The UK government named London Stock Exchange chief executive Nikhil Rathi as permanent CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority. He took over from Andrew Bailey, now governor of the Bank of England. The FCA’s new boss had served as director at the financial services group at the UK Treasury department from September 2009 to April 2014, before heading to the regulator. At the Treasury he led its work on the UK’s international and European Union financial services interests.

Three of the most senior figures at Liechtenstein-based VP Bank left the firm. In the case of two changes, the lender acted after a SFr20 million ($20.9 million) loan adjustment had been flagged back in March this year. Siegbert Näscher chose to leave as chief financial officer. Näscher was head of group finance and, as of 2012, CFO and member of the group executive management at VP Bank.

Roger Barmettler, head of group finance at VP Bank, took over interim management of the business unit. As part of the bank’s reorganisation of its business, general counsel and chief risk officer Monika Vicandi, by mutual agreement, also left the bank. Dr Rolf Steiner, head of the CEO Office, became interim chief risk officer, a role which now also includes credit risk management.

DWS appointed Desiree Fixler as group sustainability officer (GSO) based in London. She joined the global asset manager from US alternative investment specialist ZAIS, where she has served as portfolio manager and managing director for impact investing. Prior to that she held senior posts at JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. In the newly-created role, she reports to DWS CEO Asoka Woehrmann.

Capital Group, the investment firm overseeing more than $1.7 trillion in assets, appointed Jessica Ground as global head of ESG. She is based in London. Prior to this, she worked at Schroders for more than two decades, where she most recently served as the firm’s global head of stewardship.

Peter Hetherington, the chief executive of Schroders Personal Wealth, the joint venture founded in late 2018, stepped down. He was appointed to the role in October 2019, having come from spread-betting and trading platform business IG Group. Hetherington decided to leave to “pursue other prospective opportunities and will leave the business following a period of garden leave”.

The Swiss asset management firm NOTZ STUCKI hired three personnel to join its institutional sales team in Geneva, Zurich and Milan. Alexis Peytre joined in Geneva, Pascal Scherer heads the Zurich office, and Michele Colavito joined the Milan office. Peytre, who has 10 years’ experience, is institutional sales associate for Switzerland. He started his career in 2010 at Edmond de Rothschild Assurances et Conseils, covering wholesale clients in France. In 2011, he joined Lazard Frères Gestion in Paris as marketing manager and sales support for Switzerland. 

Scherer joined as head of the Zurich office and head of business development in German-speaking Switzerland. Prior to this, he was chief executive and partner of one of the first long/short equity fund managers in Europe and founded Peak Capital, an investment management firm specialising in real assets and commodities. Previously, he was head of infrastructure investments at Horizon21, an alternative investment manager with more than SFr12 billion under management. 

After 12 years in the post, Vontobel's Martin Sieg Castagnola handed over the CFO role to Thomas Heinzl. Castagnola continued to support former chairman Hans-Dieter Vontobel managing his investments and real estate.

Tiedemann Constantia put the finishing touches on its advisory board, appointing Carolina Müller-Möhl, Robert D Hormats, Dr Christian Camenzind and Dr Michael O’Sullivan. The board of the Switzerland-based organisation provides the firm and clients with insights, guidance and advice across investment, business, and geopolitical themes.

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment appointed Eugene Kiernan as president of the CISI National Advisory Council for Ireland. He took over from Frank O’Riordon MCSI who held the position for the last four years. Kiernan joined the global financial services professional, not-for-profit body CISI in 1998, becoming a fellow in 2005. He has over 35 years’ experience in the asset management and funds industry.
 

The Libra Association appointed former Credit Suisse financial crime compliance chief Sterling Daines. At Libra, which is a payments project backed by social media giant Facebook, Daines is chief compliance officer. He has been prominent in the financial crime compliance industry, primarily focused on anti-money laundering, sanctions, anti-bribery, fraud and anti-corruption measures in both the public and private sectors. Prior to Credit Suisse, Daines was deputy head of financial crime compliance at Goldman Sachs. 

Deutsche Bank created a new international private banking organisation, melding existing business lines to build an entity serving a total of 3.4 million customers. The IPB is part of the wider private bank, which includes the German retail arm. Claudio de Sanctis, most recently global head of wealth management, now heads up the new private bank and is chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa. As part of the change, Ashok Aram, who was head of private and commercial business international and CEO EMEA, left Deutsche Bank for personal reasons. (De Sanctis has been in his most recent role since November last year.) Aram joined the German lender in 1995 and has had a variety of senior leadership roles in Tokyo, Singapore, Frankfurt, New York, London and Dubai.

