than 30 years in the financial sector. He began his career at Smith New Court/Merrill Lynch in 1987, moving onto Murray Johnstone in 1990 and Premier Asset Management in 1999 before joining Rathbones as an investment director in 2002.

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Sarasin & Partners, the investment manager hired Alex Bibani as co-manager of the Sarasin Responsible Global Equity fund and deputy manager for JSS Sustainable Equity – Global Thematic. Bibani, who had been deputy manager of the Responsible Global Equity fund since 2017, works closely with existing equity and stewardship analysts. Giles Money was appointed deputy fund manager on the Sarasin Responsible Global Equity and Sarasin Thematic Global Equity funds. Money was the lead portfolio manager for the JSS Sustainable Equity – Global Thematic strategy from 2016. 

Jerry Thomas remained manager of the Sarasin Responsible Global Equity fund and lead manager on the Sarasin Global Thematic Equity fund. Megan Brennan was appointed deputy fund manager for the Sarasin IE Multi Asset Target Return Fund. Guy Monson remains on the fund as lead manager. Brennan joined Sarasin in 2017 as an investment manager and has been responsible for the management of a number of multi-asset private client portfolios.

Ogier, the law firm, appointed contentious trusts expert Damian Evans as partner in its Jersey dispute resolution team. Evans, who joined the firm in January 2019, has been involved in major trust litigation cases in Jersey as well as being regularly engaged in applications concerning the blessing of momentous trustee decisions, rectification, mistake, ratification and the rule in Hastings-Bass.

Rebeca Coriat joined Lombard Odier’s London team as head of stewardship to "further define" the group’s strategy for ESG investing. Coriat, who started in January, is responsible for leading LOIM’s focus on sustainability, corporate governance and ESG analysis, and joined from Investec Asset Management, where she was an ESG analyst responsible for advising portfolio managers on global proxy voting and company engagement. Prior to that, she served as senior associate and stewardship services analyst at proxy advisory service ISS. She began her career at Manifest and PIRC, two other local proxy advisory firms.

Based in the London office and responding to investment growth, YFM Equity Partners appointed Roux Brits as portfolio director. Brits, who concentrates on managing YFM’s growth and buyout investment portfolio targeting UK SMEs, joined the national portfolio team led by David Bell. Brits moved from growth debt fund manager, Boost&Co, where he managed investments across a range of high-growth businesses. He qualified as a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young in Johannesburg and moved to the UK in 2008. Before Boost, he served in several senior finance roles in private equity-backed businesses.

Barry Hardisty was named in a new role as head of international for Aberdeen Standard Capital in Jersey, where he will set direction and oversee managing clients. Hardisty reports to director Charles Insley and works alongside the existing international teams based in Jersey and in Aberdeen Standard’s London office. The 25-year financial services' veteran worked across Europe and the UK and joined from Enhance Wealth Consultancy, where he ran the portfolio team and managed strategy. Before that, Hardisty worked in senior roles at Canaccord Genuity, Royal Bank of Canada and Matheson Investment.

Quintet Private Bank, the group formerly known as KBL, and the parent of UK-based Brown Shipley, elevated Rachel Macfarlane to group head of legal. She reports to Maria Leistner, group chief legal officer. MacFarlane, who was general counsel at Brown Shipley, continues in that role and remains based in the UK. She joined Brown Shipley in 2018 with responsibility for legal, corporate secretarial and corporate governance work. Earlier, she served as legal manager (Litigation) at Santander UK and before that as a solicitor at Cobbetts LLP, specialising in banking law.

In a new role that sees him move to insurance from wealth management, outgoing UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti was nominated as chairman of Swiss Re, the insurance and reinsurance group. Ermotti is leaving Zurich-listed UBS later this year after a decade in the job. Before UBS, which he joined in 2011, Ermotti was group deputy CEO at UniCredit, the Italian banking group, responsible for its corporate and investment banking arm. Ermotti, who started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1987 in a variety of roles, is a Swiss citizen.

