The latest moves, appointments and personnel changes among wealth management and related organisations in the UK, the rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and select international locations.

Titanbay
Titanbay, a private markets platform, has appointed Sheryl Needham as global head of distribution.

Needham (pictured) has more than 20 years of experience of investment management, client strategy and distribution leadership. Most recently, she served as an independent consultant to AllianceBernstein, designing their family office distribution strategy for EMEA and supporting several private markets growth initiatives. Prior to that, she spent more than two decades at BlackRock, where she held several senior EMEA-wide distribution leadership positions, including heading alternatives distribution for wealth, leading hedge fund distribution and most recently scaling the family office business to $23 billion in assets under management. She also built a “talented” team of 18 personnel across the region, including dedicated asset class specialists.

In addition to her professional experience, Needham sits on the development board of the National Theatre, the board of trustees for Sarabande, and the foundation of the late Lee Alexander McQueen – reflecting her broader commitment to creativity and community.

“Sheryl is a force of nature,” Michael Gruener, co-CEO at Titanbay said. “She has an exceptional track record of growing businesses, earning trust and building world-class teams. Her experience and leadership will be instrumental as we accelerate our global expansion and deepen our relationships with the world’s leading wealth managers and private banks.”

Needham's appointment is the latest in a series of strategic hires for Titanbay, as the firm scales its distribution, expands its international footprint, and continues to deliver tailored private markets solutions to prominent wealth management institutions.

SimCorp
SimCorp has appointed Ronan Donnelly as chief operations officer, with immediate effect.

Donnelly, who has been at the firm since 2020, will report to CEO Georg Hetrodt.

Most recently, he served as senior vice president of a Software-as-a-service operations. Prior to SimCorp, Donnelly served in buy-side focused, senior leadership roles at global fintech firms such as SunGard, FIS and Finastra.

Donnelly holds a bachelor of arts in banking and finance from the University of Ulster, and has lived and worked in London and New York. 

A subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Börse Group, SimCorp has more than 3,500 employees across five continents. As of 2024, SimCorp includes Axioma, a provider of risk and management and portfolio optimisation solutions for buy-side financial firms.