In a newly-created role, Indosuez Wealth Management in Switzerland appointed Emile Salawi as head of key clients and single family offices development. Based in Geneva, Salawi reports to wealth management head Isabelle Jacob-Nebout. Jacob-Nebout joined Indosuez at the start of the year after a long career at BNP Paribas, where she was most recently head of development and innovation. Salawi was also tapped from BNP Paribas in Switzerland, and oversees Indosuez's private client business in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. 

LindemannLaw, aka Lindemann Rechtsanwälte, the Swiss firm, appointed Dr Ariel Sergio Goekmen-Davidoff as a partner. Dr Goekmen-Davidoff, who has had a 34-year career, concentrates on areas such as entrepreneurs, family offices and international families. His practice involves wealth and estate planning in various jurisdictions, cross-border structuring, business law, succession planning, M&A, risk mitigation, relocation/immigration and art. Prior to this new role, he was a member of the executive board in charge of private banking at Schroder & Co Bank AG Zürich as well as CEO and partner at Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG Liechtenstein. As a business economist with a doctorate, Dr Goekmen-Davidoff has a master of law in international business law (LL.M.) from the University of Zurich and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Separately, Millenium Associates appointed Ariel Sergio Goekmen-Davidoff to join its global advisory board from 1 June 2020. Goekmen-Davidoff has expertise in real estate, family firms and offices, and succession and wealth planning to the advisory role. 

Russia-based Balchug Capital, the investment firm focusing on emerging markets, opened a new office in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The firm's head office is in Moscow. The office has three members of staff, in addition to the nine staff members in Moscow. Vachik Gevorgyan is head of the Yerevan office, and has investment banking and capital markets experience, having previously worked with the Central Bank of Armenia, Araratbank and Nasdaq OMX Armenia, among others. Lilit Hakobyan is an analyst and has over 15 years of fixed income and FX experience. Balchug also hired Hasmik Salnazaryan in their Yerevan office. Hasmik is a professional with five years of experience in capital markets. She joined Balchug Capital from Nasdaq OMX Armenia.

Barclays named Olivier Franceschelli as head of private banking in Monaco and Alan Werlau as head of investments for Barclays in Ireland. Franceschelli leads the Monaco business and provides tailored solutions to high net worth and ultra-high net worths in the region. In a newly-created role, Werlau heads Barclays' private banking investment business in Dublin serving the bank's European clients.

Prior to joining Barclays, Franceschelli led the relationship manager team at CFM Indosuez in Monaco as co-business head. Werlau, who joined from Nogard Capital, where he was acting CEO and CIO, said his new role focuses on providing tailored investments for family offices and UHNW clients “whilst also connecting them to the broader Barclays offering”, including its investment and corporate services.

Finantix named Christine Ciriani as its new chief executive. She assumed the role alongside her existing post as chief commercial officer and replaced Finantix co-founder and former CEO Ralf Emmerich, who took over as executive chairman. In that role, he oversees the Finantix board and concentrates on product strategy. New York private equity group Motive Partners took a majority stake in Finantix last year, when Motive's Ciriani joined the board. Ciriani previously acted in leadership roles at Capco, Detica and JP Morgan and is a board member at Barclays Bank (Suisse) SA.

Finastra, the firm creating a tech platform for financial businesses, appointed Neil Blagden as chief customer officer. Blagden joined from Vodafone UK, where he was director of customer services, operations and digital. Prior to that, he worked at Direct Line Group as director of customer experience and conduct, progressing from his previous role as director of business services. In the early part of his career he also had front-office consulting roles at Accenture, EY and PwC working with clients from multiple sectors.

Hawksmoor Investment Management announced that its chairman, James Brent, was leaving the firm; it did not state his future plans. Anthony Deacon, a non-executive director, is acting as Interim chairman. 

BMO Private Equity Trust appointed Audrey Baxter and Tom Burnet as directors on its board. Baxter has a long career in business and public life. He is chairman and chief executive of W A Baxter & Sons (Holdings) and has served previously on the boards of a number of public and private companies, charities and voluntary organisations.

