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North America Executive Moves: January 2013
Eliane Chavagnon
8 February 2013
Baird is planning to open a new wealth management office in the Northeast and has brought in Peter Miller from Wells Fargo to lead the effort. Miller is charged with recruiting experienced advisors in the Northeast to staff a new office there; the precise location of the new office has not been determined yet. Miller himself will be based at the firm’s St Louis office. Miller was latterly a member of Wells Fargo Advisors’ senior leadership team, heading up the advisor development group. In this role he managed training, recruitment and development of the firm’s branch managers and financial advisors. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management added five UBS advisors, bolstering its teams in Florida and New Jersey. Kevin Cooper joined Morgan Stanley in Boca Raton, FL, reporting to complex manager Bert White. At UBS he had assets of $400 million and production of $1.6 million. In Shrewsbury, NJ, Morgan Stanley added The Ryan Group, comprised of John Ryan, David Nelson, James Gallagher and Philip Martinho. The team reports to branch manager Todd Sacks. It had $350 million in combined assets at UBS, and production of $2.8 million. Los Angeles-headquartered Aristotle Capital Management added Jay Cunningham and Eric Gerritse to its investment management team and Andrew Shapiro as director of trading. Cunningham joined as a senior research analyst. He latterly worked at Metropolitan West Capital Management, where he worked with Aristotle’s chief executive Howard Gleicher until 2010, when Gleicher left. Gerritse joined following a 17-year international career in investing. He was based in the Netherlands for a period as a fund analyst for ABN AMRO Advisors, and as an analyst at MeesPierson. John LaPann, the founder of Boston-based wealth manager Federal Street Advisors, delegated the day-to-day management of the firm to two of his colleagues, as he remains as chairman and lead advisor. Kristin Fafard was appointed as president and chief investment officer while Jennifer Christian Murtie took over as chief operating officer. Fafard was previously director of research, a position that Emily Bannister is now taking on. As chairman, LaPann will stay involved with decisions that affect the whole firm, and he will also spend more time working directly with clients and leading the advice team. He remains on the firm’s investment committee. Florida-based Fross & Fross Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm, took on Paul Hoffman as a portfolio manager and wealth advisor. Hoffman will be in charge of portfolio structuring and analysis, as well as providing timely information to clients. He has over 25 years of investment experience, having served as vice president of fixed income, currency and commodities at Goldman Sachs, among other roles at AMBAC Securities, TIAA-CREF, BNY Mellon, Citizens First Bank and Gibraltar Private Bank. Raymond James & Associates, the broker/dealer subsidiary of Raymond James Financial, nabbed another financial advisor team from Morgan Stanley, this time in Houston, TX. Financial advisors and senior vice presidents Marlene Fowler and Christopher Fowler operate as the Fowler Financial Group and previously managed over $70 million in client assets, with annual fees and commissions in excess of $700,000. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, the husband-wife team spent a combined 29 years at AG Edwards, where they managed more than $100 million in client assets and had annual revenues of some $1 million. First Republic Bank appointed senior vice president Jason Bender to the newly-created position of chief administrative officer. Bender currently manages First Republic’s finance department but will assume additional responsibilities for lending operations and servicing, as well as administrative services. He joined First Republic in 1999 and has led the bank’s finance department since 2001. Bank of Montreal brought in Robert Cormie to head new private banking operations in Asia, as the firm seeks to create a global service for wealthy individuals looking to manage their investments across North America and Asia-Pacific. The move offers high net worth clients a more integrated and flexible range of financial products and services, while bridging local clients venturing abroad and international clients conducting business in Asia, BMO said. Cormie was named regional vice president and managing director of private banking in Asia and will report to Alexandra Dousmanis-Curtis, senior vice president and head of private banking in Canada and Asia. Cormie will also have a regional reporting line into Albert Yu, BMO's chief executive in Asia. Joe Reilly, founding president of the Family Office Association, is leaving the firm to “explore a new project”. Reilly partnered with the chief executive of FOA, Angelo Robles, in 2008, when the firm was set up with a handful of families in Greenwich. He was formerly an investment manager for a family office in New York. Details of Reilly’s project have yet to be announced. Reilly also contributes regularly to this publication , and will be continuing with this. Financial advisors Philip Maurer, David Kushner and Barbara Maurer joined the Newtown, PA, branch of