Here is a roundup of executive moves in the Americas during the month of April 2015.

Pitcairn, a Jenkintown, PA-headquartered multi-family office, added Andrew Busser as a managing director within its relationship management team in New York.

Busser’s primary roles are to advise wealthy families on long-term investment and wealth matters, as well as to manage relationships with families and single family offices in the New York region and nationally.

Busser was most recently a partner at Symphony Capital, a healthcare-focused investment manager of private equity and hedge funds. Prior to that, he co-founded Wilkerson Partners, a management consulting and advisory firm that worked with wealthy families, investors and management teams. He also previously served as a management consultant at The Wilkerson Group/IBM Healthcare Consulting.

Spencer Edge, a principal and member of Tiedemann Wealth Management's investment management team, relocated from New York to the firm's San Francisco, CA, office. The firm said it is looking to deepen its West Coast presence and sees the Bay Area in particular as a key hub of finance, investment, innovation and entrepreneurialism for the US and the world.

Edge will remain focused on investment research and strategy, working with his counterparts in New York. Before joining the firm in 2007, he was a consultant in the financial services advisory practice at Ernst & Young.

Eric Katz, an advisor to ultra-affluent individuals, joined the LeoGroup from Goldman Sachs Family Office. The arrival of Katz was part of the LeoGroup's plan to expand its multi-family office capabilities.

Birmingham, MI-based Schechter Wealth hired Deric Righter as a senior advisor to high net worth individuals and corporations in portfolio construction, benefit plan design and institutional asset management.

Prior to joining Schechter, Righter was chief executive and chief investment officer at ThyssenKrupp USA, where he directed the corporate staff supporting North American operations with sophisticated tax, treasury, legal and risk management services.

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Baird added Mark Kenyon to its Minnetonka, MN, wealth management office as a senior vice president and branch manager. He took over from Larry Law, who will continue as a financial advisor.

Kenyon was most recently a complex director at UBS Financial Services – a role he held since 1995. He began his career in the financial services industry in 1975 at E F Hutton & Co, which became Shearson Lehman and Smith Barney. 

David Barrett Partners, the executive search firm focused on the wealth and investment management space, appointed Bob Gorog as a partner in Boston, MA. Gorog recruits investment and distribution leaders for traditional and alternative investment firms globally.

In joining David Barrett, Gorog was reunited with a team spread across New York, Boston and London, with whom he previously worked in the asset and wealth management practice at Heidrick & Struggles. Earlier in his career he also helped establish the Boston search practice for AT Kearney and two financial services boutiques.

Wilmington Trust hired Susan McCluskey from Bessemer Trust as a senior fiduciary officer at its wealth advisory office in Palm Beach, FL. In her previous role at Bessemer, McCluskey was a senior vice president and client advisor in Florida.

Raymond James appointed Michelle Lynch as vice president and director of its Network for Women Advisors, succeeding Nicole Spinelli, who left the firm in January.

With 11 years of experience working within Raymond James' private client group and asset management divisions – including the Network for Women Advisors and other diversity initiatives – Lynch will represent a force of over 800 women advisors.

She will also organize an annual conference, which is now in its third decade, and support the firm’s ongoing objectives for recruiting female professionals. Lynch will report to Raymond James & Associates' president, Tash Elwyn, and Raymond James Financial Services' president, Scott Curtis.

Wilmington Trust hired Erin Miller as a senior private client fiduciary advisor at its wealth advisory office in York, PA. Miller will serve high net worth individuals and families, entrepreneurs and business owners, as well as foundations and endowments throughout York and Lancaster counties. She was most recently an associate attorney at The Elder Law Firm of Robert Clofine in York.

RBC Wealth Management added two financial advisors in Naples, FL, in the same week that it launched a new office in Canonsburg, PA. Formerly of UBS, Dustin Smith and James Rubinton have been named as managing director and financial advisor, and senior vice president and financial advisor, respectively. Joining with Smith was Mandie Evans, a senior registered client associate, while Nicole Molnar joined in the same role with Rubinton.

Thomson Reuters, the global information, data and media organization, appointed David Akellian as managing director of wealth management. Akellian will be based in New York and report to Abel Clark, managing director for the financial sector. He took over from former wealth management head John Fennelly.

In his new role, Akellian will lead the company’s North American wealth management business, which delivers integrated front- and back-office technology solutions to wealth management firms to manage daily brokerage operations and regulatory and compliance requirements. Akellian has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. He previously worked at LPL Financial, where he was most recently executive vice president and head of platform solutions.

