A round-up of senior moves in North American wealth management at the end of last year. Among highlights were new senior wealth appointments at Goldman Sachs, and law firm Dentons' appointment of a head for its family offices business.

BNP Paribas Asset Management appointed Luiz Sorge as the head of Latin America - a newly-created role. He is based in São Paulo, reporting to Sandro Pierri, global head of client group. Sorge is staying in his current role of CEO of BNPP AM Brazil alongside his new responsibilities for BNPP AM’s operations in Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Peru. At BNPP AM since 2001, he first became director of products for BNPP AM Brasil. In 2007 he became head of sales and product development for institutional and individual investors, external distributors and foreign investors. In July 2013 he was appointed CEO of BNPP AM Brasil.

UBS Private Wealth Management brought in a team of advisors together overseeing $1.7 billion in assets. The advisors are Scott Belveal and Adam Lambert. The duo, who joined the UBS Northeast private wealth market managed by Julie Fox, located in the Philadelphia office, report to branch manager Brendan Graham. They were joined by Max Hine, relationship manager, Kendal Glatthorn, team business manager, and Ray Farnesi, wealth strategy associate. 

LPL Financial, the broker-dealer and registered investment advisor custodian, appointed advisor Bryan Schneider to join its broker/dealer and corporate RIA platforms. Schneider reported having served approximately $425 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets. He joined the group of advisors at Professional Wealth Advisors, an LPL wealth management team based in Downers Grove, Illinois. Schnedier, formerly at JP Morgan Securities, brings more than 20 years of experience to the team. He launched his career supporting the back office of a trust company, working his way up to becoming a partner wealth advisor managing assets for about 400 households. 

Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group, which distributes alternative investments, appointed Jeff Namendorf as senior regional vice president; he is responsible for sales in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Namendorf began his career in financial services 30 years ago as an advisor. He transitioned to the wholesale side of the business and has sold mutual funds, annuities and alternatives. Most recently he was vice president regional director at Black Creek Capital Markets. He will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with financial intermediaries in the broker-dealer, regional independent and RIA channels.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisors Richard Sjostedt, Robert Rice, Brian Robertson, and registered branch professional Steven Diehl to Raymond James Financial Services, – its independent advisor channel. The group is based in Mansfield, Ohio. The advisors joined from Merrill Lynch, where they collectively managed $130 million in client assets. Now affiliated with Raymond James, the advisors operate as Platinum Family Wealth.

Raymond James brought in financial advisor Lauren Rudd and his team to Raymond James & Associates, its employee advisor channel. Rudd and colleagues are based in Sarasota, Florida. Rudd manages more than $230 million in client assets and joins RJA’s employee select advisor model from his own previously independent RIA firm, Rudd International, Inc, which cleared through Charles Schwab. Joining him at Raymond James are team members Patricia A Weeks, business operations specialist; Jose M Joia, associate vice president, investments; and Myree Simon, client service associate.

Raymond James appointed Marlene Debel to join its board. She is executive vice president and chief risk officer of MetLife. Debel has served in various leadership capacities at MetLife since 2011, when she first joined the organization as treasurer. In 2016, she was appointed chief financial officer for the company’s US business, and in 2018, she transitioned to running retirement and income solutions, the company's institutional retirement business. 

Ainge Advisory, an investment house concentrating on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions, named Mark Broadbent as managing director of its legal and advisory services division. Broadbent has been an active advisor to angels, entrepreneurs, VC funds and growth-stage companies, particularly in the emerging Silicon Slopes tech corridor along Utah's Wasatch Front.

Angel Oak Capital Advisors, a US investment management firm specializing in value-driven structured credit investments, hired Jim Calla as senior vice president, institutional business development. Calla oversees the expansion of Angel Oak’s institutional sub-advisory role for bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) separately managed accounts. 

Calla has more than 30 years of experience in the financial sector. Most recently, he served as the national sales director at Meyer-Chatfield Group. Prior to that, he was the owner of World Currency USA, which facilitates foreign exchange transactions on behalf of community banks. 

West Wealth Management, including private wealth advisor Michael West and advisors Andrew West and Laura Cook, joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial. They were previously at Raymond James. The advisors oversee $150 million in assets under management. 

Dentons, the global law firm, appointed Edward V Marshall – a figure in US private banking and thought leadership in the sector – as global head of its family office and high net worth group. Marshall directs the firm’s strategy and implementation to build out a program of insights, advice and access to improve the firm's offering to its family office and HNW clients. Marshall joined as a principal and is based in New York.

Before this role, Marshall was an MD at Boston Private. Prior to that, he was a director in the global family office group at Citi Private Bank where he led business development and program management for the North American team. He was a member of the UHNW and family office practice at Credit Suisse and managed client relationships as a relationship manager. He joined Credit Suisse from Booz Allen Hamilton where he was a member of its organization and strategy practice. Marshall began his career in the public sector working for the federal government in the US and abroad. 

Marshall is member of the editorial board of the Family Wealth Report, and a core member and senior advisor to the UHNW Institute, a think tank. He is also a member of the board of directors for America's Warrior Partnership, a non-profit that acts as a force multiplier for veteran service organizations across the US. 

