People Moves
Who's Moving Where In Wealth Management? – Briarwood Partners, Aberdeen, Mischcon de Reya

The latest moves and appointments for wealth management roles in the UK, and other parts of Europe, the Middle East and select international locations.
Briarwood Partners
London-headquartered Briarwood
Partners, which is authorised by the UK’s Financial
Regulatory Authority, has appointed Charles Jewkes, CFA, as
partner and head of liquid funds distribution.
Jewkes will lead Briarwood's distribution activity for liquid
funds and evergreen strategies across all client channels,
including institutional investors, wealth managers and global
financial institutions, the firm said in a statement this
week.
In total, Jewkes has more than two decades’ experience across
asset management, global financial institutions, institutional
distribution and international wealth. His career has included
senior commercial roles spanning public markets, alternatives and
private markets.
Aberdeen Group
Aberdeen
Group has appointed Torbjörn Magnusson as a non-executive
director and chair-designate to join its board with immediate
effect; it said a further announcement would be made in due
course. The appointment follows the group’s announcement
last year that Sir Douglas Flint would be standing down as chair
by the 2026 AGM. Since then, Jonathan Asquith has served as
interim chair and will continue in the role until Magnusson’s
appointment takes effect.
Magnusson serves as a non-executive director of global specialty (re)insurer Canopius. He served as chair of Nordea Bank Abp from 2019 to 2022 and as deputy chair from 2022 to 2023, representing Sampo Group as the bank’s largest shareholder during a period of significant strategic and operational change. He was also chair of UK digital insurer Hastings Group and Danish insurer Topdanmark.
During his executive career Magnusson served as chief executive officer and president of Sampo for nearly six years, stepping down in 2025 after developing the business into one of the Nordic region’s largest financial services groups. He also led Sampo’s £1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) acquisition of Hastings, strengthening the group’s presence in the UK market. Previously, Magnusson served as president and CEO of If P&C Insurance from 2002 until 2019 and as chair from 2019 to 2025. After studying engineering and mathematics, he began his career with Arthur Andersen before moving into actuarial and insurance roles at Skandia and Mercantile & General Re.
“He is a highly regarded and versatile international business leader who brings more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning a breadth of CEO, non-executive director, and chair roles across large financial services businesses,” Asquith said. “Torbjörn has a particularly strong track record of delivering growth and creating shareholder value over many years in businesses serving personal and corporate customers. He knows the opportunities and challenges emerging from the fast-changing dynamics of the financial services industry. He also understands the complex stakeholder environment of running a modern listed company and has direct experience of working in the UK regulatory framework. As we look forward, Torbjörn is an excellent match to help Aberdeen achieve our growth ambitions.”
Mishcon de Reya
Law firm Mishcon de Reya
has appointed Elliott Phillips as a partner in its private wealth
disputes practice, based in its London office. Phillips, who is
joining next week, is an internationally-recognised disputes
lawyer who specialises in complex, cross-border contentious
trusts, estates and private wealth matters.
With more than 20 years’ experience advising high net worth individuals, beneficiaries, trustees and other parties to private wealth disputes, his wider practice encompasses commercial litigation, civil fraud, asset tracing and recovery, insolvency and shareholder disputes. Before joining Mishcon de Reya, Phillips was a partner at Signature Litigation, where he was also the founding partner of its Gibraltar office, and built and led a team handling complex international disputes. He has appeared at all levels of court, including appearing before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Phillips, who regularly works alongside leading law firms and counsel across multiple jurisdictions, is the firm's 10th lateral partner hire of 2026. Alongside his legal career, Phillips served as a member of the Gibraltar Parliament between 2015 and 2023, as well as as leader of the opposition from 2017 to 2019.
“We are delighted to welcome Elliott to the firm. He is an accomplished disputes lawyer with extensive experience of handling complex and sensitive private wealth matters across jurisdictions,” Peter Steen, head of Private Wealth Disputes at Mishcon de Reya, said. “Elliott’s combination of technical expertise, strategic judgement and understanding of the dynamics that underpin private wealth disputes will be a real asset to our clients. His appointment adds further depth to the team and supports our ambition to build on Mishcon Private’s distinctive offering and further develop our international contentious trusts and estates capability.”