Raymond James & Associates, the broker/dealer subsidiary of Raymond James Financial. The team operates as M2K Financial and joined from Morgan Stanley, where it managed over $146 million in client assets and had annual fees and commissions in excess of $935,000. Philip Maurer started his financial services career 12 years ago as a financial advisor at Prudential Securities, which then merged into Wachovia. In his new role at Raymond James, he focuses on financial planning and specialty equity income portfolio management. Kushner, who has four years of industry experience, is vice president of investments for M2K Financial. He latterly served as a second vice president and financial planning specialist at Morgan Stanley. At Raymond James, he specializes in financial planning services including wealth management and college planning, while advising on corporate retirement plans, specifically 401 plans. Lastly, Barbara Maurer is a financial advisor and wealth management specialist. She started her career at Merrill Lynch in 1987, where she served as an assistant vice president and supervisor. She formerly worked at Morgan Stanley. US-based Real Estate Capital Partners hired Thomas Etzel as managing director and head of strategy and business development, based in New York and Germany, as the firm looks to expand into European real estate investments. RECAP also promoted two of its executives to the newly-formed management committee with Etzel. Paul Doocy was promoted from executive vice president to chief investment officer, while Andre Kinney was named COO, but retains his previous role as head of asset management. Etzel will also serve on the executive committee along with Doocy, Kinney, Sylvia Gross, Michael Fruchtman, Robert McGee and Karin Shewer. Shewer, a founding partner of RECAP, became chairman of the RECAP board, while continuing to focus on investor marketing, business development and strategic initiatives. Ameriprise Financial appointed Lisa Spadoni as a financial advisor within the private wealth advisory practice of Goldstein & Associates. Spadoni was latterly a financial advisor with Edward Jones, having previously worked for many years in the printing industry. Bank of America appointed 13 business, academic and public policy leaders to its newly-created Global Advisory Council, which is chaired by chief executive Brian Moynihan. Members of the council will share expertise and insights on the bank’s global engagement, while advising senior bank executives on trends and emerging opportunities in local markets. Members of the Bank of America Global Advisory Council, which is a non-fiduciary body, include: • Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong - founder, former chairman and CEO, Abraxis Bioscience; • David Westin - former president and CEO, NewsRight, and former president, ABC News; • The Honorary Kay Bailey Hutchison - former US senator ; • Bader Al Sa’ad - managing director and CEO, Kuwait Investment Authority; • Donald Argus - former CEO, National Australia Bank, and former chairman, BHP Billiton Group; • Thierry Breton - chairman and CEO, Atos; • Edson de Godoy Bueno - president and CEO, Amil Participacões; • Chong-Suk Choi - president and CEO, chairman of the board of directors, Korea Investment Corporation; • Sir Sam Jonah - founder and chairman, Jonah Capital; • Eijiro Katsu - former administrative vice minister at Japan’s Ministry of Finance, and former director general at Japan’s Finance Bureau; • Dr Jürgen Kluge - director emeritus, McKinsey & Company; • Ali Koç - executive board member of Koç Holding and chairman of Ford Otosan; • Professor Frederick Ma - former secretary for financial services and the treasury, and former secretary for commerce and economic development, Hong Kong. JP Morgan appointed Reuben Rashty to lead the firm’s private banking operations in Michigan, spanning offices in Grand Rapids, Bloomfield Hills, Ann Arbor and Grosse Pointe. Prior to taking up his market manager post, Rashty served as a senior banker at JP Morgan Chase Private Bank. In his new role, he will direct the team that offers deposit, credit, fiduciary and philanthropic services, and investment advice to high net worth clients. Cleveland, OH-based The Private Trust Company made two senior hires, with more to follow, as it works with its parent firm LPL Financial Holdings to expand its high net worth offering. Jack Keane joined as vice president, finance and administrative officer, while Carolyn Neuner started as an assistant vice president and trust officer. The firm plans to take on additional trust officers in 2013. Neuner is responsible for trust accounts and wealth management clients, providing guidance related to the implementation of estate plans for intergenerational HNW clients. Prior to joining PTC, she served as vice president of personal trust administration at TIAA-CREF Trust Company. Before that she held numerous senior trust and leadership roles at Bank of America, most recently as a senior vice president and team leader. Keane is latterly of National City Corporation, where he was chief financial officer for its institutional asset management division. Mike Selfridge, senior executive vice president at First Republic Bank, was given the additional role of deputy chief operating officer. Selfridge oversees First Republic’s private banking