UK

Barclays appointed Kenneth Warnock as portfolio manager in its wealth and investment management division in Edinburgh. Warnock joined Barclays from Alliance Trust in Edinburgh. He previously worked for Premier Fund Managers, Jupiter Fund Management and Johnson Fry.

Rowan Dartington appointed Steve Bridges to the newly-created role of business development manager at its Bristol office. Bridges joined from The Premier Group, where he was head of regional development. Previously, he worked for Butterfield Private Bank and Mayfair Capital Partners.

Walpole British Luxury appointed Michael Morley, chief executive of Coutts & Co, to its board of directors. Morley joined Coutts, the wealth division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, as CEO in June 2009. In September 2010 he also became chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland International, the offshore banking business of the group in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. 

IntelliFlo appointed Peter Jordan to the newly-created role of marketing director, based in its Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey office. Jordan joined after teaching economics at Portsmouth Grammar School, but prior to this he held a number of senior marketing roles at Skandia and Scottish Windows. He reports to Dave Chessell.

JP Morgan Asset Management appointed Simon Crinage as its new head of investment trust business. Crinage reports to Jasper Berens, head of UK funds management and replaces David Barron, who left the firm earlier this year.

RBC Wealth Management added Angelina Yap as a London-based director within its UK private client team. Ms Yap will develop relationships with UK-resident, non-domiciled high and ultra high net worth clients from countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Greater China.

Ms Yap joined RBC from EFG Private Bank. Before that, she headed up a global Chinese initiative at Standard Chartered Private Bank, and also led the Asian business development unit at HSBC Global Asset Management.

Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management appointed former Brewin Dolphin senior manager Harry Burnham to its board.

At Brewin Dolphin, he was responsible for a wide range of individual, trust and charitable portfolios, as well as the management of the Brewin Dolphin pension fund. He was also instrumental in developing and managing the group’s fund research platform.

Sarasin & Partners appointed Sarah McCarthy to the newly-created role of head of marketing. She will be based in London, but will work across the firm’s UK and international client base.

McCarthy joined from Goldman Sachs, where she was executive director for the firm’s asset management team. Before this, she worked as senior marketing manager at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, and held other managerial positions at Skandia Investment Group and AXA Investment Managers.

The Financial Conduct Authority appointed Sue Lewis as chair of the independent Financial Services Consumer Panel, effective from 1 July 2013. Until then she remains a consumer advocate member on the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Professional Standards Board.

Architas, a subsidiary of AXA Wealth, hired Philippe Broadhead and Daniel Haylett as head of institutional and wholesale distribution, and intermediary business development manager, respectively. Broadhead joined from Union Bancaire Privee while Haylett joined from Dominion Funds.

Barclays Corporate & Employer Solutions appointed four new corporate wealth advisors – Virgil Higglesden, Tony Dungworth, Daniel Richards and Mark Burns. Higglesden joined from The Fry Group, Richards from HSBC and Dungworth and Burns from RBS. The four recruits advise entrepreneurs, small and medium sized enterprises and smaller corporate clients on a range of corporate solutions, each in a specific UK region.

Cofunds announced the departure of Stephen Mohan, managing director of operational services, who leaves after more than seven years at the firm. Mohan will stay in his role until a suitable replacement is found.

Close Brothers Asset Management confirmed Chris Bailey stepped down as manager of the CDF Conservative and Growth Funds. Bailey left to pursue opportunities outside wealth management, and will be replaced by Riitta Hujanen who has been with the firm since 2012.

Prudential appointed Jackie Hunt as chief executive to head its UK and European business. Hunt joined from Standard Life where she was chief financial officer, and will succeed Rob Devey in October 2013.

Schroders made two newly-created senior appointments, hiring Daniel Morris as LDI solutions manager and Lef Sigolos as an investment risk manager within the Schroders independent group risk team, based in London. Morris previously worked at Towers Watson and AON Hewitt, while Sigolos joined from F&C Asset Management.

Appleby, the offshore law firm, promoted its private client lawyer Marc Guillaume to the position of counsel. Guillaume joined the firm in 2009, advises on all aspects of trust law, and specialises in foundations, pensions, employee benefits and charities. 

Jupiter Asset Management promoted two of its equity income managers, Alastair Gunn and Chris Watt. Gunn will manage the Jupiter High Income Fund, effective from 1 July while Watt currently manages the Jupiter Growth & Income Fund and the Jupiter UK Alpha Fund.

The firm also appointed Damian Cocking as head of private clients and charities business development. Cocking joined from Stenham Advisors where he was head of offshore sales.

As from July 2013, Jupiter will also welcome James Clunie, who left Scottish Windows Investment Partnership where she was investment director of its global equities team. Clunie worked at the firm since 2007.

Braemar Estates, the property management arm of investment firm Brooks Macdonald Group, appointed Chris March to the newly-created role of chief executive. March joined from Allsop Residential Investment Management and oversees the growth strategies of the company.

Coutts appointed Layla Fear as wealth manager in its Birmingham office. She joined from JM Finn & Co where she was an investment manager, and will report to director Miles Plumb.

Barclays Wealth and Investment Management promoted its director Paul Freeman to assume overall responsibility of its Bristol office. Freeman had been at the firm for more than 10 years. In addition, Matt Windows and Michael Smith were also promoted to the roles of director and vice president, respectively. Windows joined Barclays in 2007 while Smith joined in 2001. Barclays also appointed Eileen Cronin to the newly-created role of director in its Cardiff office.

Meanwhile, Barclays confirmed the chief executive of its wealth and investment management division, Tom Kalaris, along with Rich Ricci, currently chief executive officer of its corporate and investment banking arm, will retire from the bank, effective from 30 June. Kalaris joined the firm in 1996 and before that spanned an 18-year career at JP Morgan. Peter Horrell was named interim CEO of wealth and investment management, with effect from 1 May.   

In addition, Skip McGee was hired as CEO Barclays Americas with effect from 1 May. He joined the firm in 2008. Eric Bommensath and Tom King were also appointed co-chief executives of corporate and investment banking effective from 1 May. Bommensath joined Barclays in 1997 while King joined in 2009.

Yorkshire Bank appointed a new leadership team for its Hull and Humber business and private banking centre. Brian Lake joined the firm in 2009 and currently leads the new business and private banking team. Other key figures include Anthony Hutt, relationship manager, commercial businesses; Matt Smith, relationship manager, commercial businesses; Danny Ruston, David Burgess and Richard Boor, business development managers; and Graham Wickenden, private banking manager.

Yorkshire Bank also appointed a new leadership team for its west Yorkshire business and private banking centre earlier in April.

Henderson Global Investors appointed Rob Page as global head of marketing, due to start this summer. He will report to Greg Jones and oversee the UK and European marketing, investment marketing, public relations and e-commerce teams. Until then, Page remains head of marketing and communications at Hermes. 

BlackRock’s UK Income co-manager Nick McLeod-Clarke took long-term sick leave. On his return he will oversee a number of institutional mandates, but will not go back to co-managing the UK Income fund with Adam Avigdori which he has been doing since 2009.

