Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the wealth management joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citi, reportedly announced two leadership changes within its investment consulting group.

Marc Brookman was appointed to the newly-created position of director of sales, while Thomas Butler was named head of products and platform development. Both Brookman and Butler were appointed internally. Brookman had led the consulting group’s product and platform development since 2007 (coming from the Citi side of the joint venture). Butler, meanwhile, who was also a Citi employee, had been director of business development and operations for the investment consultant unit for two years. He maintains these responsibilities in his new role.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the wealth management joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citi, has announced two leadership changes within its investment consulting group, Dow Jones reports.

Marc Brookman has been appointed to the newly-created position of director of sales, while Thomas Butler has been named head of products and platform development, according to the publication. Both Brookman and Butler have been appointed internally. 

The consulting group, formed from the two legacy firm’s consulting units, provides products and services to MSSB’s financial advisors.

According to the report, Brookman has led the consulting group’s product and platform development since 2007 (coming from the Citi side of the joint venture). Butler, meanwhile, who was also a Citi employee, has been director of business development and operations for the investment consultant unit for two years. He will maintain these responsibilities in his new role.

Wells Fargo Private Bank, part of New York-listed Wells Fargo, reportedly hired two advisors from US Trust, Bank of America’s private wealth management arm.  

Amy Sahler, a senior trust and fiduciary advisor, and Susan Walton, an investment manager specializing in high net worth clients, join the firm’s Boston office.

Gottex Fund Management Holdings, the independent global alternative asset management firm, appointed Debra Rothman as managing director, head of North American sales and marketing, and Mark Oestergaard as marketing director in Europe.

Rothman, based in Boston, focuses on marketing and business development in North America. She was most recently head of business development at SCS Financial, leading the expansion of its fund of hedge funds effort.

Oestergaard, based in London, focuses on sourcing and servicing northern-European opportunities. He was latterly with London and Capital, an asset management company, where he worked closely with Nordic institutions.

The board of directors of Bank of America, the world’s largest wealth manager via its purchase of Merrill Lynch, named Charles Holliday as its chairman, succeeding Dr Walter Massey.

A senior figure in the business world, Holliday was formerly chairman of the board of directors of EI du Pont de Nemours and Co, a position which he held for around ten year; he was also chief executive of the chemical giant from 1998 to 2008. He has also served as a director of Bank of America since 2009.

WSFS Financial Corporation, the parent firm of WSFS Bank, appointed William Gallagher as financial advisor for WSFS Investment Group.

Gallagher was previously a financial advisor at Fulton Financial Advisors in Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he was the regional marketing director for Hartford Insurance Company in New York.

The annual general meeting of Washington Trust Bancorp, the parent company of The Washington Trust Company, highlighted that its chairman and CEO, John Warren, will retire on 30 April. He will be succeeded by Joseph MarcAurele, currently president and chief operating officer.

Also at the meeting, Warren was elected to the company’s board of directors for a term ending 2013; also elected were Barry Hittner, Katherine Hoxsie, Edward Mazze and Kathleen McKeough. In addition, tribute was paid to Neil Thorp, who is retiring from the board after 27 years of service.

California-based City National Bank hired Jacqueline Parker as vice president and senior private banker in its private client services division in Nevada. She is based at the bank's Summerlin Regional Center in Las Vegas and Reno, reporting to Randy Boesch, senior vice president and manager of City National's Nevada private client services division.

Parker joins from Colonial Bank in Las Vegas where she was most recently executive vice president and private banking director.

Collins Stewart, the wealth management and brokerage firm, appointed Paul Prentice to head a new sales trading and trading team in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Prentice, who joins Collins Stewart from Pali Capital where he co-founded the firm’s Minnetonka office, will be joined by his team of four generalist sales traders including John Burkhartzmeyer, Greg Pfleider, Matthew Dorn and Peter Thompson.

Burkhartzmeyer and Pfleider have been appointed as managing directors; Dorn has been appointed director, and Thompson joins the firm as vice president.

Balentine, the Atlanta-based investment and risk management firm, named former Shanghai Stock Exchange executive manager Yulong (Clark) Li as global investment research director.

