A round-up of moves in wealth management from around the world in May.

The UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and select international centres outside Asia-Pacific and North America

Copenhagen-headquartered Saxo appointed Andrew Bresler as CEO of Saxo UK, taking the helm from interim CEO Simon Camilleri.

Bresler was a member of Saxo's APAC leadership team and deputy head of sales trading in Singapore from 2016 to 2018. Following his tenure at Saxo, Bresler served as regional head of brokerage, portfolio finance and digital investments for Asia and EMEA at Citibank. Most recently, he served in a range of leadership roles at InvestCloud where he helped increase regional growth and oversaw daily operations from Singapore.

Arbuthnot Latham appointed Miles Kean as a director of private banking. Kean supports individuals across a range of sectors offering “high-touch,” relationship-based banking. Kean, who has more than 34 years’ experience within the industry specialising within the UK entrepreneur market across a broad range of sectors, has a particular focus on property. He was previously an executive director, private banker within the London entrepreneurs’ client group of Coutts & Co, an area in which he contributed considerable growth. He worked at Coutts for 23 years.

Ocorian, a provider of fund administration, capital markets, corporate, trust and regulatory and compliance services, appointed Craig Buick as chief financial officer. Buick has more than 30 years’ experience in senior financial services roles around the world in fast growth companies. Prior to joining Ocorian, he was group CEO and group CFO at Cabot Credit Management. 

Gen II Fund Services appointed Alex Le Quesne as head of real assets – Europe. In his new role, Le Quesne is responsible for overseeing client service and the development of Gen II’s real assets service offering across its European jurisdictions. Le Quesne has over 19 years’ industry experience. Before joining Gen II, he was head of governance services at Crestbridge and before that he led and developed the business's real asset funds team.

La Financière Responsible, a subsidiary of MAPFRE, a. Spain-headquartered insurance group, appointed a new chairman, Thierry Chesneau. Chesneau's appointment followed the retirement of LRF’s co-founder Olivier Johanet who remained a shareholder and governing board member, LRF, an investment firm based in Paris. A former top athlete – a skier and former volunteer vice president of the French Ski Federation – Chesneau was a founding partner of the Olifan Group (2014 to 2023) and a senior banker, chief quality officer and general secretary for compliance at the Natixis Group.

UBS’s retail bank in Switzerland appointed a new head, Sabine Magri. Magri, chief operating officer for personal and corporate banking – UBS’s Swiss arm – took over management of Personal Banking. 

Magri was involved in managing the integration of the Credit Suisse business in the Switzerland region. Magri succeeded Simone Westerfeld, who decided to take on a new challenge internally after four and a half years as head of private customer business in Switzerland.

Westerfeld became COO in the "Group Integration Office." She reports to Bereaux, appointed "Group Integration Officer."

Andreas Künzler, who was "Program Lead Operational Merger," took over Magri's role of COO, personal and corporate banking. Kaja Bertoli, head of Client Solutions Switzerland, leads a new "Products, Channels & Marketing" division.

UK private bank Hampden & Co appointed Tracey Davidson as its new chief executive officer. She will take on the role in the autumn when Graeme Hartop steps down. Davidson joined from Handelsbanken UK where she was deputy CEO; she joined from Barclays in 2003 to expand banking operations in the UK. 

McInroy & Wood, a UK-based investment manager, appointed Wendy Ferguson as chief executive officer. She will take over from the current CEO Tim Woode, in 2025, subject to regulatory approval. Wood will remain CEO of McInroy & Wood until June 2025. 

Ferguson, who has been at McInroy & Wood since 2012, is deputy CEO and has served as the director of operations and IT since 2013. 

Hosking Partners appointed Gwin Myerberg as director, client service and business development. Myerberg previously worked at Southeastern Asset Management, where she spent 16 years as a client portfolio manager. More recently, she was global head of client relations and communications.

Evelyn Partners appointed former Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management figure Craig McGuire as an investment director in its Jersey office. McGuire has 25 years’ wealth management experience. At CGWM, he spent nine years as a director in its Jersey office on the advisory and execution-only desk, and kept a foothold in the discretionary service of the firm. 

