The latest moves, appointments, and personnel changes in the UK, Europe, Middle East and select international organisations.

DWS
DWS has appointed Benjardin Gärtner as global head of equities, effective 1 September. He will be joining from Union Investment, where he has been managing director of Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH since March 2023 and headed Union Investment's equity portfolio management since 2015.

Gärtner’s responsibilities include leading more than 70 investment experts and €107 billion ($125.9 billion) assets under management.

The former global co-heads of equities, Andre Köttner and Dr Thomas Schüßler, along with the head of equities in the US, David Bianco, will become part of his leadership team. Gärtner will report to Vincenzo Vedda, global chief investment officer at DWS. 

Prior to his tenure at Union Investment, Gärtner served in various positions at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and London, including co-head of the German equities team. From 2004 to 2010, he worked in the equity sales unit at Goldman Sachs. From 1997 to 2004, he served as an equity portfolio manager and analyst in various asset management units of the Allianz group. 

LAVA Advisory Partners
LAVA Advisory Partners, a London-based, lower-mid-market M&A advisory firm, has appointed Paul Joyce as a new partner. Joyce joins from Forvis Mazars, where he spent the last eight years building and leading the London M&A team. His background spans senior roles at Deloitte, Credit Suisse and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

He brings a track record in financial and professional services, with expertise in fund and trust administration, administration services, and people-centric businesses.

His appointment sees LAVA expand its partnership team to three, joining founding partners Hamish Martin and Simon Woodcock. 

Founded in 2020, LAVA advises on M&A and financing deals across all sectors and specialisms; it transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust in 2024.