Clark Li previously led the SSE's research department, where he was responsible for a team conducting studies on investment strategy, market structure, trading mechanisms and market regulation. Prior to that, he was a portfolio manager and senior analyst at Wilmington Trust Investment Management and Waddell & Reed Financial.

Also joining the firm is Robert Reiser, previously the chief investment officer of Wilmington Trust, as senior investment advisor. Before joining Wilmington, in 1982 he founded The Reiser Company, an investment management and consulting firm which eventually merged with Balentine in 1998.

First Republic Bank, which provides private banking and wealth management services, appointed Stacy Benner as a senior relationship manager, based in the firm’s Portland office.

Benner works with high net worth individuals, families, businesses and foundations, providing private banking, private business banking, investment management and trust services, and real estate lending services.

Prior to joining First Republic, Benner worked for Wells Fargo Bank as a private loan and mortgage banker.

US Bancorp announced that Terrance Dolan, its controller, will take over from Diane Thormodsgard as vice chairman of its Wealth Management and Securities Services division.

Thormodsgard, who has worked at the firm since 1978, will retire at the end of June.

Meanwhile, Jeffry von Gillern will take the place of William Chenevich, who is also leaving the firm at the end of June, as vice chairman of US Bancorp's Technology and Operations Services unit.

Pardus Capital Management, the New York-based alternative investment manager, announced that it has recruited Dr Lutz Stoeber to rejoin the firm as a senior analyst to evaluate distressed investments in western Europe, particularly focusing on Germany. 

Prior to joining Pardus, Dr Stoeber was an investment professional at WR Huff where he worked alongside Samii and Joseph Thornton, Pardus principal and portfolio manager. Prior to that, he was a member of D George Harris & Associates, an international leveraged buyout firm.

UBS announced that Shawn Lytle is to take over from Kai Sotorp as head of Global Asset Management Americas.

Lytle, currently deputy global head of equities, will move to New York from London and divide his time between there and Chicago, reporting to John Fraser, chairman and chief executive of UBS Global Asset Management.

Sotorp will assist with the transition and then take three months leave before coming back to a new role within the business.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired Jane Staunton as sales director under its New York Tri-state region.

Staunton has 30 years of experience in financial services and was most recently a financial advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management. She is also a former executive director and head at Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe.

UBS Wealth Management Americas added David Ciccone, Robert Taylor, and Tom Harsanyi as financial advisors to its Vienna, Virginia office.

Ciccone, Taylor and Harsanyi joined from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where they each worked for nearly five years. The team reportedly had $2.1 million in combined annual production and managed $210 million in assets under management.

The team will report to Craig Vandegrift, branch manager.

First Republic Bank, the San Francisco-headquartered private banking and wealth management division of Merrill Lynch, appointed Beverly Buker as senior managing director.

In her new role, Buker works with high net worth individuals and families, businesses and foundations, providing private banking, private business banking, trust services, and real estate lending services as well as investment management services through the firm’s brokerage affiliate, First Republic Securities Company.

Prior to joining First Republic, Buker spent 20 years with Citi Private Bank, where most recently she worked as regional executive and managing director of the Manhattan region.

HighTower, the Chicago-based independent advisory firm, hired Michael Papedis as a director responsible for advisor recruiting and business development and MeeSun Boice in charge of advisor recruiting for the Western Region with a strong focus on the California markets.

Most recently, Papedis spent seven years at Fidelity Investments in Chicago. His most recent position was as vice president of senior sales responsible for new business development in the Midwest.

Boice, meanwhile, was previously the northwest region talent leader for UBS in Los Angeles.

In addition, Kristin Love, previously manager of trading at HighTower was promoted to director of trading and operations, where she will manage the firm’s fixed income team.

JP Morgan Private Wealth Management boosted its Law Firm Group in New York with the appointment of Robert Rahbari, a banker who was latterly managing director and co-founder of RAS Capital Management, an India-focused fund of funds business.

In his new role, Rahbari reports to Sharon Weinberg, managing director of the bank’s Law Firm Group, which provides wealth management advice to US law firms and attorneys.

Massachusetts-based Lexington Wealth Management hired Glenn Frank as a partner and director of investment tax strategy. He will focus on providing senior client service, developing customized financial and investment related tax strategies for clients and contributing to the overall investment decisions of the firm.

