Merrill Lync dismissed Elias Dau, who was in charge of two offices in its Newport Beach, California. Dau oversaw the southern California offices from March 2014 and worked at Merrill for about 14 years. He began his career as a financial advisor with Equitable Life and its AXA Advisors unit in 1997. The firm declined to comment on specific circumstances of the departure.

Raymond James hired financial advisors Dean Dancer, T J Goelz, Steven Grossman and Joe Malave to Raymond James & Associates  – the firm’s traditional employee broker/dealer – in Sarasota, Florida. The advisors operate as the Palm Avenue Wealth Advisory Group of Raymond James, and join from UBS, where they previously managed more than $480 million in client assets.

Joining the advisors was Pamela Miller, senior registered client service associate, and Blake Caldwell, registered client service associate.

Dancer, senior vice president of investments, and co-founder of Palm Avenue Group, has been in the industry for more than 19 years. Prior to joining Raymond James, he served as a senior vice president, wealth management, and financial advisor with UBS and Smith Barney. Goelz began his financial services career in 1993 at Barnett Bank, where he became a branch manager and later, a complex manager. He became a senior vice president and financial advisor with Smith Barney, where he and Dancer first became partners, before joining UBS.

Grossman, vice president of investments, began his financial services career in 1999 after a career as a therapist. Before joining Raymond James, he served as a vice president, wealth management, and financial advisor with UBS and a second vice president and financial advisor with Smith Barney. Malave, vice president of investments, has more than 24 years of financial services industry experience. Prior to Raymond James, he served as a financial advisor with UBS and NFP Securities.

SunTrust Private Wealth Management hired a four-member brokerage team at its regional headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. The team is led by private financial advisors Jeff Pratt and Bryan Kazley. Another member is investment associate Andy Stroer and investment associate Whitney Dieter. They joined from Wells Fargo.

Bernstein Private Wealth Management, a unit of AllianceBernstein, appointed Daniel Eagan as senior vice president and managing director to lead its private wealth practice in San Francisco. Eagan has had a 20-year career at AllianceBernstein. Prior to rejoining Bernstein in 2018, Eagan was a director in the portfolio management group of Hirtle Callaghan. In addition, William Grayson was promoted to national director of family offices in the San Francisco office. Grayson joined Bernstein nearly a decade ago. Prior to Bernstein, he was the president of a SEC-registered investment advisor and hedge fund firm, and before that, vice president at JP Morgan & Co. and Montgomery Securities.

Rockefeller Capital Management appointed Andrea Jung to its board of directors.
Jung is chief executive of Grameen America, a microfinance organization in the US. She is the former chairman and CEO of Avon, roles she held from 2001-2012 and 1999-2012 respectively. Jung also serves on the boards of Apple and Unilever. She was previously a director of General Electric and a supervisory board member of Daimler AG.

Global asset manager Eaton Vance appointed Ingrid Jacobs as chief diversity officer.  Based in Boston, Jacobs leads Eaton Vance's strategy to improve its efforts to attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce. She was previously at Raytheon Corporation, where she was head of corporate diversity and inclusion. She was previously global head of diversity and inclusion at Whirlpool Corporation and associated with Fifth Third Bank and General Electric.

BlackRock appointed Venu Krishnamurthy as the head of its new digital wealth unit. He joined from Citi, where he was the US head of Citigold and Citi priority client segments, as well as Citi personal wealth management.

Silicon Valley-based digital wealth management firm Personal Capital appointed Allison Amadia as general counsel. In her new role, she oversees Personal Capital’s legal and compliance functions and serve as corporate secretary. Amadia has more than 25 years of legal experience. Prior to joining Personal Capital, Amadia served as general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at a privately-held cloud-based financial technology provider.

Foresight Wealth Management, a Utah-based firm, appointed Chris Light serving as a partner and wealth advisor. Previously, Light served as senior vice president and wealth advisor for Lefavi Wealth Management for 13 years.

EisnerAmper has appointed Chip Niculae as a director in the international tax services group, specializing in international taxation and cross-border transactions. He has more than 13 years of experience in inbound and outbound tax structuring, cross-border transactions, M&A, entity formation, global reorganizations, debt financing and restructuring, and liquidations. He has held positions with a national tax practice and with the NY ITS Core Practice at a Big Four firm.