Tilney appointed Mark Stone who is joining the team in the Bristol area as a financial planner. Stone is an experienced financial planner who has spent over two decades in the advice profession. He joined from Whitechurch Securities where he spent 19 years, most recently as financial planning director. Prior to this he was an independent financial advisor at PensionsAdvice.

Michael Walsh joined T Rowe Price as solutions strategist for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Walsh is based in London and reports to Yoram Lustig, head of multi-asset solutions for EMEA and LatAm. Before joining T Rowe Price, Walsh was senior strategist (EMEA) at UBS Asset Management. He has also been in various posts at Old Mutual Global Investors, Legal & General Investment Management, BlackRock and Mercer.

Michel Frey was made UBS head of Global Family Office (GFO) for the UK and Emerging Markets, starting on 1 July. Frey took over from Sofia Sool, who had been in the role since February, and left to pursue outside challenges. Frey is a 20-year veteran of the global wealth management space, having worked for UBS in Switzerland, a decade in Singapore, and the past seven years building up its Monaco franchise. He moved to London. 
 

Eaton Vance Global Advisors named Thomas Justen as business development director for Germany and Austria. He reports to Thomas Body, head of business development for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH). Justen, who joined from Jyske Bank subsidiary, Jyske Capital, ran the wholesale business for DACH based in Frankfurt from 2017. 

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, appointed Julie Zhuang as a portfolio manager in the global equities team. She is based in London and reports to Mikhail Zverev, head of global equities.

Dragon Capital, which last year marked 25 years of investing in Vietnam and created a “biodiversity economics” economics post at the University of Exeter in the UK, said the university named Professor Ben Groom as its chair; he is Dragon Capital chair in Biodiversity Economics. 

Harbottle & Lewis promoted Kostya Lobov to the firm’s partnership as well as six individuals to senior associate. Kostyantyn Lobov is part of the firm’s intellectual property, advertising and regulatory practice, where his reach spans multiple sectors, but with extensive focus on the games industry.

Asia-Pacific

National Australia Bank said Canada-based banking executive Andrew Irvine was to head its business and private banking division, taking the helm from Anthony Healy, who left the role in April. 

Irvine has almost 25 years’ experience in financial services and joined from Bank of Montreal, where he led the Canadian business banking division. 

Standard Chartered Bank, India, appointed Gaurav Maheshwari as its new chief financial officer, taking over from Subhradeep Mohanty, who was elevated to the post of CFO, Africa and Middle East region.

This appointment was Maheshwari’s second stint at the bank, having earlier worked there for 17 years in various roles in the finance team. Over his career, he has also worked with reputed companies such as Reuters, India and Coca-Cola, India. He reports to Jean Fernandes, regional CFO, ASEAN and South Asia and Zarin Daruwala, India, chief executive. 

Capital Group, the investment house with more than $1.7 trillion in assets under management, appointed two new associates to join its distribution team across Asia. Keith Wong was appointed to the newly-created position of associate director, financial intermediaries, Asia. Wong joined from JP Morgan Private Bank, where he spent five years as a global investment specialist associate, delivering portfolio management and advisory services to clients in Singapore and Southeast Asia. His previous roles included working in the Treasury team at Citibank and Barclays. He works with Jeik Sohn, managing director, financial intermediaries, Asia, and the existing teams. 

Jasmine Huang joined as associate director, product marketing, Asia and Europe, from Franklin Templeton, where she was senior product content specialist responsible for developing investment product content for both retail and institutional clients. She has 11 years of industry experience including roles at DBS Bank and Partners Group. Huang reports to Janelle Li, director, product marketing, Asia and Europe.

Kamet Capital Partners recruited seven personnel to join its multi-family office, with more hires due in September. The new hires included Wilson Er, ex-portfolio manager at Rockpool Capital in Hong Kong and David Law, former money manager and analyst at Mizuho Asset Management in Singapore. Er and Law were joined by two analysts in the investment team alongside three others supporting administrative needs for families.

Deutsche Bank appointed Shang-Wei Chow as head designate of WM Southeast Asia. He took charge of the business after a transition with Kin-Mun Kwong, who retired. Shang-Wei Chow joined from HSBC Private Banking, where he was a managing director and market head for Singapore and Malaysia. He was previously at UBS between 2004 and 2016, covering a variety of Southeast Asian markets and Australia. Before that, Chow started his career at UOB.

