United Bank has appointed Lyle Smith as managing director and chief investment officer of its Wealth Management Group, which manages some $5 billion in client assets.

Parent firm United Bankshares is headquartered in Charleston and Washington, DC, and operates two banks, both named United. Smith will manage the wealth management operations of both banks.

Smith has been with United for 12 years. Most recently he was the Wealth Management Group's senior portfolio manager and head of investment research.

He succeeds Rick Adams, president of United's West Virginia bank.

"Over the years Rick has had a couple of people running different lines of business within wealth management," Smith said. "I've always been involved on the investment management side. Rick has a tremendous amount of things on his plate."