The moves and appointments in North American wealth management during June.

6 Meridian, a Wichita, Kansas-based wealth management firm which joined Hightower earlier this year, promoted eight of its advisory professionals to partner. The eight new partners are: Josh Buffolino, investment management; Tim Lynch, wealth advisor; Amanda Maier, chief marketing officer; Trevor Phillippi, chief operating officer; David Pike, wealth advisor; Tim Rozzell, wealth advisor; Jordan Swisher, wealth advisor; and Ammie Weidner, director of trading and operations.

Cresset Partners appointed Kevin O’Donnell as executive managing director of its private funds group, encompassing private equity, private credit, and venture capital. O’Donnell  leads Cresset’s platform for global private investing in external funds, co-investments and related opportunities, in partnership with leading third-party private asset managers. O’Donnell most recently served as head of private equity with the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prior to that he was the head of private and opportunistic investments for Kaiser Permanente.

Raymond James welcomed Tim Woods, Blake Brignac, and Mitchell Woods to the firm’s employee advisor channel in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The advisor team – now known as Woods Brignac Wealth Management of Raymond James – was joined by client service associates Debbie Ardoin and Mackenzie Wright. Prior to Raymond James, the team managed approximately $453 million in client assets at Merrill Lynch.

Fiduciary Trust International appointed Amy Ko as regional managing director for Northern California. She is still based in the firm’s San Mateo office. Ko, who holds the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CFTA) designation, joined Fiduciary Trust International as San Mateo-based senior relationship manager and managing director in November 2020. She was previously a managing director and relationship manager at the Silicon Valley Bank private and wealth advisory group in San Francisco.

US law firm Troutman Pepper appointed Thomas Gray, a veteran transactional tax and investment tax attorney to join its tax and benefits practice group in New York as a partner. Gray, who joined from Faegre Drinker, earned his JD from Boston University School of Law and his bachelor's degree from University of Vermont. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

The president of Raymond James’ Alex. Brown division, Haig Ariyan, who has also been heading global wealth solutions, decided to pursue an opportunity outside the firm. Alex. Brown and global wealth solutions chief operating officer Michael Tormey, along with John Sutton and Brett Kellam, both Alex. Brown managing directors, report to Raymond James & Associates president and CEO Tash Elwyn. 

Bill Seugling, managing director of the firm’s investment solutions group, was appointed head of global wealth solutions, reporting to Raymond James’ private client group president Scott Curtis. Tormey joined Raymond James in the acquisition of the US Private Client Services Unit of Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, where he was COO. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2004 and began his career at Bankers Trust Company in 1992. Seugling also joined the firm in the acquisition of the Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management deal, where he was managing director. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2008 and began his career at Greenwich Associates in 1991.

Sutton, who also came to Raymond James via the same route, joined Deutsche Bank in 2013. He began his career as a practicing attorney with Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine in 1993. Rounding out the joiners, Kellam also joined via the Deutsche deal. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2009 and began his career at Paine Webber in 1981.

PGIM Fixed Income named former senior White House advisor Daleep Singh as chief global economist and head of global macroeconomic research. At the White House, Singh was US deputy national security advisor for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. In this capacity, he served as President Biden’s top international economics advisor, driving policy formulation at the intersection of economics and national security. His work has included the development of fiscal and tax policy; shaping the US economic strategy with China; leading efforts to promote supply chain resilience; promoting the development of a digital asset strategy; and building an economic governance toolkit that includes tariffs, sanctions, export controls, energy security, debt relief, bilateral assistance, and infrastructure finance.

Prior to joining the Biden administration, Singh was executive vice president and head of the markets group at the New York Fed. From 2011 to 2017, he worked at the US Department of the Treasury as acting assistant secretary for financial markets and deputy assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasia. Preceding his tenure at the Treasury Department, Singh worked for Goldman Sachs, with a focus on US interest rates and currency markets.