Alex Brown, part of Raymond James, announced that Mark J Pomerantz had joined its Los Angeles office. The office is run by regional executive Gary Cohen. Pomerantz, managing director and client advisor, has worked in the financial services industry for nearly 40 years at Morgan Stanley, where he managed more than $658 million in client assets. 

UBS Private Wealth Management appointed Jeff Lewis, Steve May, and John McColskey as managing director-ranked financial advisors in Atlanta, Georgia. All formerly worked for JP Morgan’s private banking arm. Other joiners were Jessie Searles and Mary Bennett, who serve as relationship managers, as well as portfolio associate John Lindsey. The team reports to Lane Strumlauf, Southeast private wealth management market head. 

Crestbridge, which provides administration, management and corporate governance solutions, intends to buy Ovation Fund Services, a business based in New Jersey. All Ovation employees became members of the global Crestbridge team. The New Jersey office is headed by Scot Hadley, Ovation’s founder, who has over 23 years’ experience in the sector. He established Ovation nearly four years ago. Prior to establishing Ovation, Hadley spent 18 years of his career at Paladin Realty Partners, an institutional real estate fund manager.

Impact Partners, a “strategic introductions” business working with ultra-high net worth clients, appointed family office figure Wendy Craft to join its advisory board. She is chief of staff at Fulcrum Equities, a single family office of Kent M Swig. Fulcrum is also a client of Impact Partners. Now in its fourth generation, Fulcrum has a strong focus in the real estate market, and co-invests with other families in a variety of businesses around the world. Prior to working with Swig and his family, Craft was general counsel to the Shepperd Family Office, an international investment entity located in Zurich, Switzerland.

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Concurrent, a partnership of independent advisors affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services, worked with seven new advisor teams based in Alaska, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan and Mississippi to transition to its network. RJFS is part of the Florida-based Raymond James group. The new teams boost the network’s total assets under management by $1.1 billion. Concurrent picked up two teams in the state of Alaska. In Fairbanks, Head Retirement & Wealth Strategies comprising advisors, Roark “Alan” Head, nearly a 40-year financial services veteran, and Austin Head, along with service associate, Deborah Combs joined the Concurrent network. The team was previously with Wedbush Securities and manages nearly $300 million in assets under management.

Also in Fairbanks, Alaska and formerly with Wedbush Securities, Krista Stamper of Stamper Wealth and Retirement Group, joined Concurrent, bringing in nearly $253 million in assets under management.

Tracy Thacker, head of Thacker Wealth and Retirement and his team comprising Tammy Duncan, Penney Brooks, and Debra Thacker, also partnered with the Concurrent network. Located in Owensboro, Kentucky, Thacker and his team hold $259 million in assets under management and were formerly with Edward Jones. 

Hendrickson Wealth and Retirement, headed by Richard Hendrickson, welcomed Kayla Jo Teckenbrock and Jackie Rainey, formerly with Edward Jones to the network. This new team brings over $87 million in assets under management to this Benton, Kentucky-based practice. Hendrickson, who chose his path to independence by joining Concurrent in 2018, was also previously with Edward Jones.

Richard Crowne and Kelly Coghlan joined the Concurrent team located in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. Formerly with Wells Fargo Advisors, they bring nearly $147 million of assets under management. Formerly with Wells Fargo Advisors, Jason Huffman of Diberville, Mississippi joined Concurrent, adding $36 million in assets under management to the network. John Reeber, formerly with Wells Fargo Advisors, manages and advises on some $30 million in assets for clients in the Grosse Point, Michigan area and joined the Concurrent network.

The Bank of New York Mellon Wealth Management appointed Vincent Hayes as head of the global family office segment, taking over from Eileen Foley, who retired at the end of 2019. Hayes joined the wealth management leadership team at the firm and reports to Catherine Keating, chief executive. Prior to this, Hayes worked at Family Office Exchange where he served as managing director. In this role, Hayes’ responsibilities spanned member and program development as well as advice to family offices. Prior to FOX, Hayes served in the commodities and futures industry at R J O’Brien & Associates and AGN Futures, where he launched the firm’s high net worth client business.

EisnerAmper, the global business advisory firm based in the US, appointed Frank Attalla as a partner in its financial services group. Attalla has more than 30 years of experience in public accounting and 20 years focused in the financial services sector. He provides audits of and consulting services for private investment companies, public mutual funds and closed-end funds, hedge funds, ETFs, private equity funds, fund of funds, investment management companies, in addition to introducing broker-dealers. Prior to joining, Attalla was an audit partner with one of the “Big Four” accounting firms and led audits of both public and private companies in the investment management sector.

Global investor services group IQ-EQ named Wendy Piergolam as head of client development for the US in a newly-created post based in New York. Piergolam operates primarily under IQ-EQ's subsidiary Blue River. Piergolam, who was formerly director of global solutions at PraxisIFM in New York, also worked in business development at Vistra where she focused on private equity and real estate investments, ultimately leading Vistra’s international desk.

