May was a busy month for moves; among the firms standing out in terms of stories were Merrill Lynch and Raymond James.

North America moves in May 
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management appointed Fernando Nicolau to its Miami office as an international financial advisor. Nicolau works with Andre Mendes and Pedro Paulo Silva, the firm’s Brazil team serving the LatAm ultra-high net worth market. He joined from JP Morgan Private Bank, where he was responsible for more than $1 billion in client assets. Nicolau has more than 17 years’ experience in the sector and started his career at Citibank, where he spent 13 years working in Brazil, New York and Miami.

Merrill Lynch brought in a team of financial advisors based in two New York offices, forming the SEAM Wealth Management Group. The advisors were Maureen Hulbert, Salvatore Romano, Allan Fiore, Eric Williams, Stephen Rosamino, and Adam Minor-Swartz. They came from Ayco Company, a Goldman Sachs company.. The team joined the Saratoga Springs office, with the exception of Allan Fiore who is based in the Rockefeller Plaza office in New York City. 

Canada-headquartered financial services group Manulife appointed Roy Gori as president. He replaced current president and chief executive, Donald Guloien, who retired. Gori became president. Gori was a senior executive vice president and general manager of Manulife’s Asia division. As president, Gori is responsible for developing and executing the firm’s business strategy. Phil Witherington became the firm’s interim CEO. Gori joined the firm in 2015 from Citi, where he served as head of consumer banking, North Asia and Australia, and regional head of retail banking APAC.

CIBC Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management appointed that Linda S Beerman as head of the wealth strategies group that she had created in 2001. Over the last 16 years at CIBC Atlantic Trust, Beerman held a number of leadership roles, including those of chief fiduciary officer.

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning has appointed Rochelle Zeidman as its managing director, development, a newly-minted role through which she will push for more diversity in the industry and improve development of the workforce. Zeidman raised more than $600 million in campaigns and fundraising. At the American National Red Cross, she increased support by forming and managing an executive Fortune 100 Corporate Council as well as developing a branded initiative, the Annual Disaster Giving Program. As Executive Director of Individual Giving at NPR, she created partnerships and led efforts to significantly increase donations by individuals. She also held development roles at United Way Worldwide, NEXUS Global Youth Summit and the Jewish Federation.

RBC Wealth Management appointed financial advisor in Houston, Kevin Roberts, joining from Morgan Stanley. Roberts has 20 years’ industry experience and oversees $309 million in assets, with production of $1.4 million. 

Dynasty Financial Partnersp appointed industry veteran Mason Salit as director of network development for its Eastern Division. Salit reported to Dynasty Financial Partners’ chief executive Shirl Penney. Salit is based in the firm’s New York office and supports advisory firms in the Midwest and East Coast.  Previously, Salit worked at Bank Leumi USA where he was head of US private banking. From 2012-2014, Salit was wealth market leader at TD Wealth.  Prior to that, he was the head of international private banking in New York at the HSBC Private Bank from 2007-2012.

Raymond James brought over a $1 million team from Wells Fargo to join its Omaha, Nebraska branch. Financial advisors and father and son Steven Friedman and Jeremy Friedman joined from Wells Fargo Advisors, where they managed around $130 million in client assets and had more than $1 million in annual production. They operate as Friedman Financial Partners of Raymond James and are located at Raymond James’ Omaha branch, led by Tim Ziola. Rennee Johnson, senior client service associate, also joined the team.

Steven Friedman has more than 50 years’ experience in financial services, while his son Jeremy is a relatively-new player having started his career in 2010. Johnson has more than 14 years’ financial services experience.

Raymond James recruited two financial advisors to join its office in Kansas City, Missouri, according to David Sisemore, Midwest regional director. Jeff Holloway and Sean Harman joined from Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, where they managed $275 million in client assets and had around $1.4 million in production. They were joined by senior registered associate Betty Wilson, senior client associate Amanda Miller and registered associate Whitney Scobee. Together, they operate as Holloway Harman & Associates, offering securities through Raymond James.

HighTower launched a new wealth management firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida, which oversees around $160 million in client assets. PDS Wealth Management, led by managing director Tom Parker, joined HighTower's network from Merrill Lynch. Other members of the team include Patrick Dugan, Paul Spencer and Tommy Parker. All three are directors.