City National Bank recruited John Brouillard from Bank of America to expand its New York-based entertainment team. Brouillard, a vice president and wealth advisor, will work with all investment platforms offered by City National including City National Rochdale and Convergent Wealth Advisors. He was previously a portfolio manager at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

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KPMG in the US elected Lynne Doughtie, who has led its advisory business since 2011, as its next chairman and chief executive for a five-year term starting July 1. Doughtie will succeed John Veihmeyer, who has served as KPMG's US chairman and CEO since 2010 and simultaneously as global chairman of KPMG International since February 2014.

KPMG told this publication that a replacement for Doughtie in her current role as head of advisory will be named in due course. P Scott Ozanus was re-elected as deputy chairman and chief operating officer – a role he has held since 2012. Ozanus led KPMG’s tax practice before becoming deputy chairman and COO.

Stan Gregor, who launched a wealth management business for Cantor Fitzgerald & Co around two years ago, left Cantor Fitzgerald Wealth Partners.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Bob Dail as a mortgage banking officer, as the high-end real estate market in the Washington, DC, region heats up. Dail, who will report to managing director Erin Gorman, has over 25 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry, with a focus on the jumbo space.

iCapital Network, which describes itself as an online marketplace for private equity fund managers, expanded its business development team. The firm brought in Michael Mastey as senior vice president of its investor network covering the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, and Melissa Iagulli in the same role but overseeing the West Coast.

Mastey joined from PNC Capital Advisors, where he led the retail distribution team and, prior to that, was head of alternative investments. Iagulli was formerly director of strategy at Charles Schwab & Co, where she worked on improving the firm's client experience and boosting the company’s acquisition programs and product platforms.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management recruited in Florida, Chicago, IL, and Pennsylvania, adding David Sivel, Scott Strochak, Natalie Oh and Alan Zinkin.

Sivel, a senior director of portfolio management in central Pennsylvania, will report to managing director Mark Haslam. He most recently spent seven years as managing director of wealth and institutional services at

Wilmington Trust. Prior to that, he served for eight years as chief investment officer and president at SCM, a private wealth management firm in Philadelphia, PA.

Strochak, a senior wealth director in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, reports to managing director Luis Castellanos. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, he was a global wealth advisor at Morgan Stanley in Boca Raton, FL, and, earlier still, a wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch.

Meanwhile, Oh joined as a senior wealth director in Chicago, where she will report to regional president Michael DiMedio. She was formerly a principal at Taran Insurance and Advisory Services, which she established to serve the high net worth and affluent markets. Previously, she was vice president of sales at JMB Insurance and Financial Solutions.

Lastly, Zinkin was added as a senior wealth director in Miami, reporting to Castellanos. He was latterly a regional vice president of business development within the private client group at Fisher Investments and before that was founder and president of Marathon Asset Management, a boutique investment advisory firm.

Boston Private Financial Holdings, which last year completed its acquisition of the registered investment advisory firm Banyan Partners, made a raft of senior executive appointments. Clayton Deutsch will continue as chief executive while Mark Thompson was appointed as president and will continue to serve as CEO of Boston Private Bank. Deutsch and Thompson are now the two Boston Private executives serving as board members, along with seven independent directors and a non-executive chair.

The pair will lead the development and expansion of Boston Private’s integrated wealth management, trust and private banking model across “multiple geographic markets,” the firm said. Meanwhile, David Kaye was appointed as chief administrative officer – and will continue as chief financial officer and treasurer – while Corey Griffin became CEO of Boston Private Investment Management.

Chris Curtis, formerly a senior vice president and treasurer at Envestnet, joined HighTower as executive vice president of finance and accounting, based at the firm's Chicago, IL, headquarters.

Curtis will focus exclusively on managing the day-to-day operations of the financial and accounting department, enabling Robert Pagliuco, HighTower’s current EVP of accounting and finance, to assume the new role of EVP of corporate finance.

Pagliuco will focus on the financial analysis and due diligence activities related to bringing in new advisor teams. Both he and Curtis will report to HighTower’s chief financial officer, Larry Koehler, who has been the company’s CFO since its inception in 2007.

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Montreal-based Dorchester Wealth Management, a nine-person investment counseling and wealth management firm, joined Focus Financial Partners' network with C$850 million ($675 million) in AuM, becoming the first Canadian firm to join Focus.