business in the San Francisco, CA, and Silicon Valley areas, and as deputy COO takes on additional responsibilities including immediate oversight of information technology. He joined First Republic in 2012 after 18 years at Silicon Valley Bank, where he was head of regional banking. UBS Wealth Management Americas lured a long-time Merrill Lynch advisor, adding Todd Starkey to its Melbourne, FL, office, Reuters reports. Starkey was previously based at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Merritt Island office, where he managed $260 million in client assets. Last year he generated $2.1 million in annual revenue, the news service said. He was at the firm for over a decade. He was joined by senior registered associate Candace Pelham in the move to UBS. Fiduciary Trust Company International, a subsidiary of New York-listed Franklin Resources, appointed Jim Le Rose as a managing director and relationship manager. Le Rose previously worked as a senior relationship manager at Lazard Wealth Management, before which he was a senior client account manager at Bessemer Trust. Bank of America added Arnold Donald and Lionel Nowell to its board of directors. Donald is an investor and management consultant operating through his private firm, AWD Group. He previously served as president and chief executive of The Executive Leadership Council, a non-profit organization that provides African-American executives at major US companies with a professional network and a forum on business issues. Meanwhile, Nowell served as treasurer of PepsiCo between 2001 and 2009, having previously served as chief financial officer of The Pepsi Bottling Group, a role he took up in 2000. He joined PepsiCo from RJR Nabisco Inc, where he was a strategy and business development executive. UBS named Andre Cronje, former wealth management chief executive for the UK and Jersey, as chief operating officer of its investment bank. Cronje replaced Sam Molinaro, who was appointed as COO last March, although Michelle Bereaux took over on an interim basis at the start of November. UBS said Cronje’s experience spanning investment banking, wealth management and corporate center is a “major asset” as the firm seeks to reposition itself and strengthen partnerships across the group, particularly with wealth management. Cronje joined UBS in South Africa 13 years ago and has held senior roles in strategic advisory and M&A, having previously worked at UBS Warburg, Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank as an investment banker. He is a qualified lawyer and accountant. In his new role, Cronje will work closely with business heads in corporate client solutions and investor client services, as well as with all finance, operations, technology, marketing and control teams to “strengthen the integrity and effectiveness” of UBS’s front-to-back operating and control environment. Chicago-based William Blair & Company named six new partners. The new partners are: Simon Fennell ; Robert Napoli ; Scott Stevens ; Joseph Tabet ; Matt Zimmer ; and Jon Zindel . Atlanta, GA-headquartered LCG Associates, the investment consultancy firm, made a raft of senior promotions. Senior vice president Britt Bentley is now a principal of the firm, while Eric Huff has been appointed as vice president of manager research. Additionally, Peggy Madden and Patricia Utke were named as vice presidents of client performance and reporting. They are all are based out of the Atlanta office. The Securities and Exchange Commission named David Grim as deputy director of its investment management division. Grim has worked in the investment management division for 17 years, most recently as assistant chief counsel. He joined the SEC in September 1995 as a staff attorney at the office of investment company regulation, moving to the office of chief counsel in 1998. Family Office Exchange, a membership organization of single family offices and advisors, appointed Christian Sulger-Büel as managing director for FOX International. He is based in London. Sulger-Büel’s task is to expand and support the FOX network around the world, the organization said in a statement. He has extensive experience working with family offices and wealth advisors and since 1999 has operated his own consultancy helping families set up and recruit for their family offices. BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired David Duffy as a sales director within the mortgage banking group. Duffy is charged with growing the firm’s residential mortgage business across the Mid-Atlantic region, focused primarily on the Washington and Philadelphia, PA, markets. He reports to Erin Gorman, managing director for national mortgage sales and private banking in the Northeast. Brown Advisory took on Malcolm MacColl as a partner at its Boston, MA, office, as the firm looks to expand its offering for private clients and family offices. The firm said MacColl will strengthen the investment, client service and business development efforts for its private, institutional and non-profit clients in New England and nationally. MacColl joined from Crosswind Investments, an investment management firm he founded and led until selling it to the Lee Munder Capital Group last year. Prior to Crosswind, he was co-chief executive and managing principal of Essex Investment Management Company, a Boston-based firm