Raymond James named industry veteran Richard Grobman as new head of its Philadelphia location, said Tony Barrett, Delaware Valley complex manager. Alongside administrative manager Dawn DeAngelo, supports 10 advisors and six service associates overseeing more than $1.5 billion in assets. The pair have worked together for more than 26 years. Grobman, managing director of investments and Philadelphia branch manager, joined Florida-headquartered Raymond James following a 30-year stint with Oppenheimer and predecessor company WH Newbold’s Son & Co.

UBS Asset Management has named Suni Haford as head of investments. She oversees around 500 investment employees and approximately $600 billion of assets. Based in New York, she reports to Ulrich Koerner, president. Harford joined from Citigroup, where she worked for 24 years. Most recently, she was regional head of markets for North America for nine years.

Northern Trust appointed Elisa Shevlin Rizzo has as senior fiduciary officer and senior legal counsel. Rizzo Rizzo is responsible for delivering fiduciary service, legal counsel and advice to trust advisors, wealth advisors, advisory account managers and wealth strategists. She reports to John Hoffman, president of Greater New York, Wealth Management. Previously, Rizzo was with Fiduciary Trust Company International for seven years as managing director, trust counsel and, most recently, director of estate administration.

RBC Wealth Management brought over the Core Group to the Boston and Century City offices from Morgan Stanley. Joining the Boston office, led by Brian Katz, Boston complex director, were Alexander Sugar, CFP®, managing director and financial advisor, with 30 years of industry experience; Alex Davis, vice president and financial advisor, with 17 years of experience; Sheila Golden, senior registered client associate, with 31 years of experience; and Annie Tse, senior registered client associate, who has 10 years of experience. In Century City and Newport Beach are Graham O’Kelly, CFA®, SVP and financial advisor (15 years' experience); Grant DeVaul, SVP, financial advisor (22 years' experience) and Taylor Biehn, financial advisor (four years).  Tricia Moses, senior business associate, with 10 years of experience, also joined. The Century City and Newport Beach offices are led by Mike Melton, Director of the Southern California complex. Sugar and DeVaul pioneered the focus on family wealth management after co-founding the Core Group at Bear Stearns in 1995.

RBC Wealth Management0 appointed Amit Sahasrabudhe as head of strategy and technology, the newly-created role. Sahasrabudhe reports to chief executive Michael Armstrong.

Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management brought in three new advisors to its Leawood, Kansas office, according to Mark Borcherding, branch director. Paul DeBey, senior vice president; Chris Cassaday, vice president; Jeff Bahnson, vice president; and April Emeola, client associate, joined from UBS Financial Services. The team manages $262 million of assets and has more than $1.7 million in production. Collectively, they have more than 100 years' experience.

A venture capital firm focused entirely on backing cybersecurity businesses brought in a former chief executive at a company in this space as a partner. Allegis Capital, based in northern California, appointed David DeWalt, former CEO at FireEye. Among other roles, DeWalt has been chief executive at cybersecurity big-hitter McFee, and held executive roles at EMC.

Citi Private Bank appointed Jacob Alvarez as a private banker on the Metro New York team. Alvarez reports to Ida Liu, and is responsible for providing wealth management services to New York-based clients and financial sponsor clients. He joined from JP Morgan Private Bank, where he was a member of the financial sponsors group.

Jefferies, the investment bank and trading firm, appointed a team worth $7.3 million from Wells Fargo Miami, as the company bolstered its wealth management operation. Marcelo Poliak and Pablo Gherardi are managing directors, Guillermo Guerra joined as senior vice president and Nicholas Coubrough joined as vice president. Poliak, Gherardi, Guerra and Coubrough report to Ernesto de la Fe, head of Jefferies International Americas, who is also based in Miami. 

Private wealth management firm Fiduciary Trust Company appointed three senior members to its team. James Cosentino and Neal Hegge joined the firm as vice presidents and investment officers, and Kelly Guarino joined the firm as vice president and trust counsel. Consentino has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry. He was most recently senior vice president and senior portfolio manager at US Trust. Hegge joined the firm from Credit Suisse, where he was most recently director in high-yield sales. Guarino has over 20 years’ experience in legal and estate planning. She joined the company from law firm Lourie & Cutler.

Multi-family office Stonehage Fleming, which is headquartered in the UK, opened a new representative office in Canada. Called Stonehage Fleming (Canada), it is located in Toronto and is led by Mike Moodie, partner, having served as a consultant to the group and been a board member of Stonehage Fleming’s US operating company. Moodie spent a long career at Royal Bank of Canada, where as a senior executive he was responsible for growing the international wealth management businesses during subsequent postings in Canada, The Caribbean, US and UK.

