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

First Sentier Investors
Global investment manager First Sentier Investors has appointed Jane Daniel as chief risk officer this week, starting in January.

Daniel is located in London and has joined First Sentier from Aegon Asset Management where she was global chief risk and compliance officer, the firm said in a statement. She is a member of First Sentier’s executive leadership team and reports to Steinberg. 

Daniel was responsible for leading a team of 85 across Europe, the US and Asia, where she oversaw portfolio risk management, enterprise risk management and compliance. 

Other roles at Aegon included ambassador for inclusion and diversity, and board directorships on its global, regional and joint venture companies. Daniel, who joined Aegon in August 2017, was previously EMEA CRO and global head of enterprise risk at Columbia Threadneedle. Prior to this, she was at the Royal Bank of Scotland where she spent a number of years working in a variety of business and risk roles, the firm said.

With a career spanning 30 years, Daniel has had prior exposure to senior risk leadership roles spanning corporate and international banking, wealth management, transaction services as well as asset management.

First Sentier Investors manages more than £120.4 billion ($145 billion) in assets on behalf of institutional investors, pension funds, wholesale distributors, investment platforms, financial advisors and their clients worldwide. 

Michelmores
UK law firm Michelmores has appointed Dhana Sabanathan as a partner in the tax, trusts and succession team in London, part of the firm's private wealth group.
 
Sabanathan is joining from Winckworth Sherwood where she was a partner in the private business and wealth team, the firm said in a statement. She is an advisor to significant family offices and will be bringing her clients and contacts based in the US, Far East and Middle East, to Michelmores.

Sabanathan, who has experience in the private client and wealth management sector, specialises in working with high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, entrepreneurs, corporates and owner-managed businesses. 

Peter Sigler, head of private client at Michelmores, added: “Dhana brings a strong skillset and significant experience with ultra-high net worth management, estate planning and international tax advice. Her reputation, extensive experience and broad skillset will further strengthen our international offering for our private clients.”

James Gribbin, an associate in the private business and wealth team at Winckworth Sherwood, will also be joining the firm’s private client department this month.

As a law firm, Michelmores works with individuals and international families, entrepreneurs, family and privately-owned businesses and large corporates covering a variety of sectors in the UK and internationally.

The firm also acts for private banks, financial institutions and wealth managers to ensure that they are well equipped to advise their clients. 

Responsible Group
UK-based later life specialist Responsible Group has appointed Sara Robinson as business development head for the firm’s broker, Responsible Life. This is the third senior hire that the business has made in a month.

Robinson, who has worked in financial services for over two decades, is joining from Equity Release Associates, part of the Age Partnership Group. She previously worked for Key Retirement Solutions and Skipton Financial Services. 

In December the firm appointed Tom Moloney as Responsible Life’s new advice director and brought in Chris Flowers as intermediary sales director at lending arm, Responsible Lending.

UK insurer Royal London has a 30 per cent stake in Responsible Group. 

Securrency
Financial and regtech company Securrency, which has offices in Maryland, the US, and Abu Dhabi in the Gulf, has appointed senior State Street figure Nadine Chakar as chief executive, taking effect from Monday 9 January. 

Chakar brings more than 30 years’ experience in global wealth and asset management. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and head of State Street Digital. Chakar also led State Street Global Markets, where she oversaw its trading, product, and operations platform, helping to drive successful client solutions. Prior to State Street, she served as global head of operations for Manulife’s global wealth and asset management division and led the global asset servicing teams for BNY Mellon.

The business, which develops blockchain-based fintech and regtech, has clients and investors including WisdomTree, State Street, US Bank, Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, and DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform. 

Besides her senior roles at State Street Digital, Chakar has served as a member of the board of directors of Securrency since 2021. 

Chakar’s appointment will allow Dan Doney, Securrency’s founder, to concentrate on his chief technology officer role so that he can focus on innovation, technology delivery, and commercialisation.