Prior to joining Lexington, Frank was senior vice president and senior investment strategist for Calibre Advisory Services. Before Calibre, he was one of three partners and a member of the investment committee at Tanager Financial Services.

New York-based Signature Bank added three private client banking teams to its network.

Joining the bank's Jackson Heights, Queens private client banking office are Joann DeMartino and Peggy Chan, as group director and senior vice president and senior client associate, respectively. Both join from HSBC Bank in Flushing, where they worked together for 10 years.

Meyer Eichler also joins as group director and senior vice president. His four-person team, which includes Mark Soltan, associate group director and vice president and senior client associates Cora Licht and Katie Skorniewska, will be based at the bank's Borough Park, Brooklyn private client banking office. All join from LibertyPointe Bank. The team has worked together for four years.

John Corallo and James McHugh were both named group director and senior vice president, also to work out of Signature's Borough Park office. Corallo and McHugh were formerly with TD Bank in Brooklyn. The team has been affiliated for about five years.

Barclays Wealth reportedly added three new financial advisors to its US team, all of whom are recognised as top managers at Deutsche Bank.

Patrick McBrien, Heidi Guldbrandsen and Scott Zelnick reportedly joined Barclay's New York team and hold managing directorial roles. They previously worked at Lehman Brothers until 2002 when they moved to Deutsche Bank.  

The trio report to Mark Stevenson, the managing director and head of the New York unit.

Three former UBS advisors reportedly formed an independent registered investment advisory firm called Mississippi Investment Management Company in Jackson.

Leading the firm are Tom Bertaut and Chris Carrico, who left the Jackson office of UBS in January, and Bill Whitney, a UBS veteran advisor who retired from the industry six years ago.

Forbes Watson, an equity portfolio manager for Royal Bank of Canada until January, joined the three ex-UBS reps in their new venture. The firm is reported to have about 70 clients and $100 million in assets.

Northern Trust strengthened its trust offering in Connecticut with the appointment of Kurt Koehler as senior vice president and senior personal trust relationship manager.

Koehler, who has over a decade of experience in trust and estate planning, was most recently the senior vice president and market trust director for US Trust, Bank of America, where he advised families in multi-generational estate and tax planning and trust administration.

In his new role, he will be responsible for providing wealth management services to the high net worth community in the area. He reports to Joanie Stringer, the managing director of personal financial services in Connecticut.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management hired veteran banker Edgar Murcia to manage its private banking business California, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest, and promoted Carolyn Kozlowski to the newly-created role of national escrow sales manager in Pittsburgh.

Murcia is based in Los Angeles and reports to Joan Bird, managing director of BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s West, Central and Mid-Atlantic private banking groups.  

Murcia has worked with Citigroup in both Florida and California for over 20 years.  In his last position at Citigroup, Murcia was regional manager and credit director for the West US Law Firm Group.

Kozlowski is responsible for setting strategies for escrow sales, marketing and client service practices and oversees the escrow sales team. She also reports to Bird.

In 2007 Kozlowski was charged with developing the escrow business in the Pittsburgh market and generated more than 50 percent of the firm’s escrow revenue in 2009 alone. Her previous experience includes business development roles for trusts, investment management and private banking.

Stonnington Group, the Los Angeles-based financial services firm, appointed Jacqueline Le as its general counsel.

In her new role Le is responsible for providing legal counsel for Stonnington Group entities as well as project management services, including contract review and preparation, to the firm’s high net worth and family office clients.

Prior to joining the firm, Le served as general counsel for Picoco, an investment management company, where she was involved in all aspects of hedge fund investments, commercial real estate transactions and operations management.

Pennsylvanian-based PNC Financial Services Group reportedly strengthened its presence in northwestern Pennsylvania with a trio of appointments.

Allison Kaverman was appointed senior banking advisor for PNC Wealth Management Group with responsibilities including handling the banking and liquidity management needs of high net worth PNC clients in the counties of Erie and Crawford.

John Grazioli was reportedly appointed vice president and investment officer for PNC Institutional Investment Group. In his new role Grazioli is responsible for managing both institutional and wealth management client assets for clients in the region.

