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

DWS
DWS, an asset manager with €833 billion ($817 billion) of assets under management, appointed Paul M Kelly this week as global head of its €126 billion alternatives franchise, as the firm seeks to accelerate growth. 

He will be joining DWS in February 2023, based in New York.

Previously, he was a senior managing director and chief operating officer of the credit division at Blackstone – a key partner in driving growth in the franchise across direct lending, insurance, and other private credit strategies, the firm said in a statement. 

Prior to Blackstone, Kelly, who has more than three decades of experience in finance and public and private market investing, spent nearly 20 years at JPMorgan in a variety of leadership positions. He started his career in equities trading at Bear Stearns, the firm continued. 
 
He will report directly to DWS CEO Stefan Hoops. All alternatives investment businesses will report to Kelly and, together with the alternatives leadership team, he will be responsible for delivering a cohesive cross-product global strategy.

Welcoming him to the firm, Hoops said: “Paul is an industry veteran with an extensive track record across private and public markets, and we are pleased to have him join DWS to lead our alternatives franchise.” 

“We expect that, despite near-term market volatility, alternatives will continue its growth trajectory, fuelled by the rise in retail demand and the attractive yield opportunities presented in areas such as real assets and private credit,” he continued. 

“Given our deep heritage in real estate and infrastructure, access to middle market lending, and strong retail network, we are well positioned to succeed in this area of strategic focus,” he said. 

Kelly added: “I am excited to be joining DWS to lead its Alternatives business. With its long-standing investment heritage, global institutional franchise and established retail position, the alternatives franchise has a robust foundation to capture future growth in private markets.”

Impax Asset Management
Impax Asset Management, overseeing £37.4 billion ($42.9 billion) of assets focused on sustainable investment areas, has appointed Karen Cockburn as chief financial officer. She will be taking up the role in January, succeeding Charlie Ridge, who is stepping down after more than 14 years at the firm.

Cockburn joined as CFO-designate in October for a phased handover with Ridge. She is a qualified chartered accountant with over 25 years' financial and operational experience in financial services. Cockburn was transformation CFO at Virgin Money, where she focused on the integration of Virgin Money and Clydesdale Banking Group. Previously, she spent nine years at Aegon in various strategy, transformation and finance leadership roles, latterly as CFO of Cofunds. 

Having qualified with KPMG, she spent her early career with GE Capital and Lloyds Banking Group. Cockburn is also a founder and board member of a digital startup, Legado Technologies.

After the handover period, Ridge will continue to support Impax as special advisor from January until December 2023.