Community bank brings in veteran wealth manager to replace William Ringham. St. Paul, Minn.-based Bremer Financial has hired Susan Klasen Albrecht as head of its Planning Services unit. She comes to the banking, trust and investment-service company from the Catholic Aid Association.

Albrecht has replaced William Ringham has head of Bremer Financial 's private-client planning business. Ringham, who joined Bremer Financial about four years ago, has returned to his previous employer, Minneapolis-based RBC Dain Rauscher.

Twenty years

"Susan has tremendous experience working with clients on estate and wealth management planning needs across Minnesota," says Mark Schmiel, president of Bremer Financial's trust business. "We look forward to having her on our team as we serve our clients' financial services needs."

Albrecht, an attorney by training, was general counsel and chief compliance officer for the Catholic Aid Association, a St. Paul-based organization that provides insurance, deposit and investment services to 74,000 members in the upper Midwest. Albrecht, whose career in wealth management and business development goes back two decades, has also worked for the insurers Minnesota Life and Federated Insurance and for the law firm Hall & Byers (now part of Minneapolis-based Gray Plant Mooty).

In her new role, Albrecht will work directly with clients in estate, trust, insurance and wealth planning.

Bremer Financial, which has 100 branches in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, is jointly owned by its employees and the NAMEOtto Bremer Foundation. Its profits are distributed as charitable grants by the foundation to communities in Bremer geographic footprint. -FWR

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