Raymond James welcomed a team of advisors in Manhattan collectively overseeing about $850 million in client money. The advisors are Yaakov A Ringler and Yonatan “Yoni” Marom. They were previously part of Citigroup Global Markets. They were joined by practice business manager Daniel Lebovitch and client service associates Kevin Scull, Ariel Urban and Joan Brody. 

Spain's Santander bank nominated Héctor Grisi to succeed José Antonio Álvarez as its CEO, subject to customary approvals. Mexican-born Grisi will start the new role on January 1, 2023, following a transition period. 

Grisi, who joined Santander from Credit Suisse in 2015 as CEO of Santander Mexico, was appointed head of the Santander group’s North America region in 2019. Grisi succeeded José Antonio Álvarez who has been with the bank since 2002 and was appointed chief financial officer in 2004 then CEO in January 2015. 

SEI, an investments and technology solutions group, appointed one of its own senior figures, Sanjay Sharma, to lead its private banking business segment. Sharma, who has worked at the US-based firm for 14 years, was previously their chief technology officer. Before he joined SEI, Sharma ran a consulting business. In total, he has worked in the financial services industry for a quarter of a century.

IDB Bank, a New York-based private and commercial bank, appointed senior banking industry figure Daniel Roberts as its new chief risk officer. Roberts, who has accumulated more than three decades’ experience in the sector, reports to Ziv Biron, IDB Bank's president and chief executive.

Before this job, Roberts worked at People's United, where he spent nine years as CRO and chief audit executive, leading the overall audit and risk functions. Prior to that, Roberts spent more than 25 years at Citigroup, where he held several executive positions in their risk and audit divisions. Roberts is a graduate of Gettysburg College, where he received his bachelor of science in accounting.

Investment house Mayer Brown appointed four partners to join its Salt Lake City office to bolster capabilities in emerging companies and venture capital in the region and nationwide.

The joiners were Craig Frame, Jim Kelly, Aaron Murdock, and Matt Wells. Frame, Murdock, and Wells advise companies at all stages of growth in connection with corporate, securities, financings and merger and acquisition matters. Kelly advises a range of investment management firms, including venture capital firms.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management named Tom Assad as senior client strategist. Assad works with ultra-high net worth families, business owners, corporate executives, private equity and hedge fund principals and their family offices, as well as foundations and endowments. He is based in Boston and reports to Matt Santangelo, head of client strategies and business development, New England. Prior to this, Assad was a wealth advisor and senior vice president at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. Before that, he was an executive director, Private Bank at JP Morgan Chase.

Verdence Capital Advisors, a private wealth advisory and multi-family office firm, appointed Kelly Wright as director of financial planning. Wright brought three decades of financial planning and wealth management industry experience to Verdence. Prior to joining the firm, he was the director of wealth management for Congress Wealth Management in Columbia, Maryland. 

KKR, aka Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, appointed former Citigroup chairman Raymond J McGuire to join its board of directors, taking the number of independent directors to 13 out of a total of 17. For more than a decade, McGuire held senior leadership positions at Citigroup, including serving as the global head of corporate and investment banking.

Fiduciary Trust International named Abby Axelrod as philanthropic director for family office services, foundations, and endowments. Prior to Fiduciary Trust International, Axelrod served as director of charitable giving at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. 

Fiduciary Trust International also appointed Peter Niedland as managing director and senior portfolio officer, based in its Radnor office. Niedland joined from Maplewood Capital in Wayne, Pennsylvania, an event-driven investment firm, where he served as a principal, and was also a senior portfolio manager at Turner Investments in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.  

Market index provider Wilshire appointed Lawrence Miller as chief technology officer and as a member of its executive committee. Miller has served in leadership roles in technology, financial services, and health sciences companies for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Wilshire, he was CTO of Signant Health, which provides clinical trials technology, and the chief security officer of Symphony, a secure communications startup based in Palo Alto. He also worked as a managing director at BlackRock for 11 years, overseeing the development services team for Aladdin.