Barings, the investment house with $327 billion in assets, appointed John Ratcliffe as head of Asia-Pacific real estate. In this newly-created position, Ratcliffe works with the senior management team at Barings to develop the business’ Pan-Asian and Australian real estate platform covering both equity and debt. He reports to Charles Weeks, head of Europe and Asia-Pacific Real Estate Equity.

Ratcliffe is based in the company’s Sydney office and works alongside Duncan Robertson, Barings head of Asia-Pacific and head of global business development group. Prior to this, Ratcliffe worked at Challenger Real Estate, a division of Australian-listed Challenger Limited, where he spent 12 years as executive director of transactions and capital raising.

Stationed in Singapore, Paul Tay CFA joined the Raffles Family Office as senior vice president of trading and advisory, overseeing the trading desk and working closely with the portfolio managers. Tay joined after spending six years at RBC Wealth Management, where he was most recently in FX advisory and before that a multi-asset execution trader.

Credit Suisse named former UBS senior manager Emmanuel Triomphe as head of trade solutions sales and advisory for the private banking business in Asia-Pacific. Triomphe has worked in the industry for 20 years, concentrating on managing trading solutions businesses across multiple asset classes. Prior to his new role, he worked at UBS Wealth Management where he was the head of global capital markets structured products, as well as head of the business known as APAC global markets specialists, across equity, fixed income, foreign exchange and direct access. He reports to Yves-Alain Sommerhalder, head of Asia-Pacific trading solutions with a dotted reporting line to Francois Monnet, head of private banking for North Asia and Benjamin Cavalli, head of private banking for South Asia.

Credit Suisse appointed Jing Wang as head of wealth management for the onshore China market. The role was a new one for the bank. Jing Wang has a functional reporting line to Francois Monnet, head of private banking for North Asia, with a regional reporting line to Zhenyi Tang, chief executive for China. Jing Wang has more than 25 years of banking experience in mainland China. She joined from China Merchants Bank, where she started her banking career in 1994. She had pioneered and led the growth of CMB’s private banking business since 2007.

Multi-family office Golden Equator Wealth hired veteran asset manager Rainer Michael Preiss as portfolio strategist and Ritu Khera as wealth manager based in Singapore to expand capacity in client-facing and investment roles.

Preiss moved from The Global CIO Office in Singapore and focuses on current portfolios and prospecting for new clients. His prior experience in asset management and investment strategy at international private banks covers the Middle East and Asia, including hubs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Beijing. Khera worked in private banks in India, the UK, Hong Kong, and Singapore. She spent nearly two decades in wealth management, most recently with BNP Paribas, with a reputation for supporting UHNW non-resident Indian clients.

Bank of Singapore appointed Lim Leong Guan as its new global head of products. He reports to the chief executive, Bahren Shaari and replaced Marc Van de Walle who resigned in April. Lim leads Bank of Singapore’s product strategy and is responsible for the expansion and innovation of the bank’s offerings across areas such as investment research and strategy, portfolio management, lending structuring and advisory, and wealth planning and trust.

Prior to joining Bank of Singapore, Lim had senior management responsibilities in various roles at UBS Wealth Management, where he was most recently the Asia-Pacific head of wealth planning and Singapore head of investment products and services. 

M&G Investments appointed Jaclyn Lim as head of institutional sales, Asia ex-Japan. This was a newly-minted role by the firm. Lim is responsible for developing and strengthening the relationship with M&G’s institutional partners and clients in the region, leading teams based in Hong Kong and Singapore to serve clients across Asia. Lim is based in Singapore and reports to Berny Lin, head of distribution, Asia ex-Japan. Before this, Lim worked at PIMCO Asia, where she spent most of her career working in the Singapore and Hong Kong offices. In her most recent role, she was responsible for business development and servicing institutional relationships across Asia including Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and intermediary relationships for Southeast Asia ex-Singapore. 

Hywin Wealth’s Hong Kong subsidiary, Hywin International, appointed Yanyi Choy as a senior wealth planner. Prior to this, Choy worked at Trident Trust and before that, at Vistra.

In a senior reshuffle, Motive Partners-owned wealthtech provider Finantix named Christine Ciriani as its new chief executive. She assumed the role alongside her existing post as chief commercial officer and replaced Finantix co-founder and former CEO Ralf Emmerich, who took over as executive chairman. New York private equity group Motive Partners took a majority stake in Finantix last year, when Motive's Ciriani joined the board. She became CCO last October. Ciriani previously acted in leadership roles at Capco, Detica and JP Morgan and is a board member at Barclays Bank (Suisse) SA.