Founded in 2014, Zenzic Capital, a London-based real estate credit and special situations investment manager, brought in Chris Blowers as a senior advisor. Blowers has worked at Royal Bank of Scotland (now NatWest Group), Allied Irish Bank and Investec Bank. He co-founded Maslow Capital in 2009.

Franklin Templeton named London-based Matt Harrison as head of Americas (ex-US), Europe and UK, global advisory services. Harrison continues to report to Adam Spector, EVP, global advisory services, in his expanded role. Harrison has been head of Europe and UK and co-head of APAC and managing director of Australia since joining Franklin Templeton in 2018.  Prior to joining the firm, he worked in senior roles at various firms including Colonial First State, Commonwealth Bank and ING. 

Andrew Ashton was named head of UK; he continued his responsibilities as chairman of the board of Franklin Templeton Canada. From August 2024, Ashton will be reporting to Harrison and relocating to London to assume responsibility for the UK business. 

Madrid-based Javier Villegas was named head of Iberia and Latin America, global advisory services. Previously, Villegas was director of global financial institutions in the Americas and most recently head of Iberia. London-based Martyn Gilbey, head of UK, will be leaving the firm in October 2024 after seven years.

Lloyds Banking Group named former Investec senior figure Tangwena Nelson as managing director, head of asset and wealth managers – a newly-minted post created by the UK lender.

Nelson is based in London, reporting to Lisa Francis, managing director, head of institutional coverage. At Investec, Nelson was most recently head of financial institutions coverage, a position he had held since February 2022. 

UK-based Oakglen Wealth appointed Philip Burbidge in the newly-created role of head of compliance, based in its London office. With 37 years of industry and regulatory experience, he was previously head of oversight and support at Quilter Cheviot. 

CG Asset Management (CGAM) hired Sophia Sednaoui and Katie Forbes who form the new investor relations team. Sednaoui was appointed as head of investor relations. Prior to this, Sednaoui spent six years at Carmignac. Forbes was appointed as head of investor relations for Capital Gearing Trust. 

Financial services group GSB appointed Nicholas Jones as part of its global wealth and advisory business. Based in the group’s office in Dubai, he became part of GSB Private as a senior debt advisor. Previously, he was a securities lending associate and corporate finance associate for over two years in Dubai with Enness Global. 

Nucleus Financial Platforms, the UK advisor platform group, appointed two new non-executive directors to its board – Cathryn Riley and Clare Bousfield. They replaced Judith Davidson and Kathryn Purves, respectively. 

Swiss private bank Bonhôte appointed three new members to join its board of directors. The appointments included those of Anne Marion-Bouchacourt, a chartered accountant who was previously head of human resources at Société Générale, before becoming chief country officer for China. Other board members include Valérie Patthey who was regional and international marketing manager at Julius Baer, before taking on the same role at Pictet Wealth Management. Finally, Jean-Louis Berthoud (whose father is Jean Berthoud, chairman of the board) was appointed, bringing with him a scientific background. 

Alpha Financial Markets Consulting, a global provider of specialist consultancy services to the financial services industry, hired Chris Walker as a partner. Based in London, Walker was previously part of EY-Parthenon’s strategy and transactions team.

Gen II Fund Services has appointed Matt Le Noury as head of European operations. A qualified chartered accountant – a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) – Le Noury has more than 25 years' experience in financial services and accounting. 

ARK Invest Europe, a European issuer of thematic exchange-traded funds, appointed Paul Spells as director of Northern European sales. Spells was previously at CIRCA5000, where he was head of ETF sales in UK. He reports in his new post to James Thomas, head of sales at ARK Invest Europe.

Zurich-headquartered boutique NPB Neue Privat Bank was authorised by the Dubai International Financial Centre to set up its local entity, NPB Middle East Limited. The Dubai entity brought in Amritaanshu Agrawal, equity partner and senior executive officer. It also appointed Ashraf Abader as managing director and Waheed AlKatatsheh as senior director. Abader is joining from Mirabaud DIFC, and AlKatatsheh was formerly at Mirabaud ADGM.