Online financial services group Betterment named Sarah Kirshbaum Levy as its new chief executive, taking the helm from founder Jon Stein, who remained as board chairman. Levy, who most recently served as Viacom Media Networks' chief operating officer, has been an operating advisor at Betterment for the last several months. During her time at Viacom she was responsible for overseeing its global strategy, finance and operations for the $10 billion division that housed some of Viacom's major brands, including MTV, Comedy Central, and BET. Levy previously served as the COO at Nickelodeon for more than 10 years. Stein launched Betterment in 2010, seeking to extend wealth management services via automated portfolio management strategies that had previously only been available to the ultra-wealthy.

US fintech firm Zytara appointed former UBS and Goldman Sachs senior figures to join its advisory board. It named Andy Brown and Moritz Baier-Lentz as board members. Brown is the chief executive of Sand Hill East, which provides strategic management, investment and marketing services to emerging companies. Brown served as group chief technology officer of UBS. He has held senior posts at banks, including head of strategy for architecture and optimization at Bank of America, chief technology architect at Merrill Lynch, and CTO of infrastructure at Credit Suisse. He is also a board member of a raft of businesses. Baier-Lentz is a partner of BITKRAFT Ventures, an early and mid-stage investment platform for gaming, esports, and interactive media. Prior to joining the fund, he was a vice president with the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, where he built and co-led the firm's global gaming and esports practice. 

Cohen & Steers, the investment manager, appointed Greg Bottjer as executive vice president and head of global product strategy and development. He is based in New York. Bottjer has more than 27 years’ financial services experience. Most recently he was senior managing director and head of product management and development at Nuveen. 

Javelin Strategy & Research built a new digital wealth practice led by William Trout, formerly head of Celent’s wealth management, securities and investments practice. Trout, who has spoken at Family Wealth Report events and has been quoted on industry issues by this publication in the past, had been at Celent since June 2016, based in Houston, Texas. From May 2013 to April 2015, he was co-founder of the Bank Innovators Council. Prior to that, he was director of product and segment development, HNW and affluent segments, BBVA Compass.

Vanguard made a number of leadership changes.

Chris McIsaac, head of Vanguard's planning and development division, was named head of the firm’s international business. After 33 years of service, Jim Norris, head of Vanguard's international business, retired in December. McIsaac moved to Vanguard's European headquarters in London. 

For the past 12 years, Norris has led Vanguard's global expansion. Karin Risi, head of Vanguard's US Retail Investor Group, took responsibility for Vanguard Planning and Development. Matt Benchener, head of Retail Client Services and Operations, joined Vanguard's senior staff as head of its US Retail Investor Group.

Goldman Sachs named John Mallory and Meena Flynn as co-heads of global private wealth management. Mallory is head of Americas Private Wealth Management, while Flynn leads the global Markets Solutions Group. 

Other promotions at Goldmans were: 
-- Irfan Hussain, global chief information officer; 
-- Stephanie Smith, global head of operations; 
-- Zeeshan Razzaqui, global chief operating officer; 
-- Craig Singer, global chief financial officer; and 
-- Kerryann Benjamin, global human capital management business partner.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management appointed Dawn Guffey as senior director, wealth management. Guffey is responsible for managing portfolios as well as providing strategic planning and advice for ultra-high net worth families and their private foundations. Based in Naples, she reports to market president, Barry McKenzie. At BNY Mellon since 1984, Guffey served in roles such as chief investment officer in the cash investment strategies group, and most recently, as a corporate senior information risk officer and privacy steward for BNY Mellon Investment Management. Subsequent roles included executive vice president and senior portfolio manager for BNY Mellon Cash Investment Strategies, senior portfolio manager at Standish Mellon and portfolio manager and trader for Mellon Bank in the capital markets business.

Cresset Partners, a subsidiary of Cresset Capital, appointed Megan Kellerman as a managing director of business development. Kellerman most recently served as a principal of business development for the client group at GCM Grosvenor in Chicago, where she was responsible for sales and client relationships for pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices, and RIAs. Prior to that, Kellerman worked as a client relationship manager for William Blair.

Thrivent Advisor Network, the platform for independent advisors, appointed RIA industry veteran Gary Foster as senior business development officer. With more than 20 years of experience, Foster joined from LPL Financial.

Sun Life Financial, the Toronto-listed global group that provides wealth management among its offerings, said its president and chief executive, Dean Connor, is to retire in August. Kevin Strain, executive vice-president and chief financial officer, was made president and a member of the Sun Life board of directors. He will assume the CEO role when Connor retires.

Nancy Golding QC TEP, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais in Calgary, Canada, was elected as worldwide chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, aka STEP. Golding took over from Simon Morgan TEP, who has served two terms in the role. Golding has practiced law in Calgary for more than 35 years. She is a tax partner in BLG’s Calgary office, as well as the national and regional leader of the private client group. She works exclusively in estate and tax planning, estates and fiduciary litigation and mediation of trust and estate disputes. She has also been a STEP member for more than 20 years.