Swiss consultancy firm Finalix made two appointments for its office in Singapore – Andreas Wenger and Pascal Welschinger. Wenger joined from Swiss regulatory technology solutions provider IMTF, where he was its Singapore-based APAC general manager from January 2018. Before that, he spent eight years at Synpulse Management Consulting, including two years as an associate partner at its Singapore office.

Welschinger founded the Thunder Road Project Development Pte organisation in January this year. For almost eight years prior to that, he was a roll-out manager at UBS, working on a major reorganisation of client-facing teams in Singapore and Hong Kong, and on platform and business process change and improvement initiatives. Before that, he was a consultant at Clariden Lau and Accenture.

First State Investments appointed two independent non-executive directors, Michelle Tredenick and Richard Wastcoat, following a move last August when the business was spun out by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the international investment group, named Nicholas Hyde as a managing director to lead its client partner group in Australia and New Zealand. Hyde is responsible for managing and expanding KKR’s client relationships in the countries, raising capital for its private and public markets strategies, and leading new business development for the region. He is based in Sydney. Hyde, who brings nearly 30 years of experience to the firm, joined from IFM Investors in Sydney, where he was a director responsible for leading new business development to institutional accounts in Australia, New Zealand and Asia across products spanning private equity, infrastructure, debt and alternatives.

North America
Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Julio Revuelta to its employee advisor broker/dealer in Miami, Florida; the office is managed by Mike Origlia, and is part of the South Florida Complex.

Revuelta has been in the financial services industry for almost 30 years and joins Raymond James from Safra Securities, where he previously managed approximately $250 million in client assets. His experience includes a variety of roles at HSBC and Royal Bank of Canada.

The business welcomed financial advisors Matt Jung, Daniel Dunham, and Kim Laird from Lake Oswego, Oregon, to Raymond James Financial Services (RJFS) – the firm’s independent advisor channel. The trio, who operate as PDX Wealth Management (PDXWM), joined from Waddell & Reed, where they managed more than $285 million in assets for a variety of clients, including business owners, families and individuals, retirees and women investors.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Tim Bellars, Claudia Bellars, CFP®, and Brad Harris to its advisor channel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The team, which operates as Bellars Harris Wealth Management, joined from Merrill Lynch, where they managed more than $355 million in client assets. Joining the advisors were Tim and Claudia’s son Axel Bellars, vice president of Bellars Harris Wealth Management and RJFS wealth manager, Jeannie Marie Hughes, client service manager, and Hughes’ daughter Laura Savage, client service associate.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors David Alford and Claudia Tapara to its employee advisor channel. The team is based in Frisco, Texas. They joined from Merrill Lynch, where they previously managed about $160 million in client assets. The Frisco office, which is part of the North Texas-Arkansas Complex, is managed by Jeremy Silvas. The team operates as Alford & Associates Wealth Management Group of Raymond James.

The firm welcomed financial advisor Hans Asoera to its employee advisor channel. Asorera is based in Burlington, Vermont. Asoera operates as Peregrine Wealth Management of Raymond James and joined from Edward Jones, where he managed more than $255 million in client assets for a variety of clients, including small business owners, retirees and sudden wealth recipients. 

Raymond James brought over financial advisors Ernesto Angueira and Eric Muñoz to its employee advisor channel in Miami, Florida. Angueira and Muñoz were previously at UBS, where they managed around $300 million in client assets. They joined the Miami office, which is managed by Mike Origlia; it is part of the South Florida Complex, managed by Steve Sullivan. 

The firm brought in a team of advisors overseeing a total of $525 million of client assets, based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The group of seven people, operating as Coeur d’Alene Private Wealth Management, consist of Joseph R Anderson, Matthew A Lyman, Jeffrey L Smith, Heather Bolster and Tyler Christian Anderl, and senior registered client service associates Heather Bloom and Christopher Dallenbach. They join Raymond James & Associates – the firm’s employee advisor channel. They joined from Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch.

Raymond James brought in financial advisors Tim Gross, Leslie Gross and Mike Brown to its employee advisor channel in St Petersburg, Florida. They joined from Merrill Lynch, where they previously managed approximately $350 million in client assets. RJA’s St Petersburg branch, which is managed by Fred Espro, is part of the Tampa Bay Complex led by Doug Brigman. 