Los Angeles-based Saban Real Estate appointed Scott Anderson as managing director of asset management. He is based in Los Angeles and reports to Philip Han, executive vice president and chief investment officer. Prior to SRE, Anderson was at American Realty Advisors, where he served as EVP, portfolio management. He previously held positions at TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, Fannie Mae, and KPMG.

Bernstein Private Wealth Management appointed Tiffany Kent as vice president and financial advisor of its Atlanta office. Prior to joining Bernstein, Kent served as an analyst and vice president at Friedberg Investment Management.

BMO Wealth Management US appointed Lynne Shapiro Smith as chief operating officer of BMO Harris Financial Advisors. She is based in Chicago. Smith reports to Wallace Harris, president of BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Before joining BMO, Smith worked at Voya Financial as the head of strategy for its wealth management business.

Connecticut-based Procyon Partners named Antonio Rodrigues as senior portfolio manager, Antonio Rodrigues, who previously managed $300 million in client assets. Prior to joining Procyon, he was a senior portfolio manager for Olson Mobeck Investment Advisors and People’s United Advisors.

RBC Wealth Management hired Weissman & Dion Wealth Management Group to its West Palm Beach office. The Weissman & Dion Wealth Management Group is comprised of Gary Weissman, managing director – financial advisor, who has 29 years of industry experience, Eric Dion, first vice president – financial advisor, who has 33 year of experience, Andrea Dellisanti, registered client associate, Peggy Eagles, senior registered client associate and Jonathan Gomez, senior financial associate.

International wealth manager Baird appointed six financial advisors and two associate financial advisors to its private wealth management business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Edina, Minnesota. The Mathey-Mirabella Group joined the Ann Arbor office, and includes financial advisors John Mathey, managing director, and Dan Mirabella, managing director. Mirabella also serves as branch manager. The Olson Bellfi Pham Group also joined the Ann Arbor office, and includes Karla Olson-Bellfi, managing director, and Thai-Vi Pham, vice president, and associate financial advisor Omer Bellfi, vice president.

The firm hired the McCrea Burns Group to its Edina office. It includes Dobbin McCrea, Jr, director, and Cassidy Burns, vice president, and associate financial advisor Kevin Rollwagen.

CIBC FirstCaribbean appointed Fernando Cugliari as private wealth investment advisor. Cugliari previously worked as an international investment advisor with Scotia Private Group in Toronto, Canada, and most recently with RBC Dominion Securities in the Cayman Islands.

California-based EP Wealth Advisors, an independent registered investment advisor, appointed Chad Sinclair, as chief financial officer, and promoted Ryan Serrecchia to executive vice president and partner. Sinclair joined EP Wealth from Deloitte & Touche, where he was a manager in the mergers and acquisitions advisory division.

Fiduciary Trust Company, a wealth advisor and investment management firm for high net worth individuals and nonprofits, appointed Hans Olsen as its chief investment officer. Prior to this, he was at Stifel Nicolaus, where he was global head of investment strategy for its wealth management unit and CIO of its Delaware Trust Company.

SignatureFD, the financial advisory firm, has recruited Jordan Hutchison as an advisor. Prior to this role, he looked after high net worth and multi-generational families as well as designed investment strategies for institutional investors and individuals.

The firm said Hutchison is experienced in the field of behavioral finance; he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Montevallo and a master’s degree in financial planning and counseling from the University of Alabama. Recently Hutchison completed Executive Education from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in management from Saint Leo University with a research emphasis in the academic of choice architecture and decision making.

BlackRock appointed Francisco Rosemberg as a director in its office in Santiago, Chile. Rosenberg previously worked at Schroders, where he was head of intermediary distribution for Latin America.

Bernstein Private Wealth Management appointed Tiffany S Kent has joined as vice president and financial advisor in its the Atlanta office. Prior to this, Kent served as an analyst and vice president at Friedberg Investment Management, an investment advisor firm, where she was responsible for constructing client portfolios.

Law firm BakerHostetler appointed Jonathan Forster and Rebecca Manicone join as partners in its private wealth team. They will be based in Washington, DC. Both Forster and Manicone join the firm from Greenberg Traurig. Forster will serve as the private wealth practice team coordinator for the Northeast market.

