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Summary Of Executive Moves In North America Wealth Industry - September 2012

5 October 2012

Fieldpoint Private, which serves ultra-high net worth families and institutions,  appointed former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney veteran M Thomas Conway as a managing director and senior advisor. His move ended a 23-year career at MSSB and its predecessor firms.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch named a new head of insurance and annuities. Michael Maghini moved from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to assume leadership of the BoA unit, bringing with him some 30 years of industry experience . Maghini was previously a director for distribution at MSSB and had also worked for the likes of Citigroup, SunAmerica Asset Management and UBS.

La Jolla, CA-based Altegris, the alternative investments provider, expanded its team of sales and consulting professionals, appointing Valentina Glaviano to the newly-created role of director of distribution strategy, while Christopher McCool joins as vice president and New England regional director. Glaviano has 25 years of experience in distribution strategy and management, business development, marketing and product development. Most recently, she was managing director and head of ETF and tradeable funds distribution for Guggenheim Investments. McCool was most recently director of sales with Bennett Group Financial Services in Boston.

New York-listed GAMCO Investors appointed Jeffrey Jonas as an associate portfolio manager for the Gabelli Asset fund. Jonas joined portfolio manager Mario Gabelli, manager of the fund since its inception in 1986, and associate portfolio managers Kevin Dreyer and Christopher Marangi.

JHS Capital Advisors, a dual-registered broker/dealer and RIA, named Mark Hennings as a branch manager and financial advisor within its Minneapolis, MN, office. Hennings, a 27-year veteran of the financial services industry, provides wealth management services to business owners, as well as to affluent individuals and their families. Prior to joining JHS, he spent six years at RBC Dain Rauscher as a vice president and financial advisor.

Citi Private Bank appointed Ary Velasco as a director and ultra high net worth private banker at its office in Miami, FL. Velasco joined from Sabadell Bank & Trust in Miami, where he was a senior vice president and wealth management director .

Northern Trust added Randall Burkert to its northeast region team, responsible for business development in key cities such as Boston, New York City and Washington, DC. Burkert, who was appointed a managing director of development at the firm, is also a member of the regional executive leadership group. He joined from Hirtle, Callaghan & Co, an outsourced chief investment officer firm.

EI hired Kristina Harshany as director of business development for its private wealth management segment, tasked with developing new relationships with ultra high net worth individuals.  Prior to joining SEI, Harshany was a senior vice president of Citibank’s financial intermediaries group.

Registered investment advisor Washington Wealth Management brought in the Domari Wealth Management team from Wells Fargo, bringing with it $135 million in assets under management and $1.4 million in revenue. Brian Danelian leads the team, which was also made up of J Allen Thompson and Christine Fountain.

Wilmington Trust and M&T Bank announced the line-up of a new wealth advisory team in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The move follows M&T Bank's integration of its investment management arm into Wilmington Trust to create a unified wealth management business at the bank . M&T Bank completed its acquisition of Wilmington Trust in May 2011. John McCarthy, who joined M&T Bank in 2004,  leads the Wilmington Trust team in Wilkes-Barre, as private client advisor and team leader. The rest of the team are John Helinski, senior investment adviser; Donna Patton, private banker; Ashlee Selenski, investment associate, and Nina Deno, administrative assistant.

Canada’s RBC Wealth Management appointed Shehreen Quayyum and Jaime Zuloaga as directors for the Americas desk at the firm’s London-based UK private client wealth management team, continuing a number of recent senior moves. Quayyuum – formerly of HSBC – and Zuloaga – formerly of Barclays – report to Martin Heale, who was appointed head of Americas in July last year, according to a statement from RBC.

Kathleen Casey, an ex-commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, joined the Alternative Investment Management Association, a hedge fund industry group, as non-excutive chairman. At the SEC, Casey was not only a commissioner – one of five president-appointed roles – but also the representative to the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Financial Stability Board. Commissioners each serve five-year terms.

Wells Fargo added three practices to its independent brokerage network in recent weeks, attracting advisors in Utah and California. Joining Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network in Bakersfield, CA, were Alan Larsen, John Rodgers, Lance MacKall and Rick Yanez, who have combined assets under management of $229 million and make up Foundation Wealth Management. Larsen and Rodgers were at UBS before while MacKall and Yanez were at Chase Bank.