Raymond James appointed Stephen Sullivan as South Florida complex manager for Raymond James & Associates (RJA) – the firm’s employee advisor channel. Sullivan oversees RJA branches throughout the South Florida market and lead RJA’s recruitment, retention and support for advisors across Palm Beach County, Broward County, Dade County and Monroe County. He is based in Miami, Florida. Prior to this, Sullivan was at UBS, where he served as managing director and market leader of the Coral Gables international branch. 

The financial institutions arm of Raymond James appointed Steve Kruchten as its new Central division director of relationship management. Kruchten supports recruitment, retention, bank and credit union programs, and advisors in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Kruchten has worked in the financial services sector for more than 33 years.

Lauren Schadle stood down from her post as chief executive of the Financial Planning Association after nearly eight years in the role. Schadle worked in leadership roles with the FPA for more than 20 years, previously serving as associate executive director and chief operating officer before assuming her role as CEO in October 2012.

Bernstein Private Wealth Management appointed Kristen Dalton as a managing director, joining its leadership team in its New York City office. Prior to joining the firm earlier this year, Dalton served as VP and head of family law advisory at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, where she worked with families going through divorce. Previously, she was at Gordon Brothers Group, based in Boston, Massachusetts. Dalton holds a BS in business administration from Villanova University and an MBA in finance from Boston College. She is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst.

Argent Trust promoted Nicole Nally to chief fiduciary officer of the company’s eastern region and regional manager of the Louisville, Greenville, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina markets. Nally, who previously served as market president of Argent Trust’s Louisville office, leads trust and wealth management efforts and provides fiduciary counsel in the eastern region. She is a certified trust and financial advisor and an accredited investment fiduciary. Nally has served as market president of the Louisville office since joining Argent in April 2012. Her financial services career spans more than 30 years.  Prior to joining Argent Trust, Nally spent nine years as senior vice president and personal trust manager for Regions Morgan Keegan Trust Company. 

AllocateRite, the New York-based fintech and data science firm serving wealth managers and other clients, appointed internet sector pioneer Ted Theocheung as president and CEO. Theocheung led Fortune 100 companies such as the internet tech division of Compaq; he also led the growth and adoption of touch technology at Synaptics, where he formed alliances with the firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung, Google and Apple. 

Rothschild & Co appointed Colin Cropper to join its global advisory business in North America, holding the title of director. Prior to this, he worked at RBC Capital Markets and has worked in the sector for 18 years. Before joining RBC, he was the head of the automotive franchise in the Americas at Nomura Securities. His career before Nomura includes roles at American Capital and Lehman Brothers.

Fiduciary Trust International, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, appointed Todd Stoller as regional managing director and senior portfolio manager. He is based in Fiduciary Trust International’s office in Boca Raton. Stoller was most recently senior vice president and senior client advisor at multifamily office Bessemer Trust in Palm Beach. At Bessemer Trust, Stoller was directly responsible for initiating, developing, and maintaining ultra-high net worth client and fiduciary relationships. 

Conestoga Capital Advisors appointed Ted Chang as assistant portfolio manager for the firm's mid-cap growth strategy. Chang serves as an equity analyst, researching and qualifying investment ideas for Conestoga's small- and mid-cap growth products. Chang, who has 12 years of investment experience, was previously portfolio manager and managing director at Thornburg Investment Management.  

Hightower named industry veteran and CNBC contributor Stephanie Link as chief investment strategist and portfolio manager. This was a newly-created executive role. Link is responsible for growing and expanding the firm’s investment solutions group, which provides outsourced chief investment officer services, model portfolios, separate management accounts, investment research and due diligence to Hightower advisors. Most recently, Link was the senior managing director and head of global equities research at Nuveen. 

Bonhams appointed Sherri Cohen to the newly-created role of head of US business development. Cohen, who was a vice president and director at Bonhams in the trusts and estates department, is starting immediately and is based in New York. She is an attorney qualified in the US and UK.

Mazars USA, the accounting, tax, and consulting firm, appointed Ian Duncan as chief marketing officer, based in the New York office. Prior to joining Mazars USA, Duncan was the global brand leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he led the worldwide brand transformation. 

US wealth advisor Ahmie Baum and his colleagues at his Pittsburgh-based firm, Interchange Partners, partnered with Dynasty Financial Partners to form an independent wealth management firm called Interchange Capital Partners. Prior to founding Interchange Capital Partners, Baum served as managing director, wealth management at UBS in Pittsburgh. Interchange has five advisors specializing in business transition, investment management, advanced planning and relationship management.