Franklin Templeton Investments promoted David Zahn to the newly-created role of head of European fixed income, based in London. Zahn retains his responsibilities as senior vice president and portfolio manager of various funds, but also leads the firm’s effort to enhance its European fixed income capabilities. He has been working at the firm since 2006.

St James’s Place confirmed that its non-executive director, Steve Colsell, will step down from the firm’s board, effective from 1 June. He joined in 2009 and is believed to be retiring. The firm appointed Sue Harris and Alison Hewitt as non-executive directors to replace Colsell, subject to regulatory approval. Both will meanwhile continue their board duties for Lloyds Banking Group.

Scoban appointed Jeremy Vaughan to the newly-created role of executive director of its London office. Vaughan joined from Adam & Co where he spent 16 years.

Butterfield Private Bank appointed Paul O’Neill as head of UK asset management, based in London. O’Neill oversees the management of the London investment business and aims to integrate the group research and London portfolio management teams. He joined from Talisman Global Asset Management.

Banque Havilland, the Luxembourg-headquartered, family-owned private bank, appointed Tina Brunetti as group head of compliance. Brunetti joined from Lloyds Private Bank. In her new role she oversees Banque Havilland’s compliance activities across its three offices in Luxembourg, London and Monaco.

Hargreave Hale, the UK-based stockbroker and investment manager, appointed Richard Sneideris as an investment manager at the firm’s Bangor office. Sneideris joined from Quilter where he was an investment manager for private clients.

Towry, the UK-based wealth manager, appointed Jeremy Turrell to the newly-created role of wealth advisor in its Bournemouth office, as the firm continued its expansion plans. Turrell joined from Lloyds Mayfair Private Banking, where he was a senior private banker.

In addition, Towry appointed four of its existing regional wealth advice managers to newly-created national roles: Jon Bowes, head of client advice, Neil Homer, head of client delivery, Andy Springall, head of client development, and Rob Chandler, head of client acquisition.

UBS appointed Kirsten Burt as head of marketing for the UK, Jersey and UK international. Burt joined from Standard Chartered Private Bank, where she was head of marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Americas.

Duncan Lawrie Private Bank appointed Gillian Ralston Jordan to the newly-created role of head of fiduciary services, based on the Isle of Man. Jordan manages a team of accountants and administrators who deal with the bank’s international client base. She was previously director of two trust and company service providers, also located on the Isle of Man.

Switzerland

New Access, the Swiss front-office technology firm, appointed Aniello Conte as chief technology officer. Previously, Conte spent 12 years at Hewlett-Packard, and before that he was at Bull-France for four years, where he led the firm's development centres.

Credit Suisse appointed Michael Strobaek as its chief investment officer for the private banking and wealth management division. Additionally, he heads the newly established investment strategy and research group within the division. Strobaek reports to Robert Shafir, head of private banking and wealth management products. Strobaek joined from a Swiss family office, where he was chief executive and CIO. Prior to that, Strobaek spent 13 years at UBS in a number of senior positions, most recently head of investment management for wealth management, and prior to that global head of investment solutions. The appointment involves partly the creation of a new role, following reorganisation of the investment team, and due to the departure of Stefan Keitel from Credit Suisse, where he had been global CIO.

Geneva-headquartered Lombard Odier Investment Managers appointed Grant Peterkin to the newly-created role of senior portfolio manager on its global and emerging fixed income team. Based in Geneva, Peterkin oversees the firm’s range of sovereign strategies with a particular focus on the total return bond fund, and reports to Gregor MacIntosh, head of the global and emerging fixed income team. Peterkin joined from Ignis Asset Management, where he co-managed the firm’s absolute return government bond strategy.

Schroder & Co Bank, the Switzerland based part of UK-listed wealth management firm Schroders, said Luc Denis was to retire from the post of chief executive at the end of June, and be replaced by Adrian Nösberger on 1 July. Nösberger previously held senior private banking management roles, including member of the executive board and head of private banking for Switzerland at Clariden Leu (formerly Bank Leu) from 2003 to 2011.

EFG International nominated two new directors: Nico Burki and Bernd-A von Maltzan. Burki practises as a legal attorney and is a certified Swiss tax expert, trust and estate practitioner. Previously, he was a partner in the law firm Bär & Karrer, and formerly a tax lawyer for Arthur Andersen in Zurich. Von Maltzan has held a variety of senior positions in Deutsche Bank, including divisional board member and global head of private banking followed by divisional board member and vice chairman, private wealth management in Frankfurt.

Middle East

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said Alex Thursby, its chief executive for international and institutional banking had left the firm to take up the CEO role at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. ANZ is looking at candidates within the firm for Thursby’s post, as well as from among external candidates. During this interim period, Gilles Planté, CEO Asia-Pacific and Steve Bellotti, managing director for global markets and loans, assumes Thursby’s roles.

Europe

Lloyds TSB Private Banking appointed Jon Farley as head of its business in Gibraltar.

He reports to Richard Musty, director of private banking and Lloyds TSB International. Farley has over 15 years of banking experience in a variety of roles, including wealth, corporate, international and retail banking. He joined Lloyds in 2008 from Barclays Bank, and after his initial role in intermediary sales, he joined the wealth and international division in 2009. Most recently, he was appointed to oversee strategic projects in Geneva and the US.

UBS has appointed Tristan Gervais to its global family office team as a senior relationship manager. Gervais has 12 years' experience of providing corporate finance advice to entrepreneurs and family offices and cross-selling corporate finance and private bank key client relationships across Europe, Middle East and Africa, first at JP Morgan and later at Deutsche Bank. He is based in London and initially reports to Michael Bishop, head for ultra high net worth and global family office UK, and to Susan Ward when she joined as head GFO UK in May onwards with a line into Jeremy Eakin for GFO global emerging markets in London.

London-based asset manager Threadneedle Investments promoted Michael Poole to lead manager of the £790 million ($1.2 billion) European High Yield Bond Fund. Poole has been co-managing the fund alongside Barrie Whitman, head of high yield, for the past two years, but the latter stepped down to become deputy manager. Whitman will continue to oversee other funds, including the Credit Opportunities Fund, the High Yield Bond Fund and the Strategic Bond Fund.

UBS hired Blackrock's German head Dirk Klee as chief operating officer of its private banking arm, taking the post in September, 2013. Klee replaced Stephan Zimmermann, who is moving to an as-yet undefined position at the Swiss bank at year-end.

Deutsche Bank proposed the election of three new members to its supervisory board: John Cryan, president for Europe at Temasek International, Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JP Morgan Chase, and Georg Thoma, a partner at law firm Shearman Sterling. Dr Karl-Gerhard Eick and Werner Wenning did not stand for re-election at the 23 May 2013 annual general meeting, and Tilman Todenhöfer stood to be elected until 31 October 2013.

Brooks Macdonald International, an offshore subsidiary of UK-listed wealth manager Brooks Macdonald, appointed Mark O’Connor as an investment manager at its Guernsey office. O’Connor joined from Rothschild Wealth Management in Guernsey, a division of Rothschild Bank, where he was an assistant director responsible for a client base covering the UK, Europe, the Channel Islands and Israel. Prior to Rothschild Bank, he worked at Royal Bank of Canada.