Bank of America made a host of state and market president appointments, emphasizing regional engagement. Gary Gore, managing director and region executive for the Mid-Atlantic region of US Trust, additionally serve as Richmond, VA, market president and Virginia president . David Millman, market executive for business banking for Greater Maryland, was named Maryland and Baltimore market president. Both replace William Couper, who served as Bank of America Mid-Atlantic president and is retiring at the end of September. Randy Dhindsa was appointed Fresno-Central Valley, CA, market president. He is also a market manager for the Central Valley business banking team. Lastly, Deon Pitsor serves as Iowa state president. He is also a client manager serving business banking clients across Iowa.

Goldman Sachs's longstanding chief financial officer David Viniar stepped down after over three decades at the firm, to be replaced by the bank's current global co-head of securities. Harvey Schwartz was to take the reins as CFO at the end of January 2013.

Baird added R Parker Griffith to its Nashville, TN, team, replacing Fred McLaughlin as branch manager. McLaughlin stayed on serving his clients and grew his business as a Baird advisor.

Los Angeles-headquartered Wedbush Securities hired Tina Huyler to its private client services team as a vice president, investments. Huyler, who serves clients in Colorado and the surrounding region, was previously a vice president and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

William Blair & Company, an employee-owned business, appointed Ryan DeVore as director of private client advisors, a new role. DeVore spent the last nine years at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where he most recently led the North Colorado complex, responsible for four branch offices, 105 advisors and $8.2 billion in assets.

A new alternative asset management business, Madison Park Capital Partners, brought in John Schmick from Russell Investments as principal. Schmick was a regional sales director in the private client services division of Russell.

New York-headquartered Rockefeller Financial brought in Raymond Wareham as a managing director and senior client advisor to high net worth individuals, families and family offices. Based in New York City, Wareham works with other Rockefeller professionals across the organization, while also contributing to the firm’s business development . Prior to joining Rockefeller, Wareham was a senior managing director at Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a subsidiary of AllianceBernstein.

SignatureFD, the Atlanta, GA-based RIA, appointed John O’Donnell - latterly of Fidelity Investments - as a principal. Prior to joining SignatureFD, O’Donnell was a vice president within Fidelity Investments’ private client group.

SNW Asset Management, an RIA providing fixed income portfolio management, made a number of hires within its Seattle, WA, office. Samuel Hecker, a municipal credit analyst, works with the portfolio team to review and rank municipal bonds. Prior to joining SNW, he was a fixed income analyst at T Rowe Price.

Bellevue, WA-based Symetra Investment Services, an independent broker-dealer and RIA, added Seattle First Asset Management, a $400 million stock and portfolio advisory firm, to its network of independent financial advisors. Seattle First’s founders, Floyd Jones and Steven Jones, were formerly affiliated with First Washington Corporation in Seattle, WA. The father-son team has 84 years of combined experience in the financial services industry and manages over $400 million in total client assets.

Wells Fargo named former Fortigent chief investment officer Nathan Sonnenberg as director of investments for its ultra high net worth unit, Abbot Downing. Sonnenberg joined Wells in the Washington, DC area. He previously chaired the investment committee at Fortigent.

RBC Wealth Management appointed Steve Sokić as head of ultra high net worth, trust, fiduciary and tax - a newly-created role which saw him relocate from Jersey to Toronto. Reporting to London-based Paul Patterson - who was recently named deputy chairman of RBC Wealth Management for UHNW, international – Sokić develops trust and fiduciary solutions for the firm’s international UHNW clientele.

RBC Wealth Management also added the Robinson Reuter group to its La Jolla, CA, office. The Robinson Reuter group is comprised of Scott Robinson, senior vice president and financial advisor; Christian Reuter, first vice president and financial advisor, and Jeanette Cameron, senior registered assistant. They all joined from Merrill Lynch.

The Hedge Fund Association expanded its leadership team, appointing Don Steinbrugge to its board of directors, among other senior hires. Steinbrugge, the chairman of Agecroft Partners, joined a segment of the group's board which represents the interests of hedge fund investors . Prior to forming Agecroft Partners, he was head of sales and a founding principal of Andor Capital Management.

Northern Trust appointed Linda Cheresh as a senior private banker within its Santa Barbara, CA, office. Cheresh is responsible for managing client relationships as well as providing credit, deposit, investment and fiduciary services to wealthy individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations. Most recently, Cheresh served as a vice president of US Bank’s Private Client Reserve.