with about $5 billion in assets. HNW, Inc, a US marketing and technology firm specializing in the financial services sector, appointed Carol Eversen as managing director of client services. Reporting to chief executive Stacey Haefele, Eversen will oversee the firm’s business development and relationship management functions. She has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing across the telecommunications, financial services and professional services industries, most recently as a vice president at LexisNexis Marketing and Business Solutions. TCW Group, the US-based asset manager, named Meredith Jackson as executive vice president and general counsel. Jackson succeeded Michael Cahill, who joined TCW in 1991 and will remain with the firm through mid-2013. Jackson is formerly of Irell & Manella, where she served as a partner and head of the debt finance practice since she joined the firm in 1999. She was also co-chair of the transactional practice group and a member of the executive, recruiting and legal opinion committees. HighTower made two senior hires in Maryland, adding to its Baltimore-based Kelly Wealth Management and Bethesda practices. In Baltimore, Matt Moore joined Kelly Wealth Management as a managing director with $200 million in assets, while Stephen Rosen joined HighTower Bethesda as a managing director and partner with $140 million. Moore has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and works with affluent families, individual clients, closely-held businesses and non-profit organizations. He previously served as a senior financial advisor and first vice president of investments at Merrill Lynch. Rosen is latterly of UBS and specializes in financial planning and portfolio management for high net worth individuals. He has 18 years of industry experience. Two advisor groups left Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Short Hills, NJ, to join UBS Wealth Management Americas and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. UBS took on James Schwarz, Donald Rosenthal, Rachel Schwarz and Susan Fanburg from Morgan Stanley, where the team operated as the Short Hills Group and generated about $2.8 million in annual fees and commissions. Together, they managed over $1 billion in client assets. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch hired James Rohmann and Steven Filiaci, who had an annual production of about $2.6 million at Morgan Stanley and managed $189 million in client assets. Nashville, TN-based Avondale Partners appointed Waymon Tipton as a managing director, charged with expanding the firm’s wealth management business in terms of advisor recruitment and assets under management. Tipton was formerly a vice president in the Nashville office at Stephens, the privately-held financial services firm. At Avondale, he will also serve as a member of the operating committee. RBC Wealth Management confirmed the appointment of Jean-François Courville - formerly president and chief executive of Manulife Asset Management - as executive vice president of global wealth services and chief operating officer, with effect from 4 February. RBC told Family Wealth Report the hire is in line with the merger of its two global support groups, global wealth services and operations and technology. The former was previously led by Stuart Rutledge, who is now based in Jersey and serves as head of global trust and UK. Based in Toronto, Courville will run the combined global support groups, assisting businesses with investment advisory and fee-based solutions, credit and cash management, brand and marketing, as well as operations and technology. He will report to George Lewis, group head of RBC Wealth Management & Insurance. Chicago, IL-based Porte Brown, which provides tax and wealth management services among others, made Genevra Knight a partner at the firm. Knight has over 14 years of industry experience and will work as part of the accounting and consulting services team in the Elk Grove Village, IL, office. She will also serve as a leader of the firm’s audit, non-profit and construction practice group. “In addition to her supervisory and client management responsibilities, she is also the partner-in-charge of our paperless audit process and the firm's quality control procedures,” said Bruce Jones, managing partner. Carne Group, which specializes in advising asset managers about how they should be run, appointed Julie O’Hara as an independent fund director at its Cayman Islands office. O’Hara is the fourth Carne director now resident in the Caribbean jurisdiction and available for fund boards. Her appointment brought the total number of the firm’s fund directors to 20. BNY Mellon brought in Judy Hu as chief marketing officer. Hu replaced Peter Hayes, who left in the spring last year. Hu will report to R Jeep Bryant, executive vice president for marketing and corporate affairs. She joined BNY Mellon from General Electric Company, where she has served as the global executive director of advertising and branding since 2002. Bill Reilly ended his 30-year stint as Florida’s chief of the Bureau of Securities Regulation, moving to the compliance and regulatory consulting practice of Virginia-based Oyster Consulting as an associate director. In his new role, Reilly will support broker-dealers and investment advisors in the areas of regulation, testimony, and