Ireland-based Fenergo appointed Ruth Ormsby as managing director of EMEA. London-based, Ormsby, leads Fenergo's “ambitious growth strategy” across EMEA. Previously, Ormsby was a senior vice president at Salesforce, covering all industries in the UK and Ireland. 

Liontrust appointed Natalie Bell as a manager of the Liontrust UK Smaller Companies and Liontrust UK Micro Cap funds. Bell joined Liontrust in 2021 as part of the responsible capitalism team.

Lazard Asset Management added Sarbjit Nahal as a portfolio manager/analyst. Based in London, Nahal works with Steve Wreford and co-portfolio managers John King and Nicholas Bratt. Nahal was previously a partner and head of thematic investing at Signal Capital Partners.

Russell-Cooke, the law firm, appointed Rachel Donald as a partner in the family and children team. Donald, who has practised at several international law firms, has over 15 years’ experience in family law.

Coutts Crown Dependencies, part of Coutts, the UK private bank, added team members and marked a number of promotions. Annie Ingram joined as international markets lead and Martin Halse was appointed as product and proposition lead. The organisation also appointed Annie Ingram in a newly-created role to lead its international markets team across Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Ingram has worked in various roles since joining NatWest Group – parent of Coutts – in 2006. She moved to Coutts in 2017 as a private banker. 

Promotions:
-- Tina Carter, promoted to business development lead; 
-- Tim Deller, promoted to private banker; 
-- David Day, promoted to private banker; 
-- Ellis Trimmer, promoted to support team lead; and
-- Alison Cubbon, promoted to senior client engagement manager.

Zenzic Capital, a real estate credit and special situations investment manager, made two new appointments: Richard Clouston (vice-president, development finance) and Edward Barnes (credit analyst). They are based in London. 

The chief executive of Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank, Paul Arni, left after a five-year spell at the lender. The bank named Urs Monstein, chief operating officer, as interim CEO.

Julius Baer International appointed Stefano Lupi as head of UK cross-assets markets, a new role for the firm. Bringing more than 35 years of experience to the role, Lupi previously worked at Pictet in London where he was in charge of global market trading. He also held senior positions at Pictet in Geneva and Singapore.

The three RMs joining Julius Baer International: Richard Griffiths (previously at RBC Wealth Management); Asad Zaidi (previously at Alti Tiedemann Global), and Utpal Garware (formerly of Citibank).

PortfolioMetrix, a discretionary investment manager, hired Alex Funk as its new head of investments in the UK. Nic Spicer, who stepped back from his operational role at the business, remains a shareholder in the business. Funk joined from Schroders Investment Solutions where he was the chief investment officer. He was also CIO of Benchmark Capital from 2019 to 2021.

PineBridge Investments appointed Mick Schneider, James Quinn, and Olivia Zaidi. Schneider, appointed head of Switzerland, also covers Liechtenstein and the Austrian intermediary market. Prior to joining, he spent almost 10 years at BNY Mellon. Quinn was appointed head of Intermediary Sales, UK, and is based in London. Prior to PineBridge, Quinn spent seven years at Robeco, most recently as global wholesale and financial institutions manager. Zaidi joined the Switzerland team in Zurich as a senior client relations associate. Formerly from Muzinich & Co, she worked at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Swisspartners AG.

Julius Baer appointed former Singapore-based wealth management figure Serena Wong as a senior relationship manager, working from Zurich. She reports to Christian Cappelli, head of Asia Switzerland. Wong was at Kamet Capital Partners in Singapore. Prior to this, she was at JP Morgan Private Bank, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Société Générale.

Quilter, a UK wealth manager, appointed Simon Durling as investment director. Durling reports to Andy Miller, lead investment director. With more than 35 years’ wealth and asset management industry experience, Durling has worked at firms including Santander Asset Management, St James’s Place, and Barclays Bank. Most recently he was senior commercial strategist at Santander Asset Management. 

RBC BlueBay Asset Management appointed Saskia Bernhardt as head of financial institutions, Germany and Austria. Based in Munich, Bernhardt reports to Viola Patock, head of Northern Europe. She joined from Lupus Alpha Asset Management, where she was a senior sales and relationship manager for wholesale investors. 