Mary Wingrove joined PNC Wealth Management Group as an assistant vice president and wealth planner in northwestern Pennsylvania, where she is responsible for providing consulting services in financial, estate and wealth planning for existing and prospective clients, according to the report.

Sanctuary Wealth Services appointed experienced financial service professionals Ronald Lynch and Joseph Norton to the post of director.

Lynch joins Sanctuary as a director of recruiting for the firm. He has held various sales roles at Smith Barney, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Bear Stearns.  Most recently he had been working as a financial industry recruiter for Taylor Steele & Associates, recruiting financial advisors for various Wall Street and independent financial services firms.

Norton, a Certified Investment Management Analyst, joins Sanctuary as a director of sales. He was previously employed as a vice president at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, OppenheimerFunds, and GT Global Asset Management.

Ohio-based Key Private Bank reportedly promoted Randolph Chavez to senior vice president for the Cincinnati district of KeyBank.

Chavez previously served as senior vice president, middle market commercial lending, in the commercial banking division of the southwest Ohio district.

Rothschild Trust appointed Geoff Cone as an external consultant for its business activities in Latin America as part of moves to ramp up its efforts in what the firm views as attractive growth markets.

Cone has been managing director for Rothschild Trust New Zealand for the past eight years.

In his new role Cone, of New Zealand law firm Cone Marshall, will focus on client liaison and acquisition in Latin America, reporting to David McLellan, group chief executive.

The association between Cone Marshall and Rothschild Trust New Zealand will continue, the firm said, with Karen Marshall taking over as managing director of Rothschild Trust New Zealand. Supporting her will be Claire Cooke, who has been appointed as director.

LaSalle Investment Management, the Chicago-based real estate investment manager, appointed six new international directors.

The new international directors are Alan Trip, Amy Aznar, Zelick Altman, Helen Garbutt, Angelia Lim and Marc Montanus.

Trip is based in London as the managing director for the UK. His focus is on core funds and separate accounts.

Aznar is also based in London as head of special situations for greater Europe. Her focus is strategic entity-level investing, large transactions and joint ventures across the UK and Europe.

Altman is based in Toronto, Canada as president of the LaSalle Canadian income and growth fund series.

Garbutt is based in Paris and leads the portfolio management of LaSalle’s combined fund business across greater Europe. Her specific responsibility is LaSalle’s Value Add and opportunistic vehicles.

Lim is based in Singapore and is responsible for the finance function of LaSalle in the Asia-Pacific region. Her focus is client reporting, risk management, treasury and sourcing debt.

Montanus is also based in Singapore as fund manager of LaSalle’s Asia Opportunity Fund series. His responsibility includes driving performance in these portfolios through the company’s acquisition, asset management and portfolio management teams.

Arrow Capital Management, the New York-based alternative investment manager, appointed John DeRaimo to the newly-created role of chief operating officer.

DeRaimo's previously served as senior analyst and with his new responsibilities will concentrate on the firm’s operations, including its strategic growth initiatives.  He reports to co-managing members Alex von Furstenberg and Mal Serure.

Prior to joining Arrow Capital DeRaimo worked for Landmark as a member of its investment committee and was responsible for evaluating alternative investments.

Bank of America named Charles Noski as chief financial officer, effective 11 May. Noski was most recently chief financial officer and corporate vice president of Northrop Grumman.

Noski takes over the CFO role from Neil Cotty, who had temporarily acted in the post after Joe Price left to head up the bank’s consumer banking division.

Noski has been a senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of AT&T Corp, and president and chief operating officer, and vice chairman and chief financial officer of Hughes Electronics Corp.

At Bank of America, Noski will be responsible for all finance functions as well as corporate treasury, global corporate strategy planning and development, investor relations, corporate investments, and global principal investments. He will become a member of the senior management team and be based in Charlotte.

Evercore Wealth Management, the US-based subsidiary of Evercore Partners, appointed Wendy Barasch as head of business development and partner.

In this New York-based role Barasch, who will join the firm at the end of June, will be working alongside Jeff Maurer, partner and chief executive officer at Evercore Wealth Management.