“We see tremendous potential through Dorchester to increase our regional reach in Canada and bring more exciting international opportunities to Focus,” said Rudy Adolf, founder and chief executive of Focus Financial Partners. With clients in the US and internationally as well as Canada, this new partnership gives Dorchester access to Focus’ expertise in M&A and capital for growth. 

United Capital Financial Advisers, which describes itself as a financial life management firm, acquired two advisory firms with a combined $625 million in assets under management: Indiana-based CS Capital Management and North Carolina-based PRI Investments.

The team that joined from CS Capital Management included managing directors Mike Surenkamp and Roel Carandang, as well as eight staff members. Andrew Blass, managing director of PRI Investments, also brought with him two employees. The 10 employees joined United Capital as wealth advisors, investment management professionals and office management executives.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co appointed three new partners: Jean-Marc Crepin, Michael Keller and Jean-Pierre Paquin.

Crepin joined BBH in 2007 and is currently responsible for BBH Luxembourg as well as the firm’s asset servicing business. He has over 20 years of financial services experience, having held roles as a fund manager, business manager and investment banker. Prior to joining BBH, Crepin was country manager for Italy at State Street Bank & Trust.

Keller joined BBH in 2005 and serves as co-manager of the firm's large-cap equity strategy, BBH Core Select - a position he has held since 2008. Prior to joining BBH as an equity analyst covering the technology sector, Keller was a senior equity analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets in New York. Lastly, Paquin joined BBH in 1996 and is co-manager of BBH Capital Partners, the firm’s private equity business. He also oversees strategy, operations, risk and finance for BBH Investment Management.

Brian Riley has left Merrill Lynch to join First Republic Investment Management in July as an executive vice president. According to LinkedIn, Riley led the Pacific Northwest region for Merrill's private banking and investment group - a role in which he managed over 200 employees focused on ultra high net worth investors and private equity and venture capital firms. Merrill Lynch confirmed the departure of Riley, who was based in California, and said that a replacement for him has not yet been named.

California-based Opes Advisors welcomed Bonnie Cotta as a business development manager for the South Bay. In her previous role as a loan officer and branch manager, Cotta managed $300 million in loan origination last year. She is also a member of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

tru Independence, a consulting and services platform for wealth managers, hired Doug Nichols as managing director of affiliated services and Paul Dalton as chief technology officer. Nichols was previously a vice president at Troy, MI-based Flagstar Bank while Dalton joins from a multi-million dollar wealth management firm where he was director of technology.

The Caldwell Partners International strengthened its position in the financial services sector with the addition of Glenn Buggy as a senior partner for asset and wealth management as well as leader of its legal, risk and regulatory oversight practice. Buggy joined Caldwell Partners after 11 years at CTPartners, where he was a partner in the financial services practice, leader of the global compliance, legal and regulatory practice, and a senior partner in the asset and wealth management practice.

Regions Bank appointed Alan McKnight as chief investment officer and John Parker as head of institutional services, both reporting to Bill Ritter, head of Regions Wealth Management. As CIO of Regions Wealth Management, McKnight will develop asset management strategies for individuals, families and institutional clients. He joined from SunTrust Bank, where he was managing director and head of institutional investments. Parker has worked at Regions for over 28 years within the firm's personal and institutional trust businesses. In 1998, he became trust group director, followed by wealth management area manager for trust, asset management, private banking and brokerage.

Chris Chandler, head of portfolio implementation and investment experience, and Nikki Gokey, managing director of client service for Florida, left the firm. GenSpring's senior family investment officers will manage Chandler’s previous responsibilities and there will be no changes to the governance and structure of the investment business.

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Michael Casey rejoined Merrill Lynch as director of the Nevada/Boise complex. Casey was previously a wealth management market leader at Morgan Stanley covering branches in Laguna Niguel, CA; Rancho Bernardo, CA; and three offices in Tucson, AZ.

In his new role back at Merrill he will report to Tom Fickinger, market executive for the Pacific Northwest region. When at Merrill Lynch between 1989 and 2009, Casey held roles including marketing and as national sales leader for the global private client group. His last position was resident director in St Louis, MO.

US Bank named Brad Scott as market leader at its Private Client Reserve, which serves high net worth clients, in Cincinnati, OH. Scott was previously market leader of the PCR in Kansas City, MO, and has significant experience in the investment management and private banking industry.

“Cincinnati is a very important market for The Private Client Reserve and US Bank,” said Mike Prescott, Cincinnati market president.” As a market leader for the PCR, Scott and his team provide high net worth clients with wealth planning, investment management, private banking, and trust and estate services.