Legal & General Capital appointed Jasan Fitzpatrick as managing director of principal investment, is responsible for putting money into venture capital and small and medium-sized enterprises, build-to-rent homes, and affordable housing. Fitzpatrick joined LGC in July 2018, when he joined from CALA Group. With over 20 years’ experience across the property and investment sectors, he was general counsel and company secretary at Premium Credit Limited, a finance business owned by the private equity house Cinven.

UK wealth manager Tilney added Ross Anders as a partner and financial planner to its London team. Anders joined from London-based Whitefoord Wealth Management where he was a partner focusing on advising senior executives in the oil and gas sector. Prior to this, he worked at Citi and Dart Capital and has spent 10 years in finance.

Wells Fargo Asset Management added five senior figures to its international clients group, based in various parts of Europe. It appointed Emmanuel Archampong, Charlotte Dicker, Markus Weber, Murielle Didier and Teresa Smith.

Discretionary wealth manager Brewin Dolphin appointed financial veteran Eddie Clarke as the new chief executive of its Ireland operations. In a second senior move, Daniel Macauley was promoted to deputy chief executive. Both joined the company’s Irish board. The shuffle allows chief executive Matt Minch to step down after 25 years.

Guernsey Finance, the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry, appointed Rupert Pleasant as its new chief executive. He took over from Dominic Wheatley, whose departure was announced in December. Wheatley is leaving in June this year, after having been in the post since late 2014.

Specialist asset management boutique, Amati Global Investors appointed Colin Thomson to join its sales team. Thomson, who was with SVM Asset Management for more than 16 years – latterly as head of wholesale distribution, with overall responsibility for business development – is based at Amati’s Edinburgh head office. Thomson is responsible primarily for the Midlands and North of England regions.

Fidante Partners, the Australia-listed asset manager, appointed David Cubbin as head of distribution, based in its London office. Cubbin joined from Fidante’s Australian head office, where he spent four and a half years leading the institutional distribution efforts for three of its boutiques, including the fixed income manager, Ardea Investment Management. 

Rathbone Brothers, the UK-listed wealth and investment management firm, appointed Niraj Shah to join its research team. He will cover open-ended funds and research trusts across global, UK large-cap and healthcare specialist equity strategies. Shah reports to Alex Moore, head of collectives’ research.  

Fintech provider for wealth managers JHC Systems named Alan Cole as head of cloud and operations to deliver its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. Cole had similar roles at Finastra and Temenos and has worked globally across banking, and wealth and investment management.

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Asia-Pacific
 

Law firm McCarthy Denning, which recently formally partnered with Singapore’s ArrowGates, added to its teams for North and Southeast Asia. The firm appointed a new partner and private client specialist, Zac Lucas. Prior to joining McCarthy Denning, Lucas spent some time in-house at a fintech start-up and before that he was a partner in Gowling WLG’s Singapore office for five years, where he founded and headed its regional private capital practice.

Lucas, who was also a former partner at offshore firms Ogier and Harneys, has more than 15 years of wide-ranging expertise in international private client law. This includes developing, and advising clients on the use of innovative trust structures, as well as on compliance and disclosure-related matters. 

ANZ Private Bank, part of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, appointed Hayden Matthews as director and Benjamin Pedley as senior investment advisor at its unit advising family offices. Matthews is based in Sydney. Before joining ANZ, he was head of private banking at HSBC in Australia from July 2016 to October 2019. Before that, he was MD, business head for international and Australia at HSBC Global Private Bank, based in Australia and Singapore. Other roles included stints at JP Morgan’s private bank (in Singapore) and Deutsche Bank (also in Singapore).

EFG hired a team of independent assets managers, with long ties to UBS in the region, to lead efforts in Hong Kong, notably focused on increasing Greater China business. Kitty Chou joined as head of independent asset managers for North Asia, and reports in Hong Kong to regional head of private banking, Richard Straus. Chou, who is a veteran of wealth management, formerly at UBS, has worked in Zurich and Hong Kong. She recently served as hub head and global financial intermediary markets lead for UBS in Hong Kong. 