Carne Group, the Luxembourg-based provider of governance and oversight services to the global funds industry, appointed Jean de Courrèges as a director to its international team. He sits on the boards of both Luxembourg and Cayman Islands funds as an independent director. Courrèges has more than 30 years experience in banking and portfolio management in North America, Europe and Asia, including four years as a manager of fund investment operations and strategies with Credit Suisse Asset Management.

KBL European Private Bankers, the parent company of UK-based private bank Brown Shipley, appointed Hanif Mohamed to the newly-created role of group chief legal officer. Based in Luxembourg, Mohamed supervised and coordinated the activities of all legal departments across KBL’s nine-country European network.

International

Nerine Group of Fiduciaries appointed a new managing director for its British Virgin Islands business, and promoted its finance director. Jonathan Bailey is the new managing director of Nerine Trust Company (BVI). The previous managing director was Simon Filmer. Bailey has more than 10 years’ experience working at a senior level within the private client sector in the UK and BVI.

Executive search firm The Rose Partnership, which is pulling out from recruiting in private banking and fund management sectors, announced the retirement of Philippa Rose and her husband James D’Arcy. After 32 years at the firm, Rose decided to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests. She and D’Arcy previously led The Rose Partnership’s fund management practice. Rose remained as a partner in the firm and also continued to offer advice and guidance as required by her team.

North America

RBC Wealth Management added to its team in Texas and promoted staff at branches in Florida and Washington.

In Austin, TX, Glen Hatch joined as branch director. He took up the role on April 22, having formerly been Austin branch manager for Morgan Stanley, where he spent eight years.

In Tampa, FL, the firm appointed Michael Neff as branch director. Neff, who joined RBC in 2007, takes on a leadership role with oversight of 10 financial advisors. He replaces Jeff Farrell, who relocated to the St Petersburg branch.

In Edmonds, WA, RBC Wealth Management promoted Shane Flock to branch director. Flock joined RBC in 2009 from Merrill Lynch. He is a member of the Flock Group, along with his father, Larry Flock, his brother, Tony Flock, and client associate Mary Malencore. He will be responsible for the oversight of five advisors and three other branch employees.

Waterbury, CT-headquartered Webster Bank appointed Madorie O’Hara as a vice president and senior investment manager in Stamford, CT.

O’Hara was latterly a member of Citi Private Bank’s tailored portfolio group, managing equity and balanced portfolios for private clients, trusts and charitable organizations.

Wilmington Trust, part of M&T Bank, hired Sharon Klein as managing director of family office services and wealth strategies in the New York metro region.

Klein was latterly managing director and head of wealth advisory services at Lazard Wealth Management. She has 20 years of experience in the areas of trusts and estates, and philanthropic planning.

Before her stint at Lazard, Klein headed up the estate advice department at Fiduciary Trust Company International, and served as special counsel within the trusts and estates department at Rosenman & Colin (now Katten Muchin Rosenman).

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management expanded its advisor force in California and Florida with hires from Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

In Boca Raton, FL, Eric Behr joined from Deutsche Bank, where he served as a director and advisor. He had annual revenue production of roughly $1.2 million and now reports to Morgan Stanley complex manager Michael Higgins.

Thomas McCann joined Morgan Stanley in La Jolla, CA, from Merrill Lynch. There, he managed over $200 million in client assets and last year generated about $1.1 million in revenue. At Morgan Stanley, McCann reports to complex manager Mark Kremers.

Additionally, David Rascoe - latterly of Wells Fargo Advisors - joined in San Diego, CA. At Wells he managed $80 million in client assets and last year generated $905,000 in revenue.

Rockville Financial appointed Valerie Duncan - latterly of Wells Fargo Private Bank - as a senior vice president and head of private banking, based at the firm's administrative offices in Glastonbury, CT.

Duncan has over 16 years of experience in the financial services industry and at Wells served as a vice president and private banker for the Northeast region.  

Reporting to Mark Kucia, executive vice president and head commercial banking officer, Duncan will lead the firm's private banking team, which is comprised of: Anna Sinatro, vice president and private banking executive, and Heather Loranger, vice president and private banking executive.

Wells Fargo Advisors extended its footprint across four states with seven hires from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Edward Jones.

The new hires managed $776 million in combined client assets at their former firms and have joined Wells Fargo Advisors' private client group in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.

In Winter Haven, FL, Richard Meadows, Paul Seifert and Michael Fettig - the Meadows, Seifert, Fettig Group - joined from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, where they managed $266 million in client assets. They are now based in Lakeland and will report to branch manager Christian Rafool.

Further north in Maryland, Howard Mirvis and Larry Holmes - also latterly of Morgan Stanley - stepped into Wells Fargo’s Lutherville office, where they report to Matthew Glenn. The Mirvis-Holmes Group previously managed $220 million in client assets and had T-12 production of $1.6 million.

Gary Pollick also joined from Morgan Stanley, where he managed $178 million in client assets. He now works in Paramus, NJ, and reports to complex manager Chris Leavy.

Lastly Betty Schutte-Box - latterly of Edward Jones - joined Wells Fargo in Richmond, VA. Schutte-Box, who formerly managed $112 million in client assets, now reports to market manager Rob Withers.

In a separate announcement, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network - Wells Fargo’s independent brokerage arm - added two practices in Seattle, WA, with a combined $549 million in assets under management.

In Mercer Island, Butler Wealth Management is comprised of financial advisors Jim Butler and his two sons, Jim Butler and Neil Butler. The team joined from Merrill Lynch. Butler Wealth Management has $1.3 million in production and over $356 million in AuM.

In Lynnwood, the O’Neal & Brokaw Private Retirement Group - comprised of Teresa Brokaw, Don O’Neal and Trent O’Neal - joined from Merrill Lynch. The team has $1.4 million in production and $193 million in AuM.

Laven Partners, a global consulting firm focused on the alternative investment industry, appointed Tom Morgan as managing director of the firm’s New York office, charged with expanding the firm’s presence in the US.  

Laven Partners launched its New York office in October 2011 following increased interest from US-based managers expanding their operations to Europe, and European clients concerned with US regulations.

William Demchak took over from Jams Rohr as president and chief executive of PNC Financial Services Group.

Rohr, who announced in February that he will retire in 2014, has taken on the new position of executive chairman. He will serve in this role for a year to help with the transition.

Demchak, a director at BlackRock, joined PNC in 2002 as chief financial officer and became head of corporate and institutional banking in 2005. He was promoted to senior vice chairman in 2009, named as head of all PNC businesses in 2010, and then elected as PNC president in April 2012.

The moves were announced at the firm’s latest annual meeting, during which shareholders also re-elected all 16 directors to the board. They are: Richard Berndt, Charles Bunch, Paul Chellgren, Demchak, Kay James, Richard Kelson, Bruce Lindsay, Anthony Massaro, Jane Pepper, James Rohr, Donald Shepard, Lorene Steffes, Dennis Strigl, Thomas Usher, George Walls and Helge Wehmeier.

