The latest moves and appointments in wealth management for the UK, rest of Europe, Middle East and select international locations.

Comentis
Clinical reg tech provider Comentis has announced that Richard Farr has joined the firm as a non-executive director, in a bid to raise awareness of financial vulnerability.

The appointment follows mounting regulatory pressure in the financial and legal services sectors which require professionals in these areas to identify, support and protect vulnerable or clients with reduced cognitive abilities in the best manner, the firm said in a statement.

With over 30 years’ of experience, Farr also currently serves on the EmoneyHub Ltd board as a non-executive director and is chair of the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants (APCC) Operational Steering Group, as well as of the APCC Vulnerability Working Group.

Comentis aims to protect and support the vulnerable who would otherwise go unidentified or undetected.

“We are witnessing a vulnerability epidemic,” Jonathan Barrett, CEO and co-founder of Comentis said. “With the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimating that one in two adults could be at risk of financial vulnerability, the chances are that most regulated firms will have already assisted such a client and if they haven’t, then they will do soon," Barrett added.

Nugenis Financial Planning
Maven Wealth, the Welsh regional office of Independent Wealth Planners, has appointed Gareth Tregidon as CEO. At the same time, it has changed its name to Nugenis Financial Planning.

Tregidon was previously interim CEO and head of financial planning at the firm. He is a certified financial planner and chartered wealth manager, with nearly 30 years of experience in the industry, the group said. From 1 May 2022, Maven Wealth also became Nugenis Financial Planning, following a challenge to the use of the Maven name from another firm in the broader financial sector, the firm added.

“Pursuing costly legal action to retain the Maven name would not have been in the best interests of our clients, so we instead decided to take the opportunity to create a new brand that is more representative of our strengths and who we are today,” Tregidon said. “Since our acquisition by Independent Wealth Planners in August 2019, we have invested in our financial planning expertise,” he added. IWP was created to grow, support and promote the UK’s local independent financial advisory firms and build the UK’s financial advice service.

Pictet
Pictet has named Edmund Buckley as head of the direct private equity division as the Swiss group expands its alternative investment business, the firm confirmed to this publication. A report by Reuters on 6 May had mentioned the appointment.

Buckley was previously a manager at private equity firm THI Investments. The hire happened under Elif Aktug, who heads the Pictet alternative advisors division and joined Pictet's eight managing partners in September. Andreas Klein has been appointed as head of private debt, a job which was also newly created, a spokesperson was quoted as saying. 

Buckley is directly reporting to Aktug at Pictet Alternative Adivsers (PAA) and Andreas to Raymond Sagayam at Pictet Asset Management (PAM), a spokesperson told this news service today.

In February, Pictet said that for the calendar year ended 31 December 2021, it reported a rise of 13 per cent in its operating income to SFr3.251 billion ($3.28 billion), and a 75 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to SFr1.008 billion.