Also moving from UBS, Kenneth Chan joined EFG as Chou’s deputy for North Asia, and reports to her. Chan served as head of business development for global financial intermediary markets at the largest wealth manager, and prior to that was head of independent asset managers at Pictet. He has also spent time at Standard Chartered.

IQ-EQ appointed Peter Golovsky to the newly-minted role of managing director, head of private wealth in Asia. Golovsky is based in Hong Kong.

A chartered accountant and industry figure with 25 years’ experience in financial services, Golovsky spent eight years in Hong Kong, working in the fiduciary sector with Asian families, their family offices and their international business operations.

Before IQ-EQ, Golovsky was global head of fiduciary services and head of Asia for Cone Marshall, the international legal, accounting and fiduciary services firm with offices spanning from the US to New Zealand. Golovsky relocated to Hong Kong in 2012 from his native Australia, where he had spent 10 years in private banking, holding senior distribution positions at both Macquarie and Westpac. Other experience has included roles spanning private wealth, risk management, corporate governance and audit in both Australia and the US.

Offshore law firm Carey Olsen appointed Keng Huang Goh as an associate in the firm's litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Singapore. Keng Huang Goh has a range of experience in commercial litigation, with a focus on shareholder-related disputes, insolvency and restructuring, as well as general corporate disputes. Prior to moving offshore, he was a senior associate at a leading Singapore law firm where he gained extensive experience in litigation and international arbitration involving financial institutions and listed companies in the region, as well as in insolvency and restructuring matters relating to a wide range of industries and institutions. He is fluent in English and Mandarin.

MUFG Securities Asia, part of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, appointed one of its existing C-suite members, Mark Henderson, as its new chief executive. He took the helm from Pierre Ferland, who is also regional head of sales and trading, a role he retained. Henderson was deputy CEO and chief risk officer for the company. At MUFG for 18 years, Henderson previously worked in Credit Risk at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. 

DBS appointed two new independent directors to the boards of DBSH and DBS Bank. Anthony Lim and Punita Lal joined the boards, with effect from 1 April 2020. Two other directors, Nihal Kaviratne and Danny Teoh, retired. 

An experienced financial markets veteran, Lim spent 19 years with GIC Pte before his retirement in 2017. He joined GIC as its president of the London office in 1998 and was appointed in 2009 as its president (Americas) based in New York. Prior to joining GIC, he was a senior managing director at Bankers Trust Company, where, between 1987 and 1998, he held various management and trading positions in the global markets’ division in Singapore and London. Before Bankers Trust, he was with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where he spent three years in their New York Office.

Lal has over 30 years of experience in strategy, marketing and leadership in the consumer-packaged goods industry. Her prior experience includes working for Coca Cola in China and PepsiCo in India. Her last executive role was managing director and chief executive officer for NourishCo, a strategic joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and PepsiCo, from 2010 to 2012.

Swiss Re, the insurance group covering a range of life, health and other insurance services, made a number of top Asian appointments. Jolene Loh was appointed director, head of life and health client markets, South East Asia, Swiss Reinsurance Company, Asia Insurance Review. Loh, who is based in Singapore, has more than 25 years of experience in the reinsurance industry with a solid track record spanning multiple geographies in Asia.

Reuben Ng assumed the role of head of broker business development, Asia, and is also based in Singapore. Before this, Ng was vice president, client strategy and solutions, Asia at Swiss Re, with more than 12 years of regional experience across retail non-life and commercial P&C insurance. Yau Siew Choi, formerly head of casualty underwriting, has taken on a new remit as head of P&C solutions APAC since January 2020, and is based in Singapore.

Vanguard, the US-based asset manager overseeing $6.2 trillion in AuM as at the end of January, appointed Scott Conking as head of its Asia business. Conking, principal and head of the firm’s US-based Institutional Investor Services, joined its international leadership team and reports to James Norris, head of Vanguard’s international operations. 