US-based Fidelity Investments appointed Judy Marlinski as president of Fidelity Institutional Asset Management. She succeeded Scott Couto, who left the business. Marlinski, head of investment product solutions and innovation at Fidelity, will report to president Jeffrey Lagarce.

Dreyfus, BNY Mellon Investment Management’s US investment management company, appointed Paula Kelley as chief marketing officer, a newly-created role. Kelley leads the marketing department for Dreyfus’ North American business. Prior to Dreyfus, Kelley previously spent 12 years at Citigroup, where she most recently held the position of managing director.

Citi Private Bank appointed Mariia Eroshin as director and private at its San Francisco office. She reports to Hoyt Gier, head of western region north. She is responsible for providing wealth management services to clients based in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Eroshin joined the Private Bank from US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, where she served as a private client advisor and previously worked as a senior portfolio manager.

State Street Global Advisors appointed two new members to its SPDR exchange traded funds business; both are based in Boston. Noel Archard is the head of global SPDR product and Seth Morrison is head of global SPDR marketing.

Neuberger Berman appointed Jonathan Bailey as head of environmental, social and governance investing, based in New York. In this role, Bailey works with the firm's investment teams and research departments for further incorporate ESG initiatives into its equities, fixed income and alternatives platforms.

Investment manager Halbert Hargrove appointed Beverly Karns as its newest regional director based in Denver, Colorado. Karns works with the Denver team to design and implement investment and wealth advisory strategies. Prior to joining Halbert Hargove, Karns served as managing director of debt, equity financing of Capitol Peak Asset Management, where she was the founding partner of the firm.

Raymond James appointed Kim Jenson as chief operating officer of its private client group. Jenson replaced Tom Walrond, who, as part of a strategic succession plan within the firm, transferred to the eastern division as director to replace recently-retired Ira Federer. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector, and was most recently managing director at UBS Financial Services Chicago. In her new role, Jenson took over Walrond’s responsibilities which include prioritizing solutions and services such as new technological advances.

Raymond James recruited senior portfolio manager and wealth advisor Michael Jeppson to its California offices. He was joined by senior client services manager Angie Duso. Jeppson joined from Merrill Lynch, where he previously managed over $400 million in client assets. He and Duso operate as Jeppson Wealth Management, which offers securities through Raymond James.

Union Bank appointed two senior members to its wealth management team in San Francisco. Tyler Brasfield joined the firm as vice president and Lawrence Parente joined the firm as director. They report to Lisa Roberts, head of private wealth management for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

Clifford Chance appointed Zarrar Sehgal as head of banking and finance for the Americas, based in New York. Alongside his new role, Seghal continues to lead the firm’s diversity committee. Seghal has been a vital member of the team which helped develop and grow the company, during his time as co-head of asset finance. Clifford Chance also appointed Evan Cohen as the firm’s regional managing partner in the Americas for a second four-year term. Cohen kept his role within the law firm, where he played a part in helping it achieve its best-ever performance in the US and Latin America over the past four years.
Bruderman Asset Management appointed Andrew LeBlanc as managing director of its private wealth services. In addition to working with his existing clientele, which includes athletes and celebrities, Le Blanc works with the firm’s ultra high-net worth clients.

Advisor network HighTower launched Synergy Capital Solutions, adding to a run of teams that have come into its embrace so far in 2017. The team is sited in Chicago; Naples, Florida, and Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Managing director Mark Burns leads the group which oversees $300 million in client assets. Synergy Capital Solutions used to be known as BIG Planning and was a member of the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Stan Posluszny as wealth director of its Tampa, FL offices. Posluszny has ten years’ experience in the sector. He has experience working with high-net worth clients throughout Florida. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, he was regional vice president for the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.

US investment management group AllianceBernstein named former World Bank president and banking industry luminary Robert Zoellick as chairman, while Seth Bernstein, a senior figure at JP Morgan, to take up the roles of president and chief executive, respectively. They took over from Peter Kraus, who departed as CEO/chairman, along with a number of colleagues in a boardroom upheaval.

Raymond James chose industry veteran Charles White to head up its South Florida complex, which encompasses 13 branches. In total, White has more than 12 years' experience in managing branches and complexes. He began his career in 1993 with JC Bradford, an investment bank that was acquired by UBS Wealth Management in 2000, in Atlanta. In 2000, he joined Smith Barney's Atlanta office and four years later moved to its office in Omaha, Nebraska, as a non-producing branch manager. In 2007, he became a complex manager for Morgan Stanley and in 2012 was promoted to managing director. In this role, he supported 178 advisors with $18 billion in assets under management.