Raymond James recently welcomed Ron Deal to its employee advisor channel. He is based in Ruston, Louisiana. Prior to this, Deal worked at Wells Fargo Advisors, where he managed about $151 million in client assets. He was joined by senior client service associate Julie Guillot, a 25-year veteran of WFA. Deal and Guillot operate as Deal Wealth Management of Raymond James.

US-based investment house Matthews Asia named Cooper Abbott as chief executive, succeeding William Hackett who retired at the end of June. Abbott, who has more than 20 years’ senior investment management experience, has served in a variety of leadership roles.  Most recently, he served as president and chairman at Carillon Tower Advisors.
 

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Sanctuary Wealth brought SkyPath Private Wealth, a firm managing about $1.2 billion in client assets with an office based in Short Hills, New Jersey. The four-person advisor team is composed of founding partners Kevin Pearly, James Rohmann, Steven Filiaci and Ken Hopkins, supported by senior registered wealth associate Susan Hoyt and registered wealth associate Jessica McGowan, all of whom have had extensive tenures with Merrill Lynch.

A group of former Wells Fargo figures in Cincinnati created a new wealth management business, partnering with Dynasty Financial Partners. The new firm, DayMark Wealth Partners, previously managed $1.4 billion in client assets. The founders include two executives, Mike Quin and Steven L Satter who is general counsel, and five financial advisors: Robert E Prangley, II, P J Boland, Jason M Beischel, Mike Larison, and Daryl J Demo. The total number of staff is 14 professionals.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed two senior wealth managers, Justin Esposito and Chris Martinson in its Boston office. Esposito, who has more than 15 years of experience in financial services, joined BNY Mellon Wealth Management from the Bank of America Private Bank, where he served as a portfolio manager, vice president. 

Martinson joined BNY Mellon Wealth Management from Citi, where he most recently worked as an ultra-high net worth investment counselor, and as an ultra-high net worth investment analyst.

Fiduciary Trust Company appointed Aimee Bryant as vice president and trust counsel, and Katie Collins as VP and investment officer. Bryant reports to Suma V Nair, chief fiduciary officer. Prior to joining Fiduciary, Bryant was a partner in the private client group at Nutter McClennen & Fish, where she began her legal career.

Collins serves as a key client relationship manager, providing customized wealth management services to her clients and leveraging Fiduciary’s teams of experts. She also joined the Advisory Board at Fiduciary Trust Charitable, an independent donor-advised fund sponsor for which Fiduciary provides administrative services and is an investment manager. She previously advised high net worth clients as a director and philanthropic strategist in the Private Donor Group at Fidelity Charitable. 

Fiduciary Trust International appointed Julie Karnavas as regional managing director for the Pennsylvania market. She was previously director of portfolio and relationship management.

UBS made a number of operational and structural changes to its Southern California wealth business. Lauren Gorsche serves as market head of the newly-integrated private wealth management and wealth management operations in the metro LA market. She continues to oversee the Los Angeles private wealth management branch and satellites, with added responsibility for the West LA complex, headed by complex director Kreg Pearless in an expanded role leading the Century City and Beverly Hills wealth management offices. Gorsche reports to both Todd Locicero and Jennifer Povlitz.

Jim Kottoor assumed the role of market head for the newly-created greater LA market, including Sherman Oaks, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and Westlake Village – all formerly part of the West LA market – as well as Downtown LA, Manhattan Beach and the new Pasadena complex. He reports to Povlitz, who is the west division director for UBS Wealth Management. Leslie Chang was named Pasadena complex director and oversees Pasadena, Seal Beach, and Brea. Justin Frame serves as market head of the new Southern California market, which includes the former San Diego market division offices of San Diego, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Riverside and Redlands, Indian Wells and Hawaii, as well as the Orange County offices of Newport Beach and Irvine.

Two long-time employees stepped down from their roles at UBS. Jaron Singletary, who served as West LA market head, left to live abroad with his family and pursue his MBA. He is due to return to UBS next year. Chris Marsh is pursuing a career change at UBS after taking this summer off.

Wealth management house Glenmede appointed Mark R Parthemer as the Florida regional director, reporting to Adam Douberly, director of expansion markets for private wealth. Parthemer took over from Chip Wilson, who recently retired.