He succeeded Axel Lomholt, who has served as interim head of Vanguard Asia. Working at the firm since 1984, Conking oversees a team of investment and client service professionals who serve US-based defined contribution, defined benefit, corporate asset, endowment, and foundation clients. During his 36-year career at Vanguard, Conking has held a range of leadership positions across the firm’s individual investor, institutional, retirement, and corporate operations.

BlackRock appointed Rimmo Jolly as head of iShares for the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Hong Kong, Jolly is responsible for growing iShares ETF market share and driving ETF adoptions amongst investors in the region. Jolly reports to Susan Chan, head of iShares and index investing for Asia-Pacific at BlackRock. Jolly is Citi’s regional head of ETF and index sales and business development, Asia-Pacific and Japan. He also served as senior relationship manager for the markets business, focusing on Citi’s strategic partners including hedge fund and traditional asset managers, across all products. 
Xen Technologies, a platform giving Asian investors the ability to tap into alternative assets, appointed another C-suite executive. The firm hired Alastair Ding as chief commercial officer, which is a newly-formed role. He has more than 20 years of experience in treasury and investment advisory services to institutional and non-institutional investors. He has worked at ABN AMRO, Credit Suisse, Citi, HSBC Futures, and Nikko Asset Management. He has also contributed to delivering executive education at the Singapore Wealth Management Institute.

Union Bancaire Privée, the private banking group, appointed Jérôme Thuillier  as chief operating officer in Singapore. He took over from James Pritchard, who left the firm to pursue other opportunities. With over 23 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently Thuillier was the programme director for the Bank of Singapore Wealth Platform, where he was responsible for building an integrated wealth management technology platform, cutting across multiple segments and all channels, including digital. Prior to this, Thuillier worked in leadership roles within Barclays Wealth’s product functions.

Singapore Exchange appointed former Monetary Authority of Singapore senior figure Ng Yao Loong as deputy chief financial officer. Ng succeeded Chng Lay Chew as CFO when Chng retired. At MAS, Ng spent more than seven years in senior positions, including assistant managing director of the development and international group as well as executive director of the markets policy and infrastructure department and financial markets strategy department. Prior to MAS, Ng was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in Singapore and Citigroup in Hong Kong and London. 

HSBC appointed one of its own senior figures, Greg Hingston, to be the Asia-Pacific region head of the newly-formed wealth and personal banking segment created in the lender’s recent organisation overhaul. Working at HSBC for 14 years, Hingston is the head of wealth and personal banking, Hong Kong, a position he has held since 2016. His previous leadership roles include global head of strategy for retail banking and wealth management, head of customer value management and head of international, RBWM Europe, and regional head of retail banking, EMEA.

FWD Group, the diversified insurer with a big focus on digital tech, appointed Khor Kee Eng as chief executive for FWD Singapore. Kee reports to the board of directors for FWD Singapore. He succeeded the previous CEO Abhishek Bhatia, who moved to a new role of chief officer of new business models at FWD, focusing on growing the digital direct-to-consumer business across the company as well as enhancing the structuring and execution of FWD’s digital partnerships and investments. 

Zurich Malaysia’s shariah-compliant insurance business – takaful – appointed Nazrul Hisham Abdul Hamid as its chief executive. Reporting to Zurich Malaysia country head Stephen Clark, Nazrul Hisham is responsible for implementing and overseeing the execution of Zurich’s strategic priorities to gain a stronger foothold in Malaysia’s general takaful segment. Nazrul Hisham has more than 25 years' experience of working in various roles, including 12 years in the takaful sector. Prior to joining Zurich Malaysia, he spent five years at Takaful Ikhlas Berhad, initially as chief business operations officer and later as chief operating officer managing operational units for the family takaful and general takaful businesses. Following the company’s composite takaful licence conversion, he led the family takaful sales and operations in his capacity as the chief operating officer for Takaful Ikhlas Family Berhad.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management appointed two figures in its Asia-Pacific lending team: Julia Wong and Tony Tan. They are based in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively. Wong was named head of emerging markets lending, while Tan was made head of strategic lending, Asia and head of Southeast Asia and global South Asia lending. Both report to Arjun Nagarkatti, managing director, global head of lending, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, who is based in London. Based in Hong Kong, Wong replaced Alek Pfajfer who left the Bank in December 2019 to pursue external opportunities. Wong was previously the head of business risk management for Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in APAC, Deutsche Bank said.