Atlantic Trust, the private wealth management division of New York-listed Invesco, ramped up its team in Houston, TX, appointing Catherine Schnaubelt as a senior vice president and senior wealth strategist.

Schnaubelt joined Atlantic Trust from Wells Fargo’s ultra high net worth family wealth division, Abbot Downing, where she was a director. Previously, she was a partner with Strasburger & Price, and a principal for the management consulting business within Avatar Associates.

Campden Wealth promoted Mindy Rosenthal to president of its Institute for Private Investors US subsidiary and appointed David Berger as chief executive for the Americas.

Rosenthal has served as executive director of IPI, a membership organization for wealthy individuals, since Campden Wealth acquired it in 2011. Rosenthal, who joined the firm back in 2007, will now concentrate on overseeing services and content for IPI member families.

Meanwhile, Berger will be responsible for strategic planning, business development, operations and new technology initiatives in North and South America.

Berger joined Campden Wealth from Asia Executive Solutions, a Hong Kong-based consultancy he founded which advised professional and financial services clients entering Asian markets.

Both executives are based in New York and report to Dominic Samuelson, CEO of Campden Wealth.

The brokerage firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co, a subsidiary of St Louis, MO-based Stifel Financial, recruited an 11-member team from Wells Fargo’s independent brokerage network.

At Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, the team operated as RMG Asset Management and oversaw over $1 billion in client assets. At Stifel, they are known as the RMG Group.

Nine of the advisors are based at Stifel's new office in Bellevue, WA, and the other two are based in Portland, OR.

The new Bellevue office is run by former Wells Fargo advisor Mark McClure. The rest of the team are: Andrew Campbell and Lance McIntosh - both senior vice presidents - and advisors Jennifer Rush, T Kevin Tucker, Michael Harkins, Glen Ness, Richard O'Donnell and Michael Tucker.

The Private Client Reserve of US Bank promoted Matt Ellison to regional wealth planner for Kentucky, Tennessee and Cleveland and Columbus, OH.

Reporting to Steve Cook, market leader of the PCR, Ellison will work with high net worth individuals and families, with a focus on entertainment and professional sports clients.

Ellison has over 20 years of trust, financial planning and investment management experience. He joined US Bank in 2011 as a wealth management advisor. Previously, he was head of trust and wealth planning at Royal Bank of Canada and has held similar positions at AmSouth Bank.

Wells Fargo appointed Michael Lee as a relationship manager and wealth planning strategist at Abbot Downing in Chicago, IL, as the firm expands its ultra high net worth business operations in the region.

Lee joined from William Blair & Company, where he was a partner and head of corporate and executive services. He also has experience in the areas of wealth, tax and estate planning, having previously been a tax attorney.

In his new role, Lee will focus on issues faced by owners and executives of private and public companies. He joined a Chicago-based team providing planning and family dynamics services, asset management, private banking, trust, fiduciary and administrative services.

San Antonio Capital & Trust Company, a Texas-based wealth manager, hired a new chief executive and president from Bessemer Trust.

Audie Apple, the new CEO, was formerly managing director for Bessemer Trust for the Southwest, based at the US wealth manager’s Dallas office. He is a native Texan. Before Bessemer, he worked at AllianceBernstein in the private wealth division, between 1996 and 2011.

California-based Willow Creek Financial Services added David Homan as a financial advisor.

Homan joined the firm this year from Private Ocean, a San Rafael-based wealth manager where he was a senior wealth advisor. There, he specialized in portfolio management and financial planning for high net worth individuals.

Homan also owns Intersect Marketing Group, an online marketing services firm for small business and real estate professionals. Overall, he has been in the industry 10 years and advises individuals on tax planning, estate planning, risk management, and charitable strategies.

Howard-Sloan, an executive search firm specializing in the legal and financial sectors, hired Alan Goldstein as global practice director of wealth management.

Goldstein has 20 years of industry experience, during which time he has worked with clients in the US, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In his new role, he will concentrate on private bankers and relationship managers, financial advisors and private client investment managers, working with family offices, wealth managers, hedge funds and asset managers.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Robert Buzzelli as a senior director, based in the firm’s Pittsburgh, PA, office. He will report to regional sales manager Garrett Alton.

Buzzelli was latterly chief banking and wealth management officer at Allegheny Valley Bank. There, he was responsible for sales and service across all lines of business including wealth management and commercial, consumer, and residential lending.

Between 2004 and 2012, he was a managing director at Fifth Third Bank, where he led a team of 28 professionals in the wealth management division.

American Independence Financial Services, a New York-based independent investment manager, appointed Keith Fletcher as vice chairman and a member of the executive committee.

Fletcher has spent the last 30 years building sales, marketing and product teams for traditional and alternative investment products. 

He recently served as chief marketing officer and head of product management for Security Global and Rydex Investments (later Guggenheim Investments), where he was responsible for the company’s exchange-traded products, mutual funds and other related products.

RMB Capital, the independent advisory firm, appointed John Bohan as a senior wealth manager at RMB Wealth Management in Denver, CO.

Bohan’s industry background includes several years as a senior private wealth advisor. He was formerly a managing director at CoBiz Wealth Management, focused on new business development, relationship management and wealth advisory for high net worth clients.

Southfield, MI-based wealth management and consulting firm CIG Corp appointed Howard Margolis as its new managing director of wealth management.

Margolis was previously the managing director and director of wealth management for The Private Bank in Michigan. In that role, he was responsible for daily operations, business development and marketing at the bank’s wealth management, fiduciary and risk management services businesses. He also headed up its national financial advisory services team.

The wealth and investment management division of UK-listed Barclays said its chief executive, Tom Kalaris, will retire from the bank, effective June 30.

In addition to his role as CEO WIM at Barclays, Kalaris is also an executive chairman of Barclays in the Americas and will step down from this position at the end of June. He stepped down from the Barclays executive committee at the end of April.

Rich Ricci, currently the chief executive of the corporate and investment banking arm, decided to retire on June 30, by which time he will have helped to support the establishment of the new leadership team. He has now stepped down from the bank’s executive committee.

Kalaris will work with Peter Horrell, head of Barclays’ intermediaries, international and direct businesses, to implement the transition of responsibilities. Horrell was named interim CEO of wealth and investment management, with effect from May 1, 2013. Horrell will report to group CEO Anthony Jenkins.

Meanwhile, Skip McGee was hired as CEO Barclays Americas, with effect from May 1. He will be the senior executive in the Americas, with geographic responsibility for all of Barclays’ businesses in the region. McGee will also join the Barclays executive committee and report to Jenkins.

In addition, Eric Bommensath and Tom King were appointed co-CEOs of corporate and investment banking, effective from May 1. Bommensath and King take on these roles in addition to maintaining their current responsibilities as head of markets and head of the investment banking division, respectively.

Bommensath and King will join the Barclays executive committee, and both men will report to Jenkins.

Evercore Trust Company, a subsidiary of Evercore Partners, appointed a new chief executive as part of a reshuffle of its executive team.

As of July 1, Charles Wert and Norman Goldberg will become vice chairmen, while Ciara Burnham, currently a senior managing director with Evercore Partners, will succeed Wert as president and CEO. 