Kroll, a global risk and financial advisory solutions firm, appointed former Amazon Web Services senior figure Jennifer Huntington as chief operating officer. At AWS, Huntington was director of business services and modernisation.

Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management UK and Crown Dependencies (CGWM UK), promoted David Muncaster to group head of distribution, as part of its strategy to support the growth of the business, the firm said in a statement. Muncaster reports to Duncan Stratford, CGWM UK’s managing director and Andy Finch, CEO of the CGWM international division.

Previously head of distribution, Muncaster now leads distribution for the UK and the international centres in the Crown Dependencies – Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Prior to joining CGWM UK in 2021, Muncaster led distribution teams at UBS, Close Brothers and Bordier & Cie.

UK law firm Kingsley Napley announced four new partners in a round of appointments. The new partners are Jemma Brimblecombe (dispute resolution); Jemma Garside (private client); Andy Norris (employment), and Katherine Pymont (dispute resolution).

Law firm Charles Russell Speechlys appointed Nicola Jackson as a partner. She joined the firm’s Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency (CRI) team in Dubai. Jackson was previously a co-lead of Clyde & Co’s Insolvency & Restructuring-Related Disputes and Contentious Advisory Practice in the Middle East.

Gresham House appointed Ben Gunnee as head of institutional. Previously he worked at global investment firm Cambridge Associates, where he was managing director, commercial officer EMEA, responsible for business development, marketing and public relations and product development across pensions, insurance, and endowments and foundations.

North America

State Street appointed Taryn Siglain as the new head of financing solutions. She succeeded Gino Timperio, who retired from State Street at the end of June after a 35-year career with the firm. She reports to Tony Bisegna, head of global markets.

Siglain joined State Street in early 2023 as global head of prime services. Prior to joining State Street, she spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley.

BNY Mellon appointed Kevin Weeks as global head of sales and relationship management for its corporate trust business. Prior to this, Weeks worked at US Bank where he was head of sales for global corporate trust and custody. Weeks is based in New York City, reporting to Cécile Nagel, global head of corporate trust.

Vistra, a provider of essential business services, appointed David Reichert as director of international expansion solutions. Based in Boston, Reichert reports to Antonio Soler, Vistra’s global head of corporate business.

He worked at Vistra previously, through its acquisition of Radius Worldwide in 2018. Prior to returning to Vistra, Reichert was product lead at Automatic Data Processing, in its Research and Development center in New York City.

Baird added Joe Sholden as a director and financial advisor to its private wealth management office in Fort Worth, Texas. Sholden came from Wells Fargo, where he managed over $195 million in assets. He has more than 25 years of industry experience.

Orion, which provides wealthtech solutions for fiduciary advisors, appointed Ron Pruitt as president of Orion Wealth Management. He has served as senior vice president of Nasdaq Analytics – formed from the acquisition of eVestment and Solovis – where he provided investment analytics and market intelligence to asset managers, asset owners and institutional investment consultants. 

Heather Ettinger retired at the end of June as chairwoman of Fairport Wealth, a registered investment advisor headquartered in Cleveland. Her career stretched back to 1987.

Franklin Templeton named London-based Matt Harrison as head of Americas (ex-US), Europe and UK, global advisory services. Harrison continues to report to Adam Spector, EVP, global advisory services, in his expanded role. Harrison has been head of Europe and UK and co-head of APAC and managing director of Australia since joining Franklin Templeton in 2018. Andrew Ashton remains responsible for Canada. 

Fifth Avenue Financial, a financial services company based in New York City, appointed senior industry figure Steven Randall as a managing director. Randall brought more than 25 years’ experience to the job.

Spectrum Investment Advisors, an RIA, made three additions to its team: Max Flanagan, Blaine Disrud, and Marina Moths. 

RBC Wealth Management brought in two financial advisor teams to its Bel Air office from Merrill Lynch, bringing a total of $900 million in client assets. The Barnes Group brought about $600 million in assets. It includes David Barnes, managing director – financial advisor, who has 30 years of industry experience, and Paula Gay, assistant vice president – client associate.