Carey Olsen, the offshore law firm, appointed Daniel Moore as a senior associate in the firm's Hong Kong corporate and finance practice. Moore, who advises on British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands law, specialises in debt finance transactions with significant experience in secured and unsecured commercial lending, pre-IPO financings, margin lending, real estate and acquisition finance transactions. He also has a background of advising clients in relation to joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and shareholder arrangements, and has a keen interest in the offshore regulatory space, particularly in the areas of economic substance and fintech.

Manulife Hong Kong, part of the Asian Manulife group, set up a “health function” to drive business in Hong Kong. The firm appointed Wilton Kee, who has been Manulife Hong Kong's vice president, chief product officer for individual financial products since October 2016. She became VP, chief product officer and head of health. Kee joined Manulife in 2013 as assistant vice president and pricing officer, individual financial products, Hong Kong, overseeing its marketing actuarial functions. Kee also heads Manulife's health business in Hong Kong, covering individual and group life and health solutions. 

Fidante Partners, the Australia-listed asset manager, appointed David Cubbin as head of distribution, based in its London office. Cubbin joined from Fidante’s Australian head office, where he spent four and a half years leading the institutional distribution efforts for three of its boutiques, including the fixed income manager, Ardea Investment Management. Cubbin reports to Sydney-based head of global distribution, and former head of Australian institutional business, Michael Clarke.

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North America
The Retirement Advantage, the US retirement services company, appointed Darin Erdmann as national sales manager - a new role for the firm. He leads the company's national sales team and reports to Jeff Schreiber, TRA’s director of sales. 

Raymond James brought over advisors Mark Killingsworth and Stephen Vessey to its independent broker/dealer, in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The advisor duo joined from Wells Fargo Advisors, where they previously managed $200 million in client assets. They, along with registered client service associate Carrie Decker, operate as Killingsworth & Vessey Financial Partners.

The firm brought in financial advisors Chris Messick; David Peacock; Alex Taylor, and Matt Sibley to its independent broker/dealer business in Dallas, Texas. The team operates as Messick Peacock & Associates and joins from Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, where they previously managed about $640 million in client assets. They were joined by chief operating officer Lynda Roman, marketing manager Whitney Goellner, senior client services manager Caleb Lamb, client services manager Marlon Medrano, and executive assistant Marsha Hale.

Previously, Messick spent 27 years at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services. In July 2019, he earned his Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designation from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Peacock has over 25 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining Raymond James, he spent 22 years at Northwestern Mutual Investment Services.

AmeriTrust, part of the Argent Financial Group family of companies in the US, promoted Kenny Brown Jr to vice president, business development. Jason Simpson also joined the firm as portfolio manager. Both men are based in the Tulsa office and report to AmeriTrust president Harvie Roe. 

Peregrine "Peg" Broadbent, chief financial officer of US-listed Jeffries Financial Group, which provides services including wealth management, died from coronavirus complications. He was 56. Broadbent joined Jefferies in 2007 after 16 years at Morgan Stanley.

“We are heartbroken and grieve that our friend and colleague, Peg Broadbent, has passed away from coronavirus complications. Our thoughts, prayers and love go out to Peg’s dear wife, Hayley, and their young children, Sebastian and Grace, as well as Peg’s older children, Anna, Sophie and Charlie, and all of Peg’s extended family here and in the United Kingdom,” Rich Handler, CEO, and Brian Friedman, President, said. 

Teri Gendron, CFO of Jefferies Financial Group, was appointed as the interim CFO and chief accounting officer of Jefferies Group LLC.

Howard Capital Management, a US-registered investment advisor, said its president, Bill Martin, had retired after leading the firm for five years. HCM's controller, Chris Ferguson, was appointed his successor. Ferguson served as controller for HCM for the past two years and has worked as a professional accountant for the last seven years. He graduated from the University of West Georgia with a BBA in accounting. Zachary Stout, a 13-year industry veteran, also joined HCM as managing director of sales and distribution.