Vontobel Asset Management appointed Thomas Wittwer as chief executive of its US platform, Quality Growth Boutique. Wittwer replaced Dr Philipp Hensler, who served as CEO since 2014. Hensler decided to leave the firm to pursue other opportunities. The new CEO has around 30 years’ experience in the sector. Charles Falck, who served as chief operating officer of Vontobel Asset Management US, since 2013, took on the expanded role of global COO of Vontobel Asset Management, supporting all boutiques and regions.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Stephen Colella as a wealth director in Boston, Massachusetts. Colella reports to managing director, Pamela Murray. Before this role, Colella was at DiCicco, Gulman, & Company as a tax consultant and wealth strategist for its private client group for 11 years.

California-based financial services firm First Foundation Advisors named Raymond Mow as managing director of fixed income. He has over 25 years of experience in managing financial portfolios and working with advisory teams. He was previously senior portfolio manager at Highmark Capital Management.

JP Morgan appointed Oli Harris to head up its crypto-currency strategy and Quorum, its own iteration of blockchain. Harris joined the Wall Street giant in January, 2014, and prior to his new position served three years as head of financial technology at the bank.

Pinnacle Financial Partners, the Nashville, TN-headquartered firm, recruited a wealth advisor in Sumner County to its Pinnacle Asset Management group. Ken Farley joined Pinnacle from SunTrust Investment Services, where he spent 29 years and was running a $58 million book of business for 220 households. Before that, he was with Ameristar Capital Markets.

Boston Private Wealth promoted Tom Anderson to chief operating officer and Shannon Saccocia to chief investment officer. Anderson previously served in a dual role as CIO and COO, while Saccocia was chief investment strategist. Saccocia oversees the Boston Private Wealth’s investment policy and direct investment strategy, research, portfolio management, trading, asset allocation and investment risk management functions.

First Republic Bank appointed Jeremy Wenner and Adam Beard to its investment management arm. They were named managing director. Wenner works in First Republic’s San Francisco office and Beard is located in Boston.

Wenner has more than 17 years of financial services experience serving high net worth individuals and families. Wenner was MD in the Private Wealth Management Group at Jefferies. Before that, he was private client investment advisor at Thomas Weisel Partners. Wenner began his career as a financial services analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities.

Beard has more than 22 years of experience creating customized wealth planning strategies for high net worth individuals and families. Beard was Senior Vice President in the Private Wealth Management Group at Jefferies and also worked in the firm’s technology investment banking group. Before that, he was director at GCA and was vice president at Arma Partners.

JP Morgan Private Bank appointed Jessica Matthews as head of sustainable investing in wealth management. Matthews reports to Monica Issar, global head of multi-asset and portfolio solutions.  She is based in New York. Matthews was at Cambridge Associates’ mission-related investing practice, and also worked in various investment roles in both the public and private sectors.

Rothschild Global Advisory, part of France-based Rothschild & Co, appointed two managing directors to its Chicago office: Sumner Farren and Sara Coyle, who have previously worked together at UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. They joined the industrials group. With more than 25 years’ experience, Sumner Farren joined from UBS, where he was a MD responsible for the firm’s sell-side merger and acquisition activities in North America. Prior to UBS, Farren worked for 20 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Chicago working primarily on M&A for a variety of industries. Coyle, meanwhile, also previously worked at UBS, where she was a MD of the global industrials group responsible for industrial distribution and packaging coverage efforts. She joined the firm in 2015. Prior to UBS, Coyle spent ten years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citi, working on M&A, equity and debt financing transactions.

Florida-based wealth manager Caldwell Trust Company promoted three of its staff members to vice presidents. Scott Antritt and Sonya Kristie, based in the Sarasota office, were promoted to vice president and trust officer. Sheryl Vieira, based in Venice, moved up to vice president of marketing and PR. Antritt joined Caldwell Trust Company in 2011 as a trust officer.

Kristie is responsible for the day-to-day administration of trusts, which includes serving as wealth manager for trusts, IRA’s, estates, and investment management relationships. She assists her clients with budgeting, estate planning, investments, taxes, and legal matters in conjunction with their accountants and attorneys.

Vieira joined Caldwell Trust Company as marketing manager in 2011. She manages the company’s strategic marketing and business development program, advertising and public relations.

EisnerAmper named Gerard O’Beirne, partner and CPA, as leader of its international tax services group, concentrating on international taxation, advisory and compliance services, publicly traded and closely held businesses, and high-net-worth individuals. He is based in New York. O’Beirne has more than 25 years of experience with both inbound and outbound structuring, including mergers and acquisitions.