Barasch joins the firm from Alliance Bernstein, where most recently she worked as a managing director in the private client business and was responsible for hiring and developing teams of financial advisors.

Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, a division of Eaton Vance Management which serves high net worth individuals and families, trusts and foundations, appointed Robert Quinn as vice president, investment counsellor.

Quinn joins the firm from Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, where he served for 17 years as senior portfolio manager responsible for managing individual and institutional portfolios. In his new role Quinn reports to G West Saltonstall, president of Eaton Vance Investment Counsel. 

Hillview Capital Advisors hired Aviva Pinto as senior vice president, client services, based in the firm’s New York office.

Pinto was latterly senior vice president and private client advisor at US Trust, where she worked with wealthy families and foundations. Prior to working with US Trust, she worked at both Lazard and Neuberger & Berman.

Jill Stiss joined Citi Private Bank in Miami as director and private banker. Stiss reports to Mark Maller, head of Citi Private Bank in Florida.

Stiss spent her entire career in Miami with Wachovia/Wells Fargo Wealth Management and predecessor firms.  Most recently, she was senior vice president in the Miami office of Wells Fargo Private Bank.  Prior to that, Stiss was a partner with Wachovia Wealth Management.

Rapidly expanding Milwaukee-based Robert W Baird & Co announced it is opening its first office in Portland, which will be headed by Smith Barney veteran David Perez.

Perez was a Portland-based branch manager at Smith Barney and worked for predecessor firms Shearson Lehman Brothers and EF Hutton & Co for 23 years. He has been in the securities industry for 29 years.

Fortis Investments former chief investment officer William Finley joined Morley Financial Services as its new CIO. The company said that Finley's investment philosophy fits with the conservative approach that Morley has used for the past 25 years. Morley is implementing a new method of linking with affiliate Principal Life Insurance Company and believes Finley's addition to the team would boost its relationship with its clients.

Capco, the financial services technology provider, appointed Alvi Abuaf as partner and head of its North America Wealth & Investment Management Group.

Before joining the firm, Abuaf was president and chief executive officer of CPM Braxis USA, and prior to that he held several key positions at the likes of Citi, Capgemini and Ernst & Young.

Millennium Trust Company, the administrative and IRA custodial services firm, made three hires  to address the shifting market attention toward alternative assets.

Jim Anderson and Jeremy Christensen have been named vice presidents of the alternative solutions group and are responsible for the development of the company's alternative assets lineup, including hedge funds, private equity, real estate, precious metals and others. Anderson joins the company from Citibank, while Christensen used to work for Sterling Trust Company.

Jayne Fahlen  came from Goldleaf Partners and has also stepped in as a vice president. Her responsibilities cover Millennium Trust's rollover IRA products.

Brett Sovine was named president and chief executive officer of Brown Brothers Harriman Trust Company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sovine had been managing director at the firm. He will oversee the national trust company and regional trust heads as well as continue his involvement in current client relationships.

Brown Brothers Harriman also announced that Kerri Mast joined the firm as vice president and wealth planner in Charlotte. She will report to Sovine and focus on trust and estate guidance and planning to the firm’s wealth management clients.

Mast was previously vice president of planned giving for Foundation For The Carolinas.

JHG Financial Advisors principal and founder Judson Gee joined investment advisor Curian Capital's Everest Club, an exclusive designation reserved for select financial professionals handling Curian's managed accounts platform.

Gee has over 14 years of experience in money management. He is also among those who have received a "40 under 40" award from the Charlotte Business Journal, which recognizes individuals who've made major strides in their respective industries.

Prudential Real Estate Investors boosted its global marketing and client services unit with the appointment of Mark Chamieh as managing director and co-head.

PREI is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial Inc.

Prior to the hire, Chamieh served as managing director and global head of marketing for JER Partners, overseeing the firm's capital markets team, as well as its global investor relations and capital raising activities. At PREI, he joins Lester Lockwood, who has been leading the company's global marketing and client team since 2005.

Capital Cities Asset Management named Brian Campos as director of wealth management in Austin.

Campos, an Austin native, spent the last two decades in the Washington DC area, where he worked in the high net worth investment planning divisions of SunTrust Bank, Fidelity Investments, and an independent wealth management firm.