Crowe, an international public accounting, consulting and technology firm, appointed Mark Baer as its next chief executive, taking over once Jim Powers, current CEO, finishes his second term. For the past five years, Baer served as the managing partner of the firm's audit and assurance services, leading a team of more than 1,200 audit professionals.

Hercules Investments, a Los Angeles-based RIA, appointed Joe Pastore and Anthony Lucchesi, both as vice presidents of wealth management. Prior to joining Hercules Investments, Pastore served as VP and financial advisor for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and senior portfolio manager for Merrill Lynch from October 2002 to February 2013. 

Prior to joining Hercules Investments, Lucchesi served as a financial consultant and investment representative at Fidelity Investments, and a senior investment counselor for T Rowe Price, between April 2008 and September 2012. Lucchesi has more than 11 years of experience in the investment industry and holds Series 7 and Series 66, and CA Life and Health licenses.

Tassat, a US business which provides financial technologies and products for digital payments and digital exchange, appointed a veteran of the alternative investment space, Krishna Prasad, as its new chief executive. The previous CEO was Thomas Kim.

Most recently, Prasad founded Kavery Advisors, a consulting firm primarily focused on private equity and venture investments for fintech in India. Previous roles include head of alternative investment products at TIAA, head of alternative investments at BBVA, co-head of institutional services at Morgan Stanley, and head of operations for Deutsche Asset Management. 

EisnerAmper, the professional services firm that has pushed into areas including advising wealthy families and business owners, named Miri Forster as a principal and co-leader of the tax controversy practice. She is based at EisnerAmper’s Iselin, New Jersey office.

With more than 20 years of IRS practice, procedure and tax controversy experience, Forster specializes in providing tax dispute resolution services to public and private corporations, partnerships and high net worth individuals. 

New York-based Cornerstone Capital Group added two senior figures, Glen Macdonald and Shahnawaz Malik, as managing directors and senior investment advisors. They report to Craig Metrick, Cornerstone’s chief investment officer.

Prior to the new role, Macdonald was a managing director at Bronfman, Rothschild and a senior vice president - institutional client advisor at US Trust. Earlier in his career, he was a principal at a private equity firm, and a partner at PwC’s management consulting unit. Metrick leads the Wealth & Giving Forum, an organization he co-founded in 2014 that promotes values-aligned capital allocation among families who seek positive social and environmental outcomes.

Malik was previously a senior banker at Standard Chartered, where he provided advisory solutions to high net worth and family office clients, foundations, and endowments. Prior to Standard Chartered, Metrick worked for Barclays Wealth & Investment Management in London and Hong Kong, having multiple roles across investment advisory, portfolio management and business development. 

Wealth management and investment firm Cresset announced yesterday that Bill Rudnick will lead its Family Office Services group. Rudnick, who serves as senior partner and general counsel for Cresset, has more than 30 years of experience leading client-facing teams. 

Cresset added three financial advisors to serve the Atlanta region. The joiners, who came from Wilmington Trust, are Jack Sawyer, JD, Michael Mohr and Todd Tautfest. The team is based in Atlanta and serves local clientele in addition to clients across the country. 

Sawyer, named as a managing director, most recently served as Southeast region president for Wilmington Trust and was responsible for leading wealth advisory services in Georgia, including planning, trusts, investment management, family office and private banking services. He has extensive experience in charitable planning, trusts, estates, and private foundations, and is also a fiduciary attorney. He serves on the boards of directors for several organizations, including Andee’s Army, Nsoro Foundation, High Museum of Art, and the Georgia Museum of Art. 

Mohr was also made an MD. He previously held the same title in the Southeast region for Wilmington Trust, where he was responsible for leading investment advisory services for high net worth clients and managed the firm’s advisors in Georgia. He has more than 25 years of experience in portfolio management and is a CFA charter holder and member of the CFA Institute. He is also a member of the Finance Council of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, where he chairs the investment committee.