New Jersey wealth manager Round Table Wealth Management has appointed Frederic Behrens as director and wealth advisor.

Previously, Behrens held a position as an international investment advisor at a boutique investment management firm focusing on financial planning for American expatriates. He has extensive experience working with clients located in the United Kingdom, Western Europe, and Asia.

Global wealth manager Baird appointed Irv Mindes as managing director and Bill Fedor as senior vice president in Tucson, Arizona. They were joined by Marcie Shatz, branch administrative supervisor, and Christy Yetka, senior client specialist. Mindes has more than 35 years of industry experience. Mindes oversees $360 million in assets. Fedor has nearly 25 years of industry experience. Fedor oversees $206 million in assets.

Missouri-based Stifel Financial named Jim Chahine as managing director at its broker-dealer subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company in Ohio.  He is based in Youngstown and leads its expansion in the Ohio region. Chahine previously worked at Credit Suisse Securities, where he was regional managing director for the state of Florida.  Prior to Credit Suisse, he spent 23 years at Merrill Lynch.

US–based Mawer Investment Management appointed Craig Senyk as president. He replaced outgoing president Michael Mezei. Senyk has been with the firm for over 20 years.

Wells Fargo named Amanda Norton as its new chief risk officer, poaching her from JP Morgan where she served as CRO of consumer and community banking. Norton replaced replacing Mike Loughlin, who announced his retirement earlier in 2018. Norton is based in San Francisco. Norton joined JP Morgan in 2011 as its CRO for home lending, then, in 2013, took on her most recent role as CRO of its consumer and community banking operations.

Oregon-based financial advisory firm True Private Wealth Advisors hired The Sanders Coffee Group to its operation. Based in Eugene, Oregon, financial advisors Scott Sanders and Jesse Coffee launched the group after leaving Merrill Lynch. The Sanders Coffee Group has approximately $95 million in client assets.

City National Bank hired Bill Sappington as an executive vice president to take charge of its private banking and wealth management operations. Sappington, who has more than 30 years’ experience in financial services, reports to Russell Goldsmith, chairman and chief executive of City National Bank and chairman of RBC Wealth Management’s US division.

Bank of America appointed Kerri Schroeder as Seattle market president. She succeeded Anthony DiBlasi in the role. After serving more than four years as market president, DiBlasi relocates to California to become the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management market executive for Greater Los Angeles.

RBC Wealth Management named Pat Grady as director of the firm’s Paramus branch. Grady joined the firm in 2014 to lead the firm’s Parsippany branch, prior to his promotion to Paramus branch director.

Michael Tait and Bill Webb launched Toronto-based Waypoint Investment Partners, an investment firm that focuses on public and private equity.Until his retirement in December 2015 after 20 years with the firm, Webb served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of wealth management firm Gluskin Sheff and Associates. Webb began a career in investment banking with Gordon Capital in 1996. He worked in many areas of institutional finance at firms such as CIBC, HSBC and UBS. He was also a co-founder of Genuity Capital Markets, sold to Canaccord Financial, and was managing director at UBS Securities Canada.

BMO Wealth Management appointed Sara Walker as senior strategist, regional director of investments. Based in Milwaukee, Walker leads wealth and investment strategies for Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwest Illinois. Prior to joining BMO, she served as senior vice president, chief economist and investment officer for Associated Private Client Services.

RBC Wealth Management hired three new financial advisors its Spokane branch. The team consists of Doug Dumais, senior vice president and financial advisor, who joins with 35 years of industry experience; Kirt Fredericks, senior vice president and financial advisor, who has 26 years of experience; and Kathy Hale, financial advisor, who is joining the team when they start at RBC WM and has 16 years of experience.

Steward Partners Global Advisory, an employee-owned, full-service independent partnership associated with Raymond James Financial Services, appointed The Sedoric Group, in a bid to expands the firm’s presence in New England. The team joined Steward Partners in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from Wells Fargo Advisors. It is comprised of financial advisors Tom Sedoric and Casey Snyder, and team members Erika Luczynski, wealth management associate and Brittany Long, senior registered client administrative manager.

Alabama-based Oakworth Capital Bank, which has wealth management and private banking operations, appointed Jennifer Luster as a client advisor for its River region market.

US Trust, part of Bank of America's group of wealth businesses, made 10 hires in March across the US.