Eric Clark has been named senior consultant for DAK Associates, a financial services executive search firm.

Clark will oversee DAK’s financial services diversity search program and also head up a new health care search initiative. 

Previously, Clark had been a relationship manager and new business development executive in the capital equipment leasing and financing segment of the healthcare industry, most recently for Capital Innovations Equipment Finance, and previously for General Electric Commercial Finance.

Lee Eisenstaedt and Steven Staggs were added to the staff of senior investment professionals at AM Private Investments in New Canaan, Connecticut.

They will advise wealthy individuals, families and family offices on special alternative investments, private company and venture investments, and personal and family business venture investments, the firm said.  

Eisenstaedt has worked at the SC Johnson family office assisting family members with forming, managing  and investing in new business ventures.

Staggs spent the last eight years as a managing director of Babson Capital.

Michael Dribin joined the Florida law firm of Harper Meyer Perez Hagen O'Connor Albert & Dribin as a partner.

Dribin, who has practised in Miami since 1975, focuses on estate planning, probate, trust and guardianship administration and litigation. He was the managing partner of the Miami office of Broad and Cassel from 2003 to 2005.

WaterStreet Family Wealth Counsel, the Canadian family office service provider, further strengthened its advisory offering by adding three new members to the team.

John Hamilton, a private equity veteran who has also held key roles in Canadian financial institutions and banks, joined the firm as executive vice president. In his new role, he handles advisory services for a select group of Canadian families to help maximize shareholder value.

Susan Van Der Hout, the founding president of the Family Firm Institute Ontario chapter and former vice president of Women Entrepreneurs of Canada, is now the company's director of family engagement.

Also stepping in is Michael Lee-Chin, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist, as ambassador and stakeholder of WaterStreet.

Rockefeller Financial, which was rebranded last month from its previous name Rockefeller and Company, appointed Matthew Gelfand as a senior wealth advisor in its Rockefeller Wealth Advisers unit.  

In his new role Gelfand is based in the firm’s Washington DC office and is tasked with working with Rockefeller’s DC-based staff on existing client relationships, new business development, and outreach in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Gelfand was latterly a managing director Potomac Asset Management, where he was responsible for portfolio planning and management, and research on the economic climate, capital markets and investment selection.

American International Group, the insurer that is currently owned by the US government following the 2008 bailout, announced that the US Department of the Treasury added Donald H Layton and Ronald A Rittenmeyer to serve on its board.

Layton is the former chairman and chief executive officer of E*Trade Financial Corporation and ex-vice chairman of JP Morgan & Chase. Rittenmeyer is the retired chairman, president and CEO of global IT service provider EDS and has also served as managing director of private equity firm The Cypress Group.

The new appointments complement the departure of Dennis Dammerman in February due to health reasons.

Hartford Financial Services Group named John Walters as head of its wealth management business.

Walters was most recently the president and chief operating officer of Hartford Life. In his new role, he will be dealing with client concerns with regard to retirement savings, income and estate planning.

Fred Crozier, the former head of private client services at Deutsche Bank's US brokerage unit, returned to the German firm as a managing director and advisor in its Baltimore office.

Crozier left Deutsche Bank Securities in 2006 to join Morgan Stanley as a district director in Washington and Maryland.

In his new role, he will work with high net worth clients in the private client services division. The unit is separate from Deutsche Bank’s private bank, which works with wealthier clients, a spokesperson for Deutsche told the publication. 

Linklaters announced that US partner Scott Bowie became global practice head of the law firm’s investment management group.

Scott, formerly head of the New York investment management practice, succeeded Tim Shipton, who created the investment management group as a stand-alone practice in 2000.

HighTower, the Chicago-based open source advisor-owned financial service, appointed Michael LaMena as chief operations officer and Barnaby Levin as managing director and partner at the San Francisco cooperate office.

LaMena joined from Morgan Stanley, where he worked for 14 years. Most recently, LaMena was executive director of private wealth management operations in New York.

LaMena oversees HighTower’s open Source platform and HOST (HighTower Open Source Technology) portal as well as the firm’s trading capabilities and enterprise relationships with the Street’s trading, clearing, and custodial firms in the newly created chief operations officer.