Additionally, William Ryan - latterly executive director for legal and compliance and head of ERISA law at Morgan Stanley - will succeed Goldberg as chief fiduciary officer.

BMO Private Bank named Peter O'Connor as a managing director in Hinsdale, IL, and Nate Wasson as a managing director in Naperville, IL, describing these areas as “growing suburban markets.”

Katie Vander Zanden, who previously led both markets, is now chief administrative officer of BMO Private Bank. This is a newly-created role in which Zanden assumes overall responsibility for BMO Private Bank's compliance, audit, initiatives management and administrative functions. She will also lead initiatives designed to improve the overall client experience.

Zanden has over 33 years of financial services experience and has been with BMO since 1996. O'Connor has been a financial services professional for over 26 years and joined BMO in 2000.

Wasson joined BMO in 2011 and was most recently vice president and regional manager for BMO Harris Financial Advisors.

New York-based Provident Bank promoted its chief wealth management officer, James Nesci, to executive vice president. 

Nesci, who is also president of Beacon Trust Company, a Morristown, NJ-based subsidiary of Provident Bank, has over 20 years of financial industry experience and is working to enhance and expand Provident's wealth management offering.

Nesci is a member of Beacon Trust’s board of directors and Provident Bank’s executive leadership team. He also serves on several of the bank’s management committees, including the asset and liability, officers trust, and disclosure committees. Additionally, he is a board member of Provident Investment Services.

Rothstein Kass brought in Todd Kesterson as director of family office services in Dallas, TX - a role in which he will provide accounting, tax and business consulting services to high net worth individuals and family offices.

Kesterson has about 25 years of experience in public accounting, wealth advisory and business operations. He has also worked in family business consulting, investment analysis, estate and business planning, internal controls and risk aversion, and budgeting and cash management.

Kesterson spent the past 15 years or so as president and chief financial officer for the private wealth management office of a high net worth family in Dallas. In that role, he oversaw all business and day-to-day operations including accounting, planning and forecasting, asset custody and security, human resources functions, and private foundation operations and compliance.

Before that, he served as CFO of a privately-held auto finance company, having started his career as a tax consultant at Ernst & Young.

Denver, CO-headquartered Janus Capital took on Michael Stern as sales director, charged with expanding the firm’s intermediary distribution and sales in New York City.

Stern has over 20 years in financial services sales and sales management and was most recently a market director within the wealth management group at JP Morgan Chase. He started his career as a financial advisor and, later, a branch sales manager at Smith Barney in Melville, NY. 

White Oaks Wealth Advisors, an independent and private wealth management firm in Minneapolis, MN, promoted Michaela Larson to director of operations.

Larson joined White Oaks Wealth Advisors five years ago and has since been managing the firm’s internal and external communications.

Los Angeles, CA-headquartered Aristotle Capital Management hired Catalina Llinás as a managing director within its client service and marketing team.

Llinás was latterly a senior vice president at Metropolitan West Capital Management, having previously held an investment role at Citibank in Spain.

The World Gold Council appointed Robert Alderman as managing director of private investment in the US, based in New York.

Alderman joined the World Gold Council from Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he was managing director and head of retail distribution for the Americas.

He has 25 years of experience in the private investment and asset management sectors, having spent time working at Advisors Asset Management, Prudential Investments and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The Private Client Reserve of US Bank appointed Kenan Aksoz as a wealth management consultant and Doug Heding as an assistant vice president and private banking officer.

Aksoz has over 23 years of experience in the financial services industry and in his new role will work with high net worth individuals and families in Minneapolis, MN.

Based in Milwaukee, WI, Heding will also work with HNW individuals and families. He has significant experience in treasury management, credit risk management, HNW client relationship management and small business relationship management, the firm said.

Before joining the PCR, Heding was a private banking officer for The PrivateBank and Trust in Milwaukee. 

RBC Wealth Management appointed Robert Magel as branch director of its Denver, CO, tech office - a role in which he is responsible for the oversight of 21 financial advisors.

Magel has 30 years of industry experience and most recently worked at UBS as a branch and complex manager. Previously, he was a financial advisor at Dean Witter, and then served as branch manager and regional manager when the company became Morgan Stanley.

Nerine Group of Fiduciaries appointed a new managing director for its British Virgin Islands business, and promoted its finance director.

Jonathan Bailey is the new managing director of Nerine Trust Company (BVI). The previous managing director was Simon Filmer.

Bailey has more than 10 years’ experience working at a senior level within the private client sector in the UK and BVI. He will oversee all Nerine BVI operations and staff and takes on a prominent role within the group for marketing and business development, with particular emphasis on wealth structuring solutions available from the BVI for both private and institutional clients.

Former US Attorney Mary Jo White was sworn in as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

White was nominated to serve as the US authority’s chairman by President Barack Obama in February and the move was subsequently confirmed by the US Senate.

She served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1993 to 2002 - a role in which she prosecuted complex securities and financial institution frauds, while also focusing on international terrorism cases.

Before that, White served as the first assistant US Attorney, and later acting US Attorney, for the Eastern District of New York between 1990 and 1993.

Baird Private Wealth Management brought in a large Texas advisory team and opened a second office in Houston, as it targets oil and gas wealth in the Lone Star state.

The firm hired John Hantak as senior vice president, branch manager, responsible for overseeing both of its Houston offices. He is one of ten new hires the wealth manager has made.

Hantak joined Baird from UBS Financial Services, where he was most recently an executive director/complex director, overseeing around 50 financial advisors in Stamford and Greenwich, CT, and managing $48 million in revenues.

He was joined by seven legacy AG Edwards advisors, who were all most recently with Wells Fargo Advisors. The team focuses on the retirement planning needs of executives in the oil and gas industry and oversees more than $770 million in client assets.

The team of advisors is comprised of: J Gillette Burns, director; Orlando Montesino, senior vice president; Andrew Atkinson; Richard Pfeil, vice president; Matthew Leatherwood; Thomas Davis, vice president; and C Nelson Shields, vice president.

Burns, Montesino and Atkinson, known as The Burns Financial Group, were joined by client relationship assistant Cynthia Silva. Meanwhile, Pfeil and Leatherwood were joined by client relationship assistant Ogochukwu Obianagu. They are all based in the new Houston office.

Chicago, IL-based William Blair & Company hired John Zielinski and the team of John Baker Welch and Anthony Faut as private client advisors. 

Zielinski was latterly a senior vice president at Capital Group Private Client Services and has also previously worked at Lehman Brothers Asset Management and The Northern Trust.

Welch spent the last 25 years at Rothschild Investment Corporation, most recently as a partner and portfolio manager.

Faut also joins from Rothschild Investment Corporation, where his most recent role involved focusing on investment advice and employee education as a member of the firm's retirement plan team.

OppenheimerFunds appointed Mark Hamilton as chief investment officer of asset allocation, a newly-created role at the firm.

Reporting to Art Steinmetz, CIO, Hamilton will lead the expansion of the firm’s investment strategies, with a focus on designing and implementing multi-asset products and solutions.

Hamilton joined from AllianceBernstein, where he most recently served as an investment director on the dynamic asset allocation portfolio management team.