PrivateBancorp appointed John Heiberger as chief strategy officer, succeeding Brant Ahrens who was named president of personal client services for The PrivateBank. Heiberger reports to president and chief executive Larry Richman, while working with the firm’s operating committee to advance its strategic objectives. Prior to joining The PrivateBank in 2007 as managing director of commercial real estate, Heiberger spent 14 years at LaSalle Bank.

M&I Wealth Management, part of BMO Financial Group, promoted Donald Edinger - formerly trust services manager in Kansas City - to regional director of trust for the central states region. In his newly-created role, Edinger manages the trust offices in the Kansas City, Indianapolis and St Louis markets. He has over 30 years of industry experience and has been with M&I for the past seven years.

NJ-based Beacon Trust Company, a subsidiary of The Provident Bank, hired Loren Sattinger as a vice president and trust officer. Sattinger is responsible for the administration of estate settlements, working with investment managers, wealth advisors and estate beneficiaries to ensure that the terms of wills are followed and estate distributions are made in a timely manner. Sattinger has over 38 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Beacon Trust, he served as vice president and trust officer for 12 years with Citi Trust.

Barclays added Edward Moldaver, managing director, and his five-strong team from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to its New York wealth and investment management division. Moldaver reports to Mark Stevenson, managing director and regional manager for New York . His team, which includes former New York Jets player Wayne Chrebet, joined Barclays from the global wealth management division of MSSB.

Northern Trust appointed Naples, FL-based Steven Arbogast as senior lending officer for the firm’s Lee and Collier regions - a role he previously held for the firm’s Fort Lauderdale clientele. He reports to John Fumagalli, president and chief executive of Florida’s western region. Prior to his seven-year post as senior lending officer for Fort Lauderdale, Arbogast served clients at the bank’s Palm Beach and Martin County office.

Chautauqua Capital Management, an investment management firm in Boulder, CO, appointed David Lubchenco as partner. He reports to Brian Beitner, founder and managing partner. Lubchenco previously worked at Scout Investments as head of sales and marketing, and has been in the industry for two decades.

Investment manager AllianceBernstein appointed Jeffrey Kurpiel to manage the tax function, as vice president and tax director. Kurpiel specializes in the tax regulations governing asset management firms, hedge funds and private equity firms. He joined from The Rohatyn Group. He reports to John Weisenseel, AllianceBernstein’s chief financial officer.

Salem, OR-based True Private Wealth Advisors, comprised of two teams from Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, joined Dynasty Financial Partners' network of advisors.

The two teams from Merrill, including branch manager Steve Altman, combined to form the new firm. The Davis/Altman Group and the Gescher/Herber Group will remain as separate groups under the True Private Wealth Advisors name.

Westcott Financial Advisory Group appointed Joseph Nader as a senior financial advisor and managing director, based in Coral Gables, FL.

JHS Capital Advisors, a dual-registered broker/dealer and RIA, hired Katie White as a vice president, financial advisor, based in Tampa, FL. White manages $40 million in client assets and joined from Wells Fargo.

Cleveland, OH-headquartered Cedar Brook Financial Partners appointed Andrew Denis as a partner, heading up a new Clearwater, FL, office. Denis joined from Boston Asset Management, where he worked with business executives, retirees and professional athletes.

Chicago-based Mesirow Financial bolstered its investment advisory group with the addition of Highland Park, IL-based Daniel Nickow and Brett Salzer as a managing director and senior vice president respectively. The Talman Nickow Salzer advisory group manages assets for clients including individuals, families, business owners, non-profits and foundations.

Minneapolis, MN-based US Bank appointed Kristen Armstrong as senior wealth dynamics coach at Ascent Private Capital Management, the bank’s wealth management unit which caters for clients with at least $25 million in assets.

Armstrong reports to Scott Winget, senior managing director of wealth planning. She joined senior wealth dynamics coach Amy Zehnder.

The Bermuda-headquartered banking group Butterfield named Brendan McDonagh as its new chairman and chief executive. McDonagh has been with Butterfield since the start of this year, when he joined as executive chairman designate; he was officially appointed executive chairman in May. McDonagh replaced Bradford Kopp, who has retired after having been president and chief executive of the firm since March 2010.