on-site and off-site examinations. He will also draw on his relationships with state and federal regulators and self-regulatory organizations when providing guidance on regulatory processes and compliance issues, the firm said. During his tenure in Florida, Reilly developed electronic training programs and examination modules for use by state securities examiners, while forging close ties with the SEC, FINRA and state regulators. Genworth Financial Wealth Management, a subsidiary of New York-listed Genworth Financial, hired James Hanna as chief technology officer and a member of its senior leadership team. Hanna brings 25 years of experience to the role and reports to Carrie Hansen, senior vice president, chief operations officer and president, mutual funds, for Genworth Wealth Management. He previously worked at Bank of the West, where he was executive vice president and chief technology officer since 2005. Prior to that firm, Hanna held positions at Fidelity Information Services and Alltel Information Services. WTAS, the US-based tax firm, announced more senior promotions within its private client services practice, this time in Washington, DC, and San Francisco, CA. In Washington, W Aaron Hawthorne was named a managing director after seven years within the private client services practice. Meanwhile, Mary McCormick, who has spent over eight years in WTAS’s investment consulting practice, was promoted to director. Overall, the Washington office made four promotions, the other two being manager John Bartlett and senior associate Jamison Thiel. Further south, in San Francisco WTAS promoted Margaret Lip to its team of 19 managing directors. Altogether, the San Francisco office made 15 promotions in January including Hazel Dolio Tag-at, Brendan Love and Megan Williams as directors in the private client, valuation and marketing practices respectively. Shaun Dublin was also added as director in the private client practice. The promotions were part of a total of 51 WTAS promotions overall, including four managing directors, 12 directors, six senior managers, 13 managers and 16 senior associates. BNY Mellon Wealth Management took on Christopher Hohlstein as regional president for Georgia, based at the firm’s growing Atlanta office. Hohlstein reports to Craig Sutherland, president of the Southeast US region. Dana Halberg, chairman for Georgia, will continue in her client service leadership role, helping Hohlstein to grow the business throughout the Southeast, the firm said. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Hohlstein served for six years as a director at Synovus Family Asset Management, where he managed $4 billion in assets for over 50 families. His clients were primarily UHNW families in Georgia and the greater Southeast. Canada’s RBC Wealth Management strengthened its Omaha, NE, office, appointing five financial advisors and three client associates from Morgan Stanley in a move which added $758 million in assets under management. Jason Judge, first vice president; Matt Rose, vice president; Ken Ferrarini, senior vice president; Steve Ferrarini, associate vice president; and Scott Leinen, first vice president all joined the Omaha branch as financial advisors. Meanwhile, Laura Kolasky, Barbara Essi and Kelly Blankenship started as senior client associates. The Omaha office now has 17 financial advisors and 29 members of staff overall. As a result of the expansion, RBC said the branch will separate into two offices later this year and then reunite in a new office, to be completed in 2014. Bridgewater Wealth & Financial Management brought in Bill Tinklepaugh as director of business development, a newly-created role in which he will look for growth opportunities and build new lines of business. Tinklepaugh will work alongside managing principal Ron Rubin across the entire business, including in the areas of investment advisory, tax advisory and financial management. NYSE-listed Artio Global Investors appointed investment industry expert Christopher Wright to its board of directors. He joined the audit, compensation, nominating and corporate governance committees. Wright is chairman of Emerging Markets Alternatives, a director of Merifin Capital Group, and an advisor to Campbell Lutyens & Co and Hansa Capital LBG. Until mid-2003 he was head of global private equity for Dresdner Kleinwort Capital and was a group board member of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, overseeing alternative assets in developed and emerging markets. Cabot Lodge Securities opened an office in Tampa, FL, naming Paul Richardson as regional president. Earlier in his career, Richardson co-founded and served as the CEO for Pointe Capital in Boca Raton, FL. He sold his stake in 2009. He also founded Richardson Recruiting Services. He is charged with growing Cabot Lodge in Florida, recruiting for the firm there, and supervising its financial advisors in the state as its municipal securities principal. He reports to chief executive Craig Gould, who is based in the New York City office. US Bank hired four managing directors based in Cincinnati, OH, for Ascent Private Capital Management, its ultra high net worth business. Christopher Baucom will provide portfolio services to individuals and family foundations. Meanwhile, Justin Stone will oversee services provided for families