His responsibilities there included managing investments in the global equity, bond, credit, currency and real asset sectors, as well as directing the design, development and implementation of dynamic asset allocation strategies for institutional, sub-advisory, retail and private client channels.

Westwood Holdings Group appointed Randall Root as president of its Texas trust subsidiary, Westwood Trust - Dallas.

Root has been a member of the Westwood Trust team for 20 years, most recently as senior vice president, trust investment officer. He works with affluent individuals and families, as well as charitable endowments, foundations and corporate retirement plans.

Focus Financial Partners brought in Mark Hovanic and Matt Sonnen to support Focus Connections, the firm’s offering that supports advisors undergoing the transition to RIA status.

Hovanic, a managing director, will be responsible for recruiting and advising wirehouse breakaway teams, while Sonnen joins as vice president of strategic operations.

Hovanic previously served as a senior vice president, complex and branch manager at several wirehouses including what was then Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, as well as UBS and earlier Paine Webber.  

Prior to joining Focus, Sonnen was the chief operating officer of Luminous Capital, which was bought by First Republic Bank in November 2012. Before that, he worked at Merrill Lynch and Los Angeles, CA-based Pacific West Capital Group. 

Focus Financial also appointed Frank Balducci as senior vice president of accounting and reporting, Jason Carver as a business development associate, and Antonia Savaria as a vice president of compliance and risk management.

Atlanta, GA-headquartered Bank Solutions Group appointed JP Nicols as a partner within its wealth management practice.

Nicols has over 25 years of industry experience and is also the founder and chief executive of Clientific, which will now provide research and insights for BSG clients.

Prior to founding Clientific, he held a number of roles at various financial institutions, including as the first chief private banking officer for US Bank. 

UBS Wealth Management Americas hired three financial advisors - latterly of Morgan Stanley - in Phoenix, AZ, and Indianapolis, IN, with $467 million in combined assets under management.

In Phoenix, Scott Merrill has a T-12 production of $1.2 million and $113 million in AuM, while Steven Schultz has a T-12 production of $2.6 million and $320 million in AuM.

Meanwhile, Stockton Schultz - Steven Schultz’s son - joined UBS in Indianapolis. He has a T-12 production of $340,000 and $34 million in AuM.

New York-headquartered Tiedemann Wealth Management hired Thaddeus Shelly as a managing director and senior advisor in Palm Beach, FL - a role in which he will develop and maintain client relationships.

Shelly joined Tiedemann from Lazard, where he served as a managing director and chief executive of Lazard Wealth Management, overseeing the firm’s private wealth management effort in the US.

Prior to joining Lazard in 2009, he was a senior managing director at Bessemer Trust, where he oversaw client acquisition and account management for their Mid-Atlantic, south and southeast regions, as well as the firm’s Delaware Trust Company.

City National Bank brought in Richard Stasand as a senior vice president and senior private client advisor in Irvine, CA. Stasand is part of an expanded private banking focus in Orange County.

Reporting to Carla Furuno, senior vice president and manager for private client services in Orange County and San Diego, CA, Stasand will serve high net worth families, related professional service firms and non-profits in the region.

Prior to joining City National, he advised HNW individuals and their families as a managing director at Citi Private Bank. Stasand jumped ship to Citi after 20 years with Bank of America's US Trust unit, where he was a managing director working with individuals, families, private foundations and charitable organizations. There, he advised on investments, estate planning and taxes.

Tampa, FL-headquartered JHS Capital Advisors, a dual-registered broker/dealer and RIA, appointed Mark Palsson as a vice president of investments and financial advisor at the firm’s office in Bellevue, WA.

Prior to joining JHS, Palsson spent five years as a financial advisor at Smith Barney, which is now part of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Before that, he worked for 25 years at Weyerhaeuser Co in a range of accounting, finance and managerial positions.

Altius Associates, the private equity advisory and fund-of-funds firm, added two senior associates to its global investment team.

Jeffrey Kopocis will be based in Richmond, VA, while Arnaud Garel-Galais will be based in the London office.

Kopocis joined Altius from a multi-family office in Alexandria, VA, where he was an investment professional and member of the investment committee. Prior to that, he worked at Cambridge Associates as a senior hedge fund analyst.

Meanwhile, Garel-Galais joined from Dahlia Partners, a Natixis subsidiary. There, he managed private equity funds-of-funds, having previously worked at CALYON in Hong Kong.

Method, an Atlanta, GA-based firm that develops and invests in CPA-owned wealth management practices, appointed Kosta Velis as director of registered investment advisor services.

Velis will lead Method’s efforts to cultivate advisor relationships for clients and partners of the firm’s wealth management practice. Velis has worked as a financial advisor with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as well as at Smith Barney and other firms.

Philadelphia, PA-headquartered Janney Montgomery Scott hired Jonathan Fairbanks - who oversees over $100 million in client assets - as first vice president of wealth management in West Hartford, CT.

Fairbanks spent the past eight years at Morgan Stanley and prior to that was at AG Edwards & Sons for 12 years.

Jerry Lombard, president of Janney’s private client group, said the firm is looking to expand within areas that present opportunities for growth, with the additional aim of recruiting more advisors.  

US Bancorp Investments, an affiliate of US Bank, appointed Brett Pearce as a financial advisor. He will provide wealth management and financial planning services to affluent clients.

Glenmede, the privately-held investment and wealth management firm, hired John Carson as a business development manager in Philadelphia, PA.

Carson will focus on initiating and broadening relationships with high net worth individuals and families, as well as family offices, endowments, foundations and institutional entities nationally. He will report to Chip Wilson, executive director of relationship management.

Carson has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and joins Glenmede from Oppenheimer & Co, where he was a managing director of the middle market institutional sales group.

Ruston, LA-based Argent Financial Group appointed four directors and a president for its trust business, which it has renamed Argent Trust Company.

Gary Moore, who joined Argent in 1998, was named as president and senior trust officer and joins the board of Argent Trust. He has over 30 years of experience in the wealth management industry.

The new board of directors are: Armand Roos, counsel to Weiner Weiss & Madison of Shreveport; J Mark Garrett, a retired partner of KPMG and chairman of Argent’s audit committee; Thomas Murphy, a private investor and former president of Murco Drilling; and John Werner, a partner at Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley Willis & Swanson.

Meanwhile, John Williams was elected as director emeritus in “recognition of his service for over 20 years.”

Prospera Financial Services, the independent broker-dealer based in Dallas, TX, nabbed two former Morgan Stanley Wealth Management advisors.

Stephen Shipley and John Rubottom previously managed $121 million in client assets and had annual revenue production of $925,000. They were based out of Morgan Stanley's Arlington, TX, office.

The director of the SEC’s San Francisco regional office is leaving to become a partner at a law firm.

Marc Fagel, who had been at the SEC in San Francisco for 15 years, joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s securities enforcement practice.

He will remain based in San Francisco and will deepen the firm’s securities enforcement practice on the West Coast.

In his most recent role at the SEC, which he took up in 2008, Fagel oversaw a staff of more than 100 attorneys, accountants and other professionals, and an area spanning Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska.