Bitcoin technology company Factom hired Morgan Stanley's Jacob Dienelt as head treasurer. Dienelt is the first Wall Street veteran to join a Bitcoin 2.0 company, which creates an audit trail through the Bitcoin Blockchain technology.

In his new role, Dienelt will drive Factom's focus on Bitcoin asset management for its software token sale. He joins from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, where he managed a team of future specialists. Other bitcoin companies that have recently poached veterans from the traditional banking space include Circle Financial, Digital Asset Holdings, and 21.

Cetera Financial Group named J David Ballard as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He is based in Los Angeles, CA, and reports to R Lawrence Roth, chief executive of Cetera Financial Group. Ballard most recently held the same roles at the independent broker-dealer network AIG Advisor Group and previously worked at SunAmerica and other AIG business units.

Oppenheimer Asset Management, a unit of Oppenheimer Holdings, named Bryan McKigney as president. McKigney has worked at Oppenheimer for 20 years, holding the role of chief operating officer of OAM for virtually that entire period. It is unclear if he will retain this role. He will be based in Oppenheimer's New York City headquarters.

Thomas Wornham was named as the new president and chief executive of San Diego Private Bank. He replaced Maria Kunac, who will continue as a board member and consultant to the bank. Wornham, who joined the board of San Diego Private Bank earlier this year, has a strong background in banking, public infrastructure and community service leadership positions in San Diego, the firm said.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp expanded its private banking and wealth management services in New York with the addition of Cindy Barford and Kevin Smith to the team there. Barford, a senior vice president of private banking, joined from KeyBank where he was most recently a SVP and senior relationship manager in the private bank. Smith, a vice president and wealth advisor, moved across from the bank's commercial and small business team in the region. Barford and Smith are both located in Berkshire's Albany regional headquarters.

Atlanta-headquartered Triad Advisors promoted Jeffrey Rosenthal to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Nathan Stibbs to executive vice president – national business development, and Roger Greenway to executive vice president – business operations group.

Rosenthal, who has been with the firm since 2013, will be responsible for products, marketing, partner relationships and advisory services. Stibbs, who has worked at Triad for almost 15 years, will oversee branch development and expansion, as well as advisor mergers and acquisitions. Lastly, Greenway, who joined the firm two years ago, will assume responsibility for technology, operations and compliance.

Logan Winn joined Steve Berardi at Abbot Downing in the greater Washington, DC, area. Winn and Berardi (who joined the firm a year ago) previously worked as a team at GenSpring Family Offices.  

At Abbot Downing - which is part of Wells Fargo’s wealth, brokerage and retirement group and serves UHNW clients - Winn and Berardi will together work with professionals in the Mid-Atlantic region, spanning DC, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. They are both based in McLean, VA.

They will provide financial planning and family dynamics services, asset management, private banking, trust, fiduciary and administrative services to ultra high net worth individuals and families, as well as foundations and endowments. 

Winn – who was a family wealth advisor at GenSpring – has been named as a relationship manager at Abbot Downing. Prior to her role at GenSpring, she was a partner at the DC-based law firm Jackson and Campbell, focused on estate plans. Earlier in her career, she counseled clients on estate plans at the law firms of Holland & Knight and Kauffman and Forman. 

Prior to joining Abbot Downing, Berardi spent 11 years at GenSpring managing investment portfolios for ultra high net worth clients. He also served as co-head of the firm’s portfolio construction committee and part of the business development team.

Heartland Financial USA brought in Rick Terry to fill the newly-created role of private wealth director, responsible for sales in wealth management and private banking. Terry was most recently US chief operating officer at BBVA Compass Wealth Management, where he also previously served as chief executive of BBVA Wealth Solutions and executive vice president of wealth management. Prior to BBVA, Terry was national executive for Bank of America’s family wealth advisors division and held other leadership roles in private banking, wealth management and commercial banking.

Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker-dealer firms, appointed Brett Harrison to the newly-created position of executive vice president of advisor growth. In this new role, Harrison will report to Adam Antoniades, president of Cetera Financial Group, while maintaining his role as CEO of Cetera Advisors, a Cetera Financial Group broker-dealer firm.

Harrison will serve as a “centralized leader” for all practice management resources within the Cetera Financial Group network. He will help advisors "align the right investment products with their clients' needs" and serve as the network-level point person in supporting advisor recruiting efforts at each member broker-dealer of Cetera Financial Group.