Tautfest, who is the third MD to be appointed by Cresset, was also an MD in Wilmington’s Southeast region. He worked with high net worth clients, business owners, foundations, and endowments. Tautfest has nearly 30 years of experience in wealth management. In addition to being a member of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council, he is a board member of The NAMES Project Foundation, which is the custodian of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, and Open Hand. He is a past board member of the Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia.

Abbot Downing named a new head, Jack Ginter. Ginter, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the industry, succeeds Jim Steiner, who took on a new role at Wells Fargo Asset Management, focused on expanding outsourced chief investment officer offerings. Most recently, Ginter was a senior managing director for Abbot Downing, overseeing regional management, business development, the legacy and wealth planning practice, and the Institute for Family Culture. He joined Calibre, a predecessor firm of Abbot Downing, in 2008 after serving as a city executive for US Trust.

Avantax Wealth Management brought in the Making Investing Personal financial planning team, a long-standing $90 million advisory firm in Livonia, Michigan. The team includes financial advisors Terence Reed, Elizabeth Marshall, Melissa Rubingh, Ryan Cohen, and tax manager Michael Park. 

Pritzker Private Capital appointed Thomas J Leverton, an experienced business figure, to join its services team as operating partner. Leverton replaced Gregg Kaplan as operating partner on PPC’s Services team. Kaplan recently became CEO of Valicor Environmental Services, a PPC company. Leverton co-leads PPC’s Services team in partnership with Ryan Roberts, investment partner – services. 

Most recently Leverton served as chief executive of CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza. Leverton previously served as CEO of Topgolf, a global sports and entertainment company, and CEO at Omniflight, a nationwide air medical operator. Earlier in his career, he carried out senior operating roles at FedEx Office and TXU Energy. He began his career at Johnson & Johnson and Bain & Company. 

Wells Fargo said its chair, Elizabeth A Duke, resigned after taking on the role in January 2018. Duke was vice chair from October 2016 through December 2017 and had a number of committee roles at the US lender. James Quigley also resigned from the board. 

Tiedemann Advisors named foreign policy luminary and international investment expert Robert Hormats as a managing director. Hormats joined Tiedemann five years ago. During his career, Hormats built an investment expertise and knowledge of trade policy, intellectual property protection, protection of trade secrets, international environmental issues and global energy. 

With more than 50 years of experience as an international policy and business leader, Hormats served in five US presidential administrations, including as Deputy US Trade Representative with the rank of Ambassador, and Senior Economic advisor to Dr Henry Kissinger, General Brent Scowcroft and Dr Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council staff in the White House.  

His most recent government position was with Secretary Clinton as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment from 2009 through 2013. In between his time in government, Hormats spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs, rising to the level of vice chairman, Goldman Sachs (International), where he acted as the firm’s lead spokesman on the economic and financial outlook for the global economy. 

Bernstein Private Wealth Management, part of US-based AllianceBernstein, named Bowman Hallagan as head of its office in Dallas, Texas. Hallagan, a managing director, is responsible for overseeing client service and the strategic growth of Bernstein’s business in the region. Hallagan joined Bernstein in 2011 and formerly served as VP and financial advisor for the firm’s Boston office. Prior to Bernstein, Hallagan was an account executive at the Wall Street Journal. He holds a BA in political science and economics from Bucknell University.

HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager, unveiled its 2020 promotions, including three new managing directors: Monique Austin, Simon Lund, and Nhora Otalora, as well as five new principals and one senior vice president.
 
Evercore Wealth Management promoted two of its team to the status of partner: Jonathan Bergner and Nancy Gabel. Bergner is a portfolio manager and Gabel is a financial advisor at the firm. 

Prior to joining Evercore in 2012 as a managing director, Bergner led a team of portfolio managers at US Trust managing the assets of high net worth individuals and family foundations. Earlier, he directed investments at Ader Associates, a New York-based financial planning firm. Gabel is a financial advisor at Evercore Wealth Management and Evercore Trust Company. She works with high net worth families and their attorneys and tax advisors.