Vulcan Capital, which manages Paul Allen’s multi-billion dollar portfolio, has brought in a managing director to head up a new Palo Alto office.

Abhishek Agrawal will head up Vulcan’s Silicon Valley presence and expand its investments in the internet and technology sectors.

He joined the firm from General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm with $17 billion in capital under management, which he joined in 2005.

St Louis, MO-based Archford Capital Strategies joined the Dynasty Financial Partners platform.

Archford Capital Strategies was founded by James Maher this year. It was formerly known as The Maher Group and has a second office in Creve Coeur, MO.

According to FINRA records, Maher has been registered with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith since 2001 and with Archford since March 2013.

Maher was joined by the following team members:

·        John Russo, chief operating officer and wealth management advisor;

·        Jerry West, chief investment officer and wealth management advisor;

·        Robert Schlueter, director of operations and wealth management advisor;

·        Tracy Winters, assistant branch manager and senior registered client associate;

·        Julie Hanger, senior administrative assistant;

·        Joshua Anderson, associate analyst;

·        Bernard Thebeau, retirement specialist.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management made a number of hires in Akron, OH, and Riverwoods, IL, from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo respectively.

In Akron, financial advisor Mark Pentella was joined by team members Jessica Palmer, a financial advisor, and Rebecca Tiranno, a senior registered client service assistant.

Pentella previously managed $1.13 million in client assets and generated annual revenue production of about $1.1 million.

At Morgan Stanley he reports to Jason Haines, branch manager.

Meanwhile, the Gordon Financial Group - comprised of David and Kirsten Gordon - stepped into the Riverwoods office from Wells Fargo and reports to branch manager Mark Boersma.

The pair previously managed over $300 million in client assets and generated roughly $2.6 million in annual revenue production.

RBC Wealth Management added five financial advisors - latterly of Morgan Stanley - to its Pittsburgh, PA, office.

Russell Sherred, Pamela Pasterick, Ken Kuska, Kathleen Corrales and Matthew Lawrence together have  $380 million in assets under management and generate production of $2.8 million.

Cleveland, OH-based Cedar Brook Financial Partners hired Kelly Smith as an associate director within its wealth strategies department.

Smith joined from Beacon Financial Partners, where she was responsible for the wealth management department until 2011. She then became a senior advisor, providing planning and operations support for high net worth individuals, with a focus on physician clients. 

Smith has about 20 years of industry experience overall, having worked with HNW clients at other local financial planning firms prior to joining Beacon Financial Partners.

Asia-Pacific

Canberra-based financial planner Australian Unity Personal Financial Services named Jeff Mitchell as its new investment research head. Mitchell was previously the director of fund services as Standard & Poor's and, before that, served as co-head of wealth management for Australia.

Martin Currie Investment Management announced that Andrew Graham is taking over as head of Asia following the resignation of Jason McCay. McCay has been with the firm for 15 years and is leaving in the summer of 2013. Graham has worked for the company for nearly three years and, prior to the appointment, was co-manager of the Martin Currie Asia-Pacific and Martin Currie Asia Long Term Unconstrained Funds.

Managing Partners Limited, the Cayman Islands-based fund manager that specialises in alternative assets, named Benjamin Lim as business development director for Asia. Lim brings 15 years of industry experience to the role and had served as chief marketing officer for Allianz Global Investors in Asia prior to this move. He now reports to Jeremy Leach, managing director for MPL.

LGT Capital Partners, the Swiss investment firm, opened a new office in Beijing which will serves as the hub for its private equity investment activities in Mainland China. The new branch is led by Frankie Fang, the firm's Chinese representative since 2007.

UK-based equity manager Martin Currie appointed Paul Danes as chief executive of its newly-established Singapore office. Danes was previously an investment director. He is joined by Kimon Kouryialas as regional head, Mike Gibb as director, Liping Tan as equity dealer and Steven McCole as head of Asia-Pacific dealing. In a statement Martin Currie said that the new office is just timely as 50 per cent of the assets it manages are invested across Asia.

Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management named Anurag Mahesh as head of wealth management coverage in Asia-Pacific. Mahesh was previously head of client assets in the discretionary and advisory units at the firm and sits on the Asia-Pacific executive and global investment committees. He reports to Ravi Raju, head of DeAWM Asia-Pacific.

Alex Thursby, chief executive for international and institutional banking at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, left the firm to take up a new CEO role at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. ANZ is looking at candidates internally and externally to fill the post. In the interim, Gilles Plane, CEO for Asia-Pacific, and Steve Bellotti, managing director for global markets and loans, assume Thursby's post, reporting to chief executive Mike Smith.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management appointed an additional team leader for non-resident Indians, Singapore and South East Asia. Dhananjai Cadambi joined the company in March and is now based in Singapore, reporting to Stephane Honig, head of Indian markets. Cadambi is responsible for relatonship managers dedicated to NRI clients in the city-state and South East Asia. Prior to this, he led the NRI team at Barclays Wealth before moving to Morgan Stanley, where he held a similar position for three years.

Asiya Investments of Kuwait opened a new office in Hong Kong and named executive directors Sulaiman Alireza and Dan Xystus as its heads. The company currently has 20 staff working out of the new branch.

Credit Agricole revealed that its Asian private banking chief executive Georges Zecchin is leaving the company in June this year to "pursue personal interests." The bank is currently looking for a replacement In the meantime, Youssef Dib, head of private banking in Geneva will supervise the Asian activities, while Serge Janoswki and Sen Sui remain respectively as chief executives of the Hong Kong and Singapore branches.

ANZ named former ABN AMRO senior private banking executive Arjan de Boer as its new head of private banking for North East Asia. De Boer is now based in Hong Kong and oversees the private banking operations in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. He will not assume his new role until 3 June 2013. His old post at ABN AMRO was assumed by Ian Pollock.

Westpac Banking subsidiary Ascalon Capital Managers announced Robert Lance as the new country head for Australia, taking over from Jason Collins who has joined BlackRock to become the head of the institutional client business. Lance was previously the co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong asset manager Dragonback Capital. He now reports to Chuak Chan, chief executive.

Global investment manager BlackRock named Sabrina Gan as director and head of retail distribution in Singapore, responsible for mutual funds and iShares ETFs in the city-state. Gan was previously part of the intermediary retail team at Schroders Investment Management in Singapore.

Mirae Asset Securities, the brokerage arm of South Korea's Mirae Asset Financial, announced that it is reducing its Hong Kong staff numbers by around 20 by end of April 2013, in response to declining global market activity. The company made clear that it is not shutting its Hong Kong office down and that its wealth management operations are unaffected.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the New York investment firm, promoted Japan managing director and chief executive Shusaku Minoda to chairman of Japan. Minoda's former responsibilities were given to Hirofumi Hirano, who joined the company from AlixPartners Asia, where he served as MD and head of the Asia practice.

Australian investment manager Equity Trustees created a new senior role within its private wealth services business. Julie Foster took the position of national manager of advice and personal services, having previously worked for the likes of Tower Australia, Commonwealth Bank, Suncorp and Colonial. The new post is in line with preparations for the new Future of Financial Advice reforms, which will be mandatory by 1 July 2013.