Baum began his career with EF Hutton in 1979 and moved to UBS in 1983. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and received the Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Duquesne School of Leadership and Professional Advancement. He earned the Wealth Advisor designation from UBS. The other team members include Brian Baum, managing director at Interchange Capital Partners. (He is Ahmie Baum’s son.) Brian Baum joined his father at UBS in 2012 and began working in the business transition group focusing on entrepreneurs and family businesses. Others are Kendra Kasznel Reilly, senior director – relationship management; Christopher M Duerr, senior director – investments; Evan Fitzpatrick, senior vice president – planning; Kathleen J Saksa, senior associate - client service; and Alyssa Jean Cassandro, senior associate - client service. 
 
US wealth management firm Chilton Trust appointed Nick Frelinghuysen as managing director, responsible for investments on clients’ equity portfolios along with Richard L Chilton, chairman and Jennifer Foster, co-chief investment Officer, to whom he reports.

Prior to this, Frelinghuysen - who has 27 years of experience in equity research and managing portfolios - was a partner at the boutique investment firm, Eagle Ridge Investment Management. Before that, Frelinghuysen worked at Oppenheimer Capital (Allianz Global Partners) as co-portfolio manager on a $2 billion mid-cap value mutual fund and served as co-head of mid-cap and all-cap investments for the $25 billion firm. 

Rockefeller Capital Management brought the $750 AuM Linker Hodges Group, led by Douglas R Linker and Noel B Hodges, to its New York office. Linker and Hodges serve as managing directors and private wealth advisors. The other members of the team of 10 are: John C Rapport, Susan E Lopresti, Scott N Breckenridge, Tracy Broderick, Anna M Sama, Jeannette L Murillo, Adi Mercado, and Aimee Iorio.

Pitcairn appointed Bruce Stewart as managing director of client investment strategy. Stewart, who brought more than 25 years of family office and investment experience to the firm, reports to chief investment officer, Rick Pitcairn. Stewart specializes in manager research portfolio construction, risk analytics, product development and investment thought leadership. Before joining Pitcairn, he served as MD and chief Investment officer of the family office group at BNY Mellon and director of US investments at Citibank Global Markets.

Thrivent Advisor Network, the financial advisor platform, appointed Don Williams, who has 20 years of experience in the sector. He was named a relationship manager. Williams was most recently a senior business consultant at LPL Financial, where he worked with about 100 advisors in the western US who collectively advise on almost $7 billion in client assets. He built the Kingdom Advisors community. 

Sanctuary Wealth, a network of advisors, brought another group into its fold: Muirwood Private Wealth, based in California's East Bay. The team is led by co-founders Christopher Kenny and Edward T Christiansen who have been partners since 2000, first with Wells Fargo's Private Bank and for the last 14 years with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. It oversees around $500 million in client assets under management.

Venture investor and software professional Jon Cholak joined Adit Ventures, a family-office owned, venture capital investment firm, as portfolio manager. He holds the title of managing director. He is based in Austin, Texas.

Prospera Financial Services affiliated with Dylan Hale of Level Wealth Management. Hale is based in Odessa, Texas, and oversees $86 million of assets. Prospera, a privately held company, is also in Texas and was founded in 1982 as a broker-dealer. Hale, president and financial advisor, graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science in rangeland ecology and management. With a very different starting career to what is typical in financial services, Hale was a member of the Midland, Texas Bomb Squad and Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit. Hale runs the business with his wife, Sarah, who is its operations and administrative manager and registered senior administrative assistant. She is a graduate of Texas Tech University and has a bachelor of science in human development and family studies.

California-based Wedbush Securities appointed William Brinckerhoff as managing director, regional executive. Brinckerhoff serves the Central Region which includes the firm’s retail offices in Denver. Brinckerhoff joined the firm's other regional executives, Frank Epinger (Los Angeles), Frank Story (New York/Tri State) and most recently Rob Spawn (Northern Region). He is based in Denver, Colorado and reports to senior vice president and head of private wealth management branch network, Don Gorsch.

Northern Trust Wealth Management hired a new team to join its foundation and institutional advisors practice in the Northeast. Michael Collins joined Northern Trust as a regional director and senior vice president covering the New York, Connecticut and New England markets. Collins is based in Boston.