The second team, Pollard, runs about $300 million in client assets. It comprises: Patrick Pollard, SVP, financial advisor; Paul Sierocinski, associate VP, senior business associate; and Victoria Webster, AVP, client associate. RBC WM also brought in a former Truist advisory team in Nashville, holding around $730 million in client assets. 

Vanguard named former BlackRock senior figure, Salim Ramji as the new CEO. Ramji took the helm from Tim Buckley who retired and stepped down as CEO and chairman.

Ramji has more than 25 years’ experience in investments, capital markets and wealth management, including a decade as a senior leader at BlackRock – he left in January 2024. Most recently, Ramji was global head of iShares and index investing.

Greg Davis, president and chief investment officer, was appointed to join Vanguard’s board of directors. Mark Loughridge, Vanguard’s lead independent director, was appointed non-executive chairman.

Argent Financial Group added Karen Saunders as market president at Argent Trust Company in San Antonio. Saunders, who reports to Argent’s CEO, Reid Harrell, has over 15 years of extensive banking experience, having previously served as vice president and business manager at JP Morgan Private Bank and Bernstein Private Wealth Management.

Petra Funds Group, a fund administration provider to private equity and debt funds, hired Steven Antonson as chief of staff. Antonson has 15 years of experience in finance and operations. 

PGIM Investments appointed Laurie Chan as US head of alternative solutions. Chan reports to Dominick Carlino, global head of alternative investments for PGIM Investments. Before this role, from 2022 Chan was Citigroup’s global head of alternative investments sales; prior to this, she was head of ISG capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, working there for 17 years.

Ohio-based DayMark Wealth Partners brought in financial advisors Thomas Hofstetter and Daniel Baron as the Hofstetter Baron Group of DayMark Wealth Partners. Previously a Wells Fargo Advisors team managing $585 million, Southport, Connecticut-based Hofstetter Baron Group advises high net worth families and individuals.

Integrated Partners, an RIA with more than $18 billion in assets under advisement, promoted Andree Mohr to president. Mohr, who has worked at the firm since 2015, joined the organization as director of business development. 

Allspring Global Investments appointed Annette Lege to join the executive leadership team as chief financial officer, based in the firm’s Charlotte headquarters. She reports to Allspring’s president Kate Burke.

Nepsis, a US financial advisor and investment management firm, appointed Amanda Butler as chief technology officer. Butler, who served as an outsourced consultant for Nepsis® for over a decade, has more than two decades of technology experience. Most recently, she was principal at Mosaik Consulting.

Rockefeller Global Family Office, the wealth management division of Rockefeller Capital Management, added a Morgan Stanley team – known as Landau Wealth Partners – in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The team includes managing director and private advisor Adam Landau; vice president and private advisor Ramy Georgy; VP and team director of investments Garland Neal; and VP and team chief operating officer Karla Lavin.

The group, formerly from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, reports to Kristen Sario, Southeast divisional director of Rockefeller Global Family Office.

Russell Investments appointed John Roche as head of RIA distribution. The role is newly created. Roche reports to Brad Jung, head of North America Advisor & Intermediary Solutions at Russell Investments. 

US firm Private Advisor Group brought Ethan Campbell, wealth advisor of Stones River Wealth Management, into its community of advisors. Based in Woodbury, Tennessee, team members also include Collin Reed, wealth advisor and Alana Hale, office administrator. 

State Street appointed former Citigroup figure Elizabeth Lynn as executive vice president and global head of investor relations. Lynn reports to Eric Aboaf, vice chairman and chief financial officer for the firm. 

Fiduciary Trust Company, a Boston-headquartered financial services firm, hired David Krall as a vice president and fiduciary specialist. Prior to joining Fiduciary, Krall was a senior fiduciary strategist at Comerica, where he supported several broker-dealers

Fiducient Advisors, an affiliate of NFP, an Aon company, named Mike Goss as president. He took over from Mark Wetzel, who had served as the company’s managing partner and president since 2006. Goss retained his role as chief revenue officer.