and foundations, while organizing educational and entertainment activities for wealthy families. Larry Lesko will work with UHNW individuals and families, serving as their chief financial officer. Lastly, Scott Mahon will focus on providing multi-generational planning, family governance and trust and fiduciary advisory services. The firm said all the appointees will also work closely with other Ascent professionals in the areas of financial administration and reporting, trust administration, fiduciary services, private banking, philanthropy, investments and family education. James Staley, who headed up JP Morgan’s investment banking division, joined the investment firm BlueMountain Capital Management as a partner. He also bought a stake in the business. Staley is a JP Morgan veteran, having joined the firm 34 years ago, going on to serve as head of the firm’s private bank, CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management, and later CEO of investment banking. He also co-founded the bank’s equities business. He will use his extensive career to cultivate relationships for BlueMountain, as well as develop new strategies to capture market opportunities. He joined the firm’s management, risk and investment committees. He joined the following eight managing partners: Andrew Feldstein, Alan Gerstein, Peter Greatrex, Michael Liberman, Bryce Markus, David Rubenstein, Stephen Siderow and Derek Smith. Iowa-headquartered Foster Group, an independent, fee-only financial advisory firm, made organizational changes including a raft of executive promotions. Founder and chief executive Jerry Foster assumed a new role as chairman of the board, while president Mark Stadtlander became CEO. Foster will serve in an advisory and accountability role, while serving as a mentor to the firm’s leaders. In addition, shareholders Travis Rychnovsky, Buck Olsen and Kent Kramer were appointed as chief operating officer, chief marketing officer and chief investment officer, respectively. Meanwhile, Ross Polking, COO of the Omaha, NE, office, and lead advisors Joe Bantz and Brad Rempe were named shareholders. Katie Lauer of the firm’s client services team is now an associate advisor. Tim Ryan re-joined JP Morgan Chase as global head of regulatory strategy and policy. Ryan, who was previously chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, will report to Matt Zames, co-chief operating officer for JPMorgan Chase. The London-based chief investment officer of Citigroup’s private bank, Richard Cookson, left the US-headquartered bank as part of cost cuts and amid a series of changes to senior management roles. Jamie Forese and Manuel Medina-Mora were named co-presidents of Citi. Forese is responsible for all of Citi’s institutional businesses, and Medina-Mora continues to oversee global consumer banking and Citi’s franchise in Mexico. The operations and technology functions supporting the institutional and consumer businesses now directly report to Forese and Medina-Mora, respectively. Jim Cowles became CEO of Citi’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business. Brian Leach was appointed head of franchise risk and strategy and will be responsible for the bank’s audit, compliance, corporate policy and strategy functions in addition to risk management. Brad Hu, formerly head of risk for the Asia-Pacific region, became Citi’s chief risk officer and will report to Leach. In his message to colleagues, Corbat said that Bill Mills, in addition to serving as CEO of North America, will now oversee community development as well as international franchise management, in which role he will have responsibility for corporate governance in the bank’s 101 countries. Francisco Aristeguieta, CEO of Latin America, and Stephen Bird, CEO of Asia-Pacific, continue in their roles. John Gerspach continues as chief financial officer. Gene McQuade continues to serve as CEO of Citibank, North America, while overseeing Citi holdings and Japan. Ed Skyler, head of public affairs, oversees the Citi Foundation in addition to his other responsibilities, which include branding and sponsorships, communications, and government affairs. LPL Financial, the independent broker-dealer unit of LPL Financial Holdings, appointed Donie Lochan as executive vice president of its business technology services unit. Based in San Diego, CA, Lochan will report to Victor Fetter, who last month joined LPL as chief investment officer and managing director of the business technology unit. In his new role, Lochan will work on risk management, audit compliance, business continuity and disaster recovery planning, and information security. LPL said he will also play a key role in shaping and implementing its roadmap for technological expansion. