SunTrust Bank has appointed Howard Williams to the newly created position of Chief Fiduciary Officer for Private Wealth Management.

Atlanta head-quartered US banking group, SunTrust Bank, appointed existing SunTrust executive, Howard Williams, to the newly created position of Chief Fiduciary Officer for Private Wealth Management, in an effort to refocus its service for wealthy clients. Mr Williams’ first job will be to redistribute 180 of the bank’s existing “trust advisors” into the group’s 75 “wealth teams” that make up SunTrust’s private wealth business, a spokesman told WealthBriefing. SunTrust’s 75 wealth teams are spread throughout the southeast and mid-Atlantic states of the US and currently consist of one trust advisor, a client advisor, an investment specialist, a credit advisory services specialist and wealth strategist. A spokesman for the group confirmed each team under the new plan will have at least two to three specialist trust advisors to advise clients. Mr Williams said the plan is an attempt to refocus the private wealth business on the “trust and investment needs” of its wealthiest clients. “The trust advisor role will now be integrated into the wealth teams to facilitate increased interaction with client advisors and wealth strategists when determining clients' evolving needs and providing appropriate financial solutions,” said Mr Williams said in a statement. Mr Williams was not available to comment yesterday on whether the changes are a response to regulators in the US cracking down on advisors acting as fiduciaries, which binds them to putting an investor’s interests ahead of their own. He stated the injection of trust advisors into private wealth teams would enhance the group’s ability to provide a consistent, uniform approach to addressing fiduciary responsibilities and expanding the range of fiduciary-related services available to clients. As of December 31, 2006 SunTrust had total assets of $182.2 billion and total deposits of $124.0 billion. Prior to joining SunTrust in 2002, Mr Williams was a president and chief executive officer of Bank One Trust Company.