EP Wealth Advisors, an RIA, added Joe Palumbo and Adam Fein as senior vice presidents, both focusing on professional athletes, coaches, collegiate athletes with name/image/likeness deals and high net worth individuals. Palumbo and Fein are from RBC Wealth Management, where they served as vice president and senior financial associate, respectively, in the sports and entertainment practice group. Their client roster includes two athletes selected in the first round of last week’s NFL draft, NFL veterans, a UFC champion, and more. EP advisors across the country serve a number of athletes, including PGA and NHL professionals. 

RBC Wealth Management in the US brought in a financial advisor to its Century City office with about $780 million in client assets and deposits, as well as a significant lending portfolio. Mike Shayestehfar, managing director, joined from First Republic Bank/JPMorgan, along with support staff member Eliana Garcia, client associate.

Brian Hughes was made president of Eton Advisors, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based multi-family office.

Hughes was an executive at Threshold Group. Hughes later headed the consultancy Hughes Growth Strategy and co-founded the marketing firm Touchpoint Growth Strategies.

Raymond James:
The financial institutions' arm of Raymond James brought in a five-advisor team, along with four other figures, to Pinnacle Asset Management, located at Pinnacle Financial Partners, a current FID-affiliated branch.

Operating as part of Pinnacle's new Ponte Vedra, Florida office, The Horizon Group arrived from Truist, where they managed about $947 million in client assets.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Brad Blaisdell to its independent advisor channel. Arriving from Edward Jones, Blaisdell previously managed about $125 million in client assets.

Raymond James brought in four former Wells Fargo advisors to St Petersburg. the advisors work under the brand of Lelekis, Ellis, Kilczewski Private Wealth Management Group of Raymond James. They include advisors Emmanuel Lelekis, Sharon Ellis-Champagne, Brian Kilczewski and Chadd Eaton as well as client service associates Maria Bollo, Tanya Schiller and Katherine Robertson.

The firm also announced a raft of executive leadership changes, taking effect from October 1 this year:

Butch Oorlog, chief accounting officer of Raymond James Financial, was named Raymond James Financial’s chief financial officer, taking over from Paul Shoukry, who had been made the new CEO, replacing Paul Reilly. 

Tom Walrond, senior vice president and division director, was named president of Raymond James and Associates’ (RJA) private client group. He replaced Tash Elwyn who, as previously announced, became president of the company’s private client group. 

Steve Raney, CEO and chair of Raymond James Bank, was promoted to oversee the firm’s bank segment and became executive chairman of Raymond James Bank. Amanda Stevens was named CEO of Raymond James Bank.

Steve Hufford, chief operating officer (COO) of investment banking, took over as head of investment banking, on Jim Bunn’s appointment as president of the capital markets segment.

The executive vice president of technology and operations, Bella Allaire became chief administrative officer. Campagnoli was succeeded by technology COO Andy Zolper, who became the firm’s chief information officer.

Tarek Helal, SVP of investments and strategy, was appointed as the firm’s chief strategy officer, a new role. 

Separately, the firm welcomed financial advisors Vincent Zaccardi, Nicholas Zaccardi, and Gerard Mattaliano, to its employee advisor channel. Th advisors operate as the Zaccardi Group of Raymond James. 

San Diego-based advisor Kalyn Walker joined Raymond James at its employee advisor channel. Walker was previously at UBS Financial Services, where she managed about $450 million in client assets. 

A team in Massachusetts overseeing $800 million of client money migrated to Raymond James. Lightship Wealth Strategies joined the firm’s independent advisor channel.

Based in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts, the group’s advisors include Jonathan Wolff, Scott Schutte, Justin Turcotte, Jack Wolff and Evan Mattern. The group arrived from Commonwealth Financial Network.

A husband-and-wife advisor team joined Raymond James, in Edmond, Oklahoma. Mike Sikes and Shaley Sikes joined the firm’s independent advisor channel. Their business, Sikes Wealth Partners, also includes client service manager Susan Moore. 