It hired Scott Lopez to its Newport Beach, California office as a private client advisor. Also US Trust appointed Jason Leinberger as a senior portfolio manager at its Stamford office. Leinberger joined from The Private Bank.

Belinda Alexander joined its Tampa office as a private client advisor. She was previously at Morgan Stanley. Brian Dennis also joined its New York operation as a private client advisor. He was previously at Wells Fargo as a wealth advisor.

The firm hired four new members to its offices across Massachusetts. Daniel Beauchemin has joined the Boston office as a senior trust officer.  Jessie Colby Harris has joined the Boston office as a fixed income portfolio manager. Adrienne Cormier has joined the Boston office as a senior trust officer. Daniel Paris has joined the Boston office as a private client advisor.

Also, US Trust appointed Robert DeVautour III and Kenneth Womack as private client advisors of its Houston and Austin offices, respectively.

Mercury Capital Advisors, the global investment advisory and alternative investments platform, appointed Nick Savasta as chief investment officer and partner. Savasta reports to Michael Ricciardi, chief executive and managing partner. Savasta used to work at Michael Dell’s MSD Partners, where he was MD and co-head of MSD’s strategic investments group.

BNY Mellon Asset Management North America, the firm created by the merger of Mellon Capital, Standish and The Boston Company, appointed Jed Maczuba as the new chief technology officer. Maczuba most recently served as director of enterprise architecture at MFS Investment Management. Prior to joining MFS, Maczuba was a senior manager in Accenture’s strategy and transformation practice.

UBS Financial Services and its Minnesota-based affiliate Karl Nikodym Wealth Management appointed Veronica Villenueve as a wealth strategy associate. Villeneuve worked with Karl Nikodym Wealth Management Group for the past year, beginning in client services before this promotion.

Los Angeles-based Falcon Wealth Planning promoted Rachel Vonbank as chief compliance officer. She was previously director of operations. Vonbank has been at Falcon Wealth Planning for almost two years. Prior to Falcon, she was at Citizens Business Bank.

Customers Bank, a US community banking group, opened a Washington, DC office in its private and commercial banking division. Travis Gray was appointed senior vice president and banking group head of its Washington, DC. operation. Prior to joining Customers Bank, Gray served as senior vice president and national sales executive at Bank of America global commercial and investment bank.

Ronald Hobson joined the office as senior vice president and client manager. Hobson has over 30 years of commercial banking experience, most recently serving as senior vice president at Main Street Bank.

Barings, the financial services firm, appointed a former advisor to the Obama administration, Dr Christopher Smart, to lead its team examining how economic and political events affect financial markets. He will hold the title of head of macroeconomic and geopolitical research.

Dr Smart spent six years as a senior policy maker for international economic affairs in the Obama administration. From 2013 to 2015, he was the special assistant to the president at the National Economic Council and the National Security Council, where he was a principal advisor to President Obama on trade, investment and a wide range of global economic issues. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury from 2009 to 2013, where he led the administration's response to the European financial crisis and designed US engagement on financial policy across Europe, Russia and Central Asia.

Illinois-based Calamos Wealth Management appointed Nancy Velez as client associate of its South Florida office. Velez is a wealth advisory client specialist with experience serving international clients, particularly in South America. She has more than 17 years of industry experience, which includes roles as a client advisor associate at Boston Private Wealth, and relationship manager and assistant vice president at BNP Paribas.

Rockefeller Capital Management, an independent financial services firm, appointed Laura Esposito as head of institutional distribution for Rockefeller Asset Management. In this newly-established position, Esposito leads services of Rockefeller Asset Management, which include global and small-cap equity, ESG and fixed income strategies to institutional investors, including pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and foundations and endowments as well as institutional consultants and financial intermediaries. He reports to chief investment officer, David Harris, and is based in New York City. She was most recently a senior vice president and co-head of global sales and marketing for TT International, a UK-based investment manager.

Northern Trust appointed Colter Lewis as wealth management president of Texas, replacing Jeffrey Early in the role. Lewis maintains his position as Houston president while taking on the expanded regional managing director role. Mark Flagg, Dallas president, Jeff King, Fort Worth president, and Ronnie Powell, Austin president, report directly to Lewis. He has 22 years of experience in the wealth management sector. He joined Northern Trust in 2005 as a wealth advisor. Lewis was promoted to managing director in 2008 and was named Houston president in 2013.