BNY Mellon created a six-person equities team in Tokyo, Japan, led by Miyuki Kashima. Kashima and her group, composed of investment managers, analysts and a trader, joined from ING. She now reports locally to Shizu Kishimoto, representative director and president of BNY Mellon AM Japan, and functionally to Alan Harden, CEO for the Asia-Pacific investment management business.

After Bank of Queensland took over the retail financial services business of billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group (Virgin Money Australia), it placed industry veteran Brian Bissaker as chief executive of the newly-acquired entity. Bissaker was previously a wealth consultant at Commonwealth Bank Group. The then-VMA managing director David Curneen left the business, but remains a consultant throughout the transition.

Bank of China Hong Kong appointed Zhu Yanlai as deputy chief executive, strategic planning and management, taking charge of the chief executive's office and the renminbi business. Zhu joined the group in October 2001 and was named assistant chief executive in May 2010. She has been part of Bank of China since 1997 and served the Canadian and Macau offices.

Global credit card provider American Express named Yat-Chung (YC) Koh to the position of president for Asia, card services and Susanna Lee to vice president and general manager for proprietary card services in Hong Kong. Koh added to his responsibility as head of the international consumer and small business services in the region. Lee was previously the vice president and general manager for global merchant services in East Asia.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has called a Credit Suisse advisor for violating certain sections of the Financial Advisors Act. The regulator reprimanded the Swiss bank's Singapore branch for allowing Toh Swee Beng to provide financial advisory services on its behalf even though he was not an appointed representative. Credit Suisse confirmed the incident and assured MAS that it has taken action.

Equity Trustees, the Australian wealth management and estate planning firm, appointed an interim chief investment officer while waiting for results of its takeover bid for The Trust Company. George Bourbouras joins the company from UBS Wealth Management, where he served as head of investment strategy and consulting.

Australia’s Russell Investments appointed Siva Sivakumaran as managing director, private client services. Prior to this role, Sivakumaran was the director for infrastructure. The investment division will take care of manufacturing and managing multi-asset solutions for clients. The Australian investments team will be led by Symon Parish, chief investment officer, and supported by a team of investment professionals both offshore and in Australia, including Andrew Sneddon, MD and portfolio manager for multi-asset solutions in Australia, and Graham Harman, senior investment strategist for Asia-Pacific.

The firm is currently conducting a global search for a new managing director for the institutional business as Michael Clarke, the previous MD, left the company to join Challenger Financial.

Suncorp Group, the Australia and New Zealand focused banking and wealth management firm, named a new chief investment officer. Nick Basile gave up his chief executive post at Presima, the real estate fund management arm of National Australia Bank, to assume this key position.

Crescent Wealth, the Australian wealth management firm, strengthened its board with the addition of several known names in the asset management, banking and Islamic wealth management industries. The new Global Advisory board will consist of six members, namely Dr Jamil Jaroudi, chief executive of Nizwa Bank (Oman), Spiro Pappas, CEO of National Australia Bank Asia, Wadah Khantar, former Al Jazeera director general, Toby O'Connor, CEO of Islamic Bank of Asia, Ian Buchanan, a corporate advisory veteran, and John A Sandwick, a Swiss private banker specialising in Islamic structures.

Standard Life plans to set up a hub in Hong Kong to oversee and support its Asia and Emerging Markets unit. The company intends to hire about 20-30 people in Hong Kong and approximately 10 people in Singapore and Dubai.  It will be creating new roles in business development, product services and development, sales and marketing and operations. The new hub, to be rolled out over the next 12 months, will be headed by Alan Armitage, chief executive of Asia and Emerging Markets, who is already based in Hong Kong.

UBS announced a raft of senior management promotions. Betty Tsui will be appointed vice chairman wealth management China, reporting to Kathryn Shih. Ruth Chung will be appointed as regional market manager for wealth management China 1 (the China role is split). Francis Liu will be appointed as regional market manager for wealth management China 2. Meanwhile, Jean Claude Humair will assume sole responsibility as regional market manager for the wealth management Hong Kong market. In addition, he will be appointed as deputy chief executive for wealth management Hong Kong.  Chung, Liu and Humair will all report to Allen Lo, chief executive, Hong Kong, UBS Wealth Management.

BlackRock continues its Asia-Pacific buildout with the appointment of a new global capital markets head. Scott Greenberg moves to Hong Kong from New York to assume this new position, which will have him responsible for developing equity and debt investment opportunities for BlackRock clients in the region. At present, the company operates comparable GCM teams from the London and New York offices. He reports to Steve Sterling, head of GCM, and Mark Desmidt, Asia-Pacific head of alpha strategies.

Jupiter Fund Management, the London-based fund house, is building its Asian team after receiving a type 1 license to operate in Hong Kong. Peter Swarbeck, previously the managing director and head of Hong Kong at BlackRock Asset Management, is now head of Asia-Pacific, while Tony Yu, who joined the firm in January from Franklin Templeton, is to become sales director for Hong Kong.

Coutts, the private bank, appointed David Lam as managing director and head of North Asia, effective from 29 May, having previously worked at GAM, the investment house, in Hong Kong. Ignatius (Iggy) Chong, who was overseeing the North Asia function on an interim basis, will now focus on his roles as market head, Hong Kong and chairman of the Coutts Institute Asia.

Citi is stepping up efforts to grow its trust business in Hong Kong with the appointment of a new chief executive for CitiTrust. Stewart Aldcroft assumes the role of chief executive to lead the CitiTrust team in developing new initiatives and growing its client base in Asia-Pacific. He reports to David Russell, regional head for securities and fund services Asia-Pacific.

Standard Chartered strengthened its Hong Kong/China research capability with a new head. Dorris Chen joins as head of China financials research after holding a similar position at BNP Paribas. She also previously worked at China International Capital Corporation, where she covered the China insurance market.

Income Partners, the Hong Kong-based asset management firm, lost one of its senior executives following a realignment effort that will have the company focus on liquid credit strategies. Jiffriy Chandra stepped down as partner, having been with the company since 1998. He used to lead the firm's private capital initiative, which has been scrapped in favour of increased focus on its core liquid business. Chandra has moved on to create a new private capital business, TransAsia Private Capital, with Eddie Wong, the former CEO of Hong Kong's Winnington Capital.

OCBC saw its head of financial institutions credit risk management switch over to its private banking arm, Bank of Singapore, at the same time bagging a top-level promotion. William Shak joined Bank of Singapore earlier this year as its global chief risk officer, replacing Leander Jansen, who left for personal reasons.

Scott Duncan at Sarasin was promoted to vice chair client advisory, from his previous role of managing director at the bank.

Manulife Financial bolstered its growth strategy in Asia with four senior appointments at its Singapore business. John Curtis is now senior vice president and chief distribution officer for Singapore, responsible for overseeing agency distribution, partnership distribution in bank and financial advisory channels, training and quality assurance. KK Loo assumes the role of chief agency officer, after serving as chief of the accident and health business for Manulife Singapore. He reports to Curtis.