Asia-Pacific
Moody's appointed Jeremy Schwartz as regional head of Oceania, based in its Sydney, Australia office. Schwartz joined Moody’s in 2018 in Chicago, holding various positions across its corporate and professional services divisions. He most recently led Moody’s global commercial strategy to maximise revenue through partnerships with the Big Four accounting firms, namely Deloittes, PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG.

HSBC appointed a new head of global banking for Singapore, Gilbert Ng. Ng succeeded Priya Kini who took on a new role early this year as head of commercial banking for Singapore. Prior to joining HSBC, Ng was corporate banking head in Singapore for Citigroup.

Marcuard Heritage (Singapore) Pte, part of the Marcuard Heritage group, appointed Michel Keiser as its new chief executive. He took over from Sinan Bodmerm who stepped down from the position. Bodmerm remains as executive director and an active client advisor at the business.

Keiser – a Swiss national – has served in managerial roles at Credit Suisse, among other positions. He was desk head for the wealth management market for Malaysia, and head of international private banking and wealth management in Singapore and the Singapore booking centre.

Julius Baer appointed former Singapore-based wealth management figure Serena Wong as a senior relationship manager, working from Zurich. Wong, who reports to Christian Cappelli, head of Asia Switzerland, has worked in financial hubs including New York, Paris and Singapore. In her previous job, Wong was at Kamet Capital Partners in Singapore. Prior to this, she was at JP Morgan Private Bank, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Société Générale.

Value Partners, listed in Hong Kong, appointed former Amundi senior figure Clare Zhao as head of institutional business for Asia-Pacific, as well as head of the China business and ETF operations. Based in Hong Kong, Zhao reports to the firm’s leadership committee. Before joining Value Partners, Zhao was managing director, head of China business at Amundi. Previously, she held various senior management positions at Vanguard, notably as managing director, head of distribution, mainland China and Hong Kong. Earlier in her career, Zhao was ETF sales manager at Value Partners.

Charles River Development, part of State Street, appointed Vinayak Bhat as senior vice president, head of Asia-Pacific. Bhat previously worked at FactSet Research Systems where he was head of the APAC business.

M&G appointed Lesley Lo as institutional distribution head for Asia-Pacific. Ho, based in Hong Kong, previously served as managing director, head of institutional sales, North Asia at Principal Asset Management.

New York-listed Blue Owl Capital hired Johann Santer as a managing director and head of Asia-Pacific private wealth. He is based in Hong Kong, reporting to Sean Connor, president and chief executive of the firm’s global private wealth business. Most recently, Santer served as Fidelity International's regional lead for wholesale business alongside his position as head of private banking, wealth and strategic clients.

The chief executive of Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank, Paul Arni, left after a five-year spell at the lender. VP Bank named Urs Monstein, chief operating officer, as interim CEO. Arni, at the group since 1 October 2019, was central to driving its Strategy 2026 series of changes.

HSBC Asset Management made a number of senior appointments.

Masayuki Kaneko, CEO, HSBC Asset Management (Japan) (AMJP), took additional responsibilities: He was appointed as head of institutional sales, North Asia. He remains based in Japan, and his reporting line is also unchanged. Locally, Kaneko reports to Edward Weeks, president and CEO, HSBC Japan, and functionally to Daisy Ho, CEO Asia-Pacific, HSBC Asset Management.

HSBC created a new role, namely CEO, HSBC Global Asset Management (Hong Kong) (AMHK), to enable Ho to focus on her Asia-Pacific CEO role. Jasmine Hung, head of pensions strategic partnerships, Hong Kong, AMHK, took on additional responsibilities and was appointed as acting CEO, AMHK. Hung continues to report to Ho on a functional basis, and to Maggie Ng, general manager and head of wealth and personal banking Hong Kong, HSBC, on an entity basis. Hung currently leads AMHK’s pensions strategic partnerships team, focusing on the pensions and retirement business in Hong Kong. She joined AMHK in 2017 to lead the private bank sales team in Hong Kong.

Hsin Chiao, general manager and CEO of HSBC Global Asset Management (Taiwan) (AMTW), left the firm. Chris Lin, EVP and head of client coverage, AMTW, was appointed as acting general manager and CEO, AMTW.