Golden State Wealth Management appointed, Brian Matz of Matz Wealth Management, located in Agoura Hills, California. Matz, who joined from Wedbush Securities, has over two decades of experience in the financial services industry.

Capitol Securities Management appointed Mark A Outten. With 25 years of experience in the financial service industry, Outten was most recently with LPL Financial. 

Sanctuary Wealth added Wigand Integrated Wealth in Colorado Springs, Colorado to its partner firm roster. Wigand was jointly founded by Reinhold Wigand, an advisor who spent more than 22 years with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and his son Samuel, another former Merrill Lynch advisor, and has about $115 million in assets under management.

RBC Wealth Management brought in a new team to its office in Farmington, Connecticut. The organization - Cahill, Gibson Wealth Management Group - which was previously at Merrill Lynch, managed about $220 million in client assets. The team is composed of: Timothy M Cahill, senior vice president – financial advisor, who has 22 years of industry experience; Martha L Gibson, vice president – financial advisor, who has 19 years of experience; and Tiffany Porter, senior registered client associate.

Crestone Capital, the wealth management house, appointed Kiley Baker as executive director of client advisory. Prior to this role, she was ED with JP Morgan Private Bank in Denver and New York City, where she was responsible for providing customized wealth management solutions to ultra-high net worth families, primarily in the healthcare and life sciences, technology and natural products sectors.

Chilton Trust, the US wealth manager, appointed Nick Frelinghuysen as a managing director, responsible for investments in clients’ equity portfolios. He works with Richard L Chilton, chairman and Jennifer Foster, co-chief investment officer, to whom he reports.

Los Angeles-based Wedbush Securities named Robert Spawn as managing director, and regional executive. Spawn serves the Pacific North Region, which includes offices in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Just prior to joining Wedbush, Spawn created Stella Consulting, focusing on recruitment, organizational consulting and expert witness services. He received his BA in business administration from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. He also holds a (California) Life and Health insurance license, he is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP), an ABA Certified Trust Financial Advisor (CTFA), as well as being a FINRA Arbitrator.

Goldman Sachs named Nicole Pullen Ross as regional head of the bank’s private wealth management arm in New York. Ross joined the New York division following her role as head of the Mid-Atlantic region, where she has overseen offices in Philadelphia and Washington since 2011. Ross began her financial industry career at the Wall Street firm in 1998 and worked as a wealth advisor in the New York office for 13 years. She succeeded Gary Giglio, who stepped down from the position at the start of July. 

Rockefeller Capital Management appointed Heather Flanagan as the managing director and head of trust fiduciary and client accounting services in the family office business. Prior to this, Flanagan worked at HSBC Private Bank as managing director and region head of Private Wealth Solutions. There she led strategy and oversight of wealth planning, trust administration and insurance groups for North and South America. She took over from Liz Munson, who is transitioning to chairperson. 

Tier1 Financial Solutions, which provides relationship management solutions to investment managers, capital markets and other financial players, appointed Jiro Okochi as president, responsible for managing the global operations of the firm. Okochi, who spent the first decade of his career selling derivatives and managing structured products sales teams, is an experienced financial markets executive. In 1999, he founded Reval, the fintech software-as-a-service business, which provides enterprise treasury and risk management solutions to more than 650 corporations and banks.

Joel Stevens returned to Tampa to lead the regional office of Bernstein Private Wealth Management, a unit of AllianceBernstein. Stevens, a senior managing director, is responsible for overseeing Bernstein’s Tampa-based private client operations and growth of the business in the region, which includes Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Naples. Stevens, who joined Bernstein in 1994 as an associate in West Palm Beach, has more than 30 years of industry experience under his belt. 

Argent Financial Group appointed Robert Pugh to the Nashville office of Argent Trust Company as vice president and trust officer. He reports to Argent Trust Company president Ken Alderman. Pugh joined from Regions Bank in Nashville, where he served as a trust advisor. Before that, he was a trust officer at Old National Bank in Evansville, Indiana, Argent said in a statement yesterday.

Citco, the group of asset servicing organizatons, appointed Connie Tirondola as executive vice president and head of real assets in North America at Citco Fund Services (USA). Tirondola focuses on managing client relationships and supporting fund accounting services for Citco’s North American real assets client base and reports to Barbara Flusk, head of real assets, Citco Fund Services (USA). Prior to this, Tirondola worked at CBRE where she was managing director in their fund administration business and was most recently responsible for business development.