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management added three advisors from Merrill Lynch and UBS in New Jersey. Diane Alecci and Lynn Blanchard joined the wealth manager in Paramus, NJ, and operate as the D&L Group. They formerly worked at Merrill Lynch where they managed around $500 million in client assets and brought in $2.86 million in annual fees and commissions. Meanwhile, Ralph Marra joined Morgan Stanley in Shrewsbury, NJ. He previously oversaw $150 million in client assets at UBS and had $2.1 million in production. He joined UBS in May 2008 following eight years at Merrill Lynch. He reports to branch manager Todd Sacks. Raymond James Financial Services added former Wells Fargo advisors Carolyn Meakem and Traci Meakem Richmond in Bethesda, MD. Meakem and Richmond operate as the Meakem Group, an independent firm with an office at 4800 Hampden Lane, Suite 200, in Bethesda. The pair previously managed over $200 million in assets, with an annual production of $2 million. Meakem Group provides customized financial planning, investment management, estate preservation strategies, risk management, education planning and divorce planning. Offshore legal and fiduciary services provider Appleby made changes to its leadership team. Frances Woo moved up to group chairman, succeeding Peter Bubenzer who will be retiring from the group on March 31, 2013, after a career at Appleby of more than 32 years. The firm also appointed a new global head of its corporate and commercial practice, Cameron Adderley, who succeeds Judith Collis, also retiring on March 31, 2013, after 27 years. Adderley will relinquish his position on the group management company board, along with John Bisson, whose retirement was announced in September last year. Sean Dowling and Timothy Faries are the new GMC board members. Franklin, TN-based CapWealth Advisors, a fee-based independent investment advisory firm, promoted Phoebe Venable to president and chief operating officer. Venable joined CapWealth as a managing principal in March of 2011 from GenSpring Family Offices. She launched GenSpring’s Nashville, TN, office in 2009 and served as the investment advisor for client families in the Southeastern US. Peter Marshall of Canada-basedMatrix Asset Management resigned from the firm’s board of directors. Marshall has been a member of the Matrix board since the firm launched in January of 2010. Matrix said at the time that it expects to appoint a new board member before or at the time of the next annual meeting of shareholders. Seattle-based Synergetic Financial Management appointed financial planning and investment analyst Katie Vercio as a wealth manager and business consultant. Vercio will support the firm’s market and economic research, and financial planning process. Specifically, she will analyze equity and fixed income investments for the firm’s $100 million client portfolio, while analyzing individual client financial positions and making recommendations. Nasdaq-listed T Rowe Price appointed Dr Freeman Hrabowski as an independent director. Dr Hrabowski, a long-time educator and administrator, has served as president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with a focus on minority participation and performance. Brian Rogers, chairman of T Rowe Price, said Dr Hrabowski’s leadership and dedication to greater education and advancement of minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will play a key role in maintaining global competitiveness and strengthening the firm’s workforce and the economy. WTAS, the US-based tax firm, kicked off 2013 with a string of senior promotions within its private client services practice, spanning Greenwich, CT, Boston, MA, and New York. Michael Van De Loo, who spent the past seven years in the private client services practice, was named a managing director in Greenwich. Meanwhile, in Boston, John Nestor, Kellie Neuhaus and Melinda Tuffy were made directors, while Sandrine Benevides was appointed as a director within the investment consulting services practice. Lastly, James O'Brien was appointed as a director in New York. The aforementioned promotions were part of a total of 51 WTAS promotions overall, including four managing directors, 12 directors, six senior managers, 13 managers and 16 senior associates. A R Schmeidler & Co, the New York City investment management firm, appointed Gregory Markel as a portfolio manager and research analyst. Markel has 24 years of investment experience in New York and Massachusetts, having formerly served as a senior investment analyst at Iridian Asset Management. Pioneer Investments hired David Glazer as a portfolio manager on its global equities team. Glazer’s role is a new one at the firm that will see him based in Boston and report to Marco Pirondini, head of equities, US. Glazer moved to the role from Franklin Templeton Global Advisers in New York City, where he specialized in global small- and mid-cap strategies. Before Franklin Templeton he worked at Boston Common Asset Management and Harbor Capital Management. Gentry Wealth Management hired Marty Bender as a wealth advisor from Fidelity Investments. Bender was at Fidelity for over 15 years and there managed around 450 client relationships worth some $750 million with the firm. He was the latest addition to an expanding team at Gentry, after the firm tapped Fidelity for two wealth advisors for its Las Vegas, NV, office last August. Ciccarelli Advisory Services added Steven Merkel as a financial advisor in Bonita Springs, FL. Merkel was previously a managing director and portfolio manager at Piedmont Investment Advisors. There he was responsible for new business development and portfolio management of client assets. R Thomas Manning took over as chief executive of Silver Bridge, replacing Stephen Prostano. Manning has been president of Silver Bridge since 2011 and chief investment officer since 2007. At the moment it is unknown what Prostano’s next step will be.