DBS, which has been sorting out a series of recent technology outages, appointed a new chief information officer, Eugene Huang. He succeeded Han Kwee Juan, who had been double-hatting as DBS acting CIO and Singapore country head from November 2023. From 1 June, Han Kwee Juan returned as full-time Singapore country head. With more than 36 years’ experience under his belt in technology and banking, Huang joined from Ping An Group. At that Asian firm, he led a team of 22,000 employees providing IT offerings including infrastructure, cybersecurity, middleware and customer-facing applications. He was concurrently chairman and CEO of Ping An Technology, the technology arm of Ping An Group. A US citizen, Huang has worked in financial centres, startups and multinational corporations.

BlackRock appointed Will Thomson as managing director and as a portfolio manager in the climate infrastructure team in New Zealand. Based in Auckland, Thomson sources climate infrastructure investment opportunities and manages the diligence, structuring, and closing of transactions in New Zealand.

Singapore-headquartered WRISE Group appointed Poly Cheung as market head for Greater China at WRISE Private Hong Kong. Cheung, who leads the team in the Hong Kong office, reports to Joel Tan, chief executive of WRISE Private Hong Kong. Prior to this role, Cheung was head of branch banking at China CITIC Bank International. Earlier, she started as a management trainee at HSBC.

Knight Frank, the global real estate consultancy, appointed Jackie Cheung as director of ESG for Asia-Pacific and Singapore. Based in Singapore, Cheung has worked at the firm since April 2022. He reports to Tim Armstrong, global head of occupier strategy and solutions and to Low Kin Hon, deputy chief executive officer and head, valuation and advisory, Knight Frank Singapore.

JLL, aka Jones Lang LaSalle the real estate group, appointed Mike Pyke as its co-head of equity advisory for Australia and New Zealand. Pyke works with long-term leader Luke Prokuda (co-head of equity advisory). Prior to this, Pyke worked for 11 years at MA Financial (formerly Moelis), with six of those years in the group’s investment banking business and the corporate executive group.

Puneesh Nayar, a team head, left Julius Baer.

Citibank Indonesia appointed Edwin Pribadi as head of Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) for Indonesia. Pribadi, who oversees Citi’s CCB business and operations in Indonesia, is responsible for managing business strategy and financial performance, including deepening client relationships.

T Rowe Price hired Camilla Banasiak as relationship manager to grow and serve its financial advisor clients in Sydney and across New South Wales. Banasiak reports to Jonathon Ross, head of intermediaries for Australia and New Zealand.

Raffles Family Office promoted its co-founder and managing partner, Kendrick Lee, to chief executive for Singapore. Singapore serves as the firm’s dual headquarters alongside Hong Kong.

Chi-man Kwan, group CEO and co-founder of Raffles Family Office, founded the business with Lee, as did Ray Tam. In his previous role, Lee led RFO’s growth in Singapore and Southeast Asia, overseeing its growth across its main business lines of independent asset management, bespoke wealth solutions, investment structure advisory, and risk and resilience services.

Kroll, the global risk management and financial advisory solutions firm, appointed Jon Rowell as head of its Asia-Pacific business. The role was newly created.

Prior to this, Rowell – who has more than 30 years’ industry experience in APAC, the Caribbean and Europe – was head of Asia and Caribbean for FTI Consulting, and leader of its forensic and litigation consulting business in Asia. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Rowell was a partner at McGrathNicol, a specialist advisory and restructuring firm in Australia and New Zealand, where he co-founded and led the forensic business.

DWS appointed one of its senior figures, Matthias Naumann, as chief investment officer, real estate for Asia-Pacific. He moved to Sydney from DWS’ Frankfurt headquarters. Naumann reports to Christopher Kimm, head of real estate, APAC (based in Singapore).

International law firm, Simmons & Simmons, appointed Richard Li as a partner in the corporate and commercial team and as head of healthcare and life sciences, greater China. Li, who has more than 15 years of industry experience, in particular focusing on the healthcare and life sciences sector, is based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.