US Trust has made five senior wealth management hires in in the West, Central and East divisions.

These moves in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Houston and Richmond are, the bank says, part of an initiative targeting ultra high net worth clients in key markets across the nation.

Therese Murphy Firestone joins as a senior vice president and private client advisor in San Francisco from Smith Barney, where she was a managing director and led their software and networking research teams.

Michelle Castano Garcia will have the same roles in Portland, Oregon, coming from Washington Trust Bank where she was a vice president and senior relationship manager.

Joel Petersen joins from Bernstein Global Wealth Management as a senior vice president in Seattle.

Belinda Phelps is taking up the post of senior vice president and private client advisor in Houston, Texas from Citi Private Bank, where she was the director and senior private banker responsible for developing private wealth financial solutions for their ultra high net worth individual and family office clients.

Lloyd Conley will be a senior vice president and senior trust officer in Richmond, Virginia, having joined from SunTrust Bank Private Wealth Management where he was senior vice president and region trust advisor.

US Trust is part of the global wealth and investment management unit of Bank of America. Responsible for $308 billion in client assets, the firm employs around 4,000 professionals and maintains 140 offices in 32 states.