Parthemer was also named chief wealth strategist, reporting to David Plotts, director of wealth strategy and planning for the firm. Parthemer, who is based in Palm Beach, Florida, is responsible for the continued build out of Glenmede’s presence in the region. Among other accomplishments, Parthemer is a fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel. 

Before joining Glenmede, Parthemer was managing director, private client service, for TIAA, where he led the ultra-high net worth group. Previous roles included MD and senior fiduciary counsel at Bessemer Trust Company and senior tax professional at PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Archer, a tech-driven service provider to the investment management industry, appointed AIG senior figure Terri Fiedler to join its board of directors. Fiedler is president and chief executive of AIG Financial Distributors.

With more than 25 years’ sales and national account management experience, Fiedler was senior director, national account management at Invesco prior to joining AIG. Fiedler serves as a trustee for the Foundation for Financial Planning and as vice chair of the Insured Retirement Institute.

Sanctuary Wealth brought the firm Praetego Private Wealth – run by a team of former JP Morgan Bankers – into its network. The new firm, based in Trinity, Florida, consists of founding partners and private wealth advisors Dustin Cali and Daniel Ventura, and client associate Thomas Solfio. It came to Sanctuary with more than $200 million in client assets under management. 

Argent Financial Group added new members to its board of directors: Lance Hall and Glen Post. Hall is the president and CEO of Origin Bank. He has served in a variety of roles within Origin Bank, including Louisiana state president, chief strategy officer and chief operating officer. Post is the former chairman and CEO of CenturyLink. During his tenure at the company, he also served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer. 

Alex. Brown, a division of Raymond James, welcomed experienced financial advisors William Stewart III, who joins the firm as a director, and W Grove Stewart IV at its Annapolis, Maryland office.

Operating as Stewart Wealth Advisory Group, together they serve a range of clients including owners of privately held businesses and their families, specializing in helping them navigate the arc of wealth transition. The duo was previously affiliated with Janney Montgomery Scott, where they managed approximately $375 million in client assets.

Prior to joining Alex. Brown, William Stewart was with Janney Montgomery Scott as an executive vice president. He has over 35 years of experience in the financial industry, dating back to 1986 when his career began in New York with Kidder Peabody & Company. When the firm was sold in 1994, he joined Smith Barney before being recruited by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette as the national manager of DLJ Consulting. In 2003 he joined Legg Mason Wood Walker whose private client group was exchanged for Citigroup's Asset Management operation in 2005 and finally became Morgan Stanley in 2008. 

Grove Stewart began his career as a financial advisor trainee in 2017 when he joined his father, Bill, at Janney Montgomery Scott. He takes part in the firm’s Advisory Mastery Program, a holistic educational program to position early career financial advisors for success. 

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Jeanie M Taras and Michael S Taras to its employee advisor channel, based in Jacksonville, Florida. Operating as Taras Wealth Management of Raymond James, the mother and son duo were joined by senior client service associate Sarah G Guyton. The team transitioned to Raymond James from UBS Financial, where they previously managed approximately $220 million in client assets. They will serve clients as part of RJA’s North Florida Complex, led by complex manager Gregg Stupinski.

Walker & Dunlop, a provider of capital to the commercial real estate segment, combined its fund management, proprietary capital, high yield, and seniors bridge lending groups into the investment management and proprietary capital group. The group is led by Mitchell Resnick. Resnick also serves as president of Walker & Dunlop Investment Partners, Walker & Dunlop's wholly owned alternative investment manager. He joined Walker & Dunlop in 2016. 

Blackford Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, appointed Ken Wagner as chief financial officer, leading the firm's finance, accounting, regulatory, compliance, reporting and controls functions. Wagner reports to Blackford's managing partner and chief operating officer Paul Doyle. Wagner previously worked for 10 years with Doyle at other companies. He joined Blackford from Coastal Group, where he served as chief financial officer with Paul Doyle, who was Coastal's CEO at that time.