People Moves

Summary Of North American Executive Moves – January 2024

Editorial Staff February 21, 2024

Summary Of North American Executive Moves – January 2024

A roundup of moves and appointments in the North American wealth sector. There were prominent changes at firms including JP Morgan, Bernstein Private Wealth Management, and Rockefeller, among others.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Frank Durrum to its independent advisor channel. Operating as Durrum Wealth Management in Mount Pleasant, Texas, Durrum was joined by client service associates Debbie Patterson and Marisa Blakenship. A Texas native, Durrum began his career in financial services in 2010 and previously spent 13 years at Edward Jones. Before that, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served six years as an infantry platoon commander in the Marine Corps.

Financial advisor Lance Lively joined the independent channel of Ameriprise Financial, from Edward Jones in Sand Springs, Oklahoma with nearly $130 million in client assets. Lively was joined by client service specialist Tara Beebe. The team is supported locally by Ameriprise franchise field vice president Danielle Dwyer and Ameriprise regional vice president Trish Moll.

Pritzker Private Capital appointed Dwight Gibson as an operating partner. Gibson has more than 20 years’ experience leading corporations in the industrial sector. 

Bernstein Private Wealth Management expanded its ultra-high net worth platform. It appointed three senior executives: Amanda Bohr, director of strategic partnerships; Jeremy Lam, director of credit, and Emily Neubert, national director of UHNW services. Bohr has 13 years of cross-industry experience, including eight years tenure at Bernstein. Lam, who has over 24 years of lending experience in the UHNW space, previously held senior credit positions at Morgan Stanley, First Republic, and JP Morgan. Neubert is an 11-year Bernstein veteran with 19 years of industry experience.

The firm also appointed two managing directors in its Tampa and San Diego markets: Blake Poole and Kristine Wexler, respectively. Poole has 15 years of experience, including over five years' tenure at Bernstein. Prior to Bernstein, Poole served at the Kraft Heinz Company and JP Morgan’s Private Bank. Wexler, who has more than 24 years of wealth management experience, joined the San Diego office from Bernstein in Chicago where, as an advisor, she had a special focus on female wealth creators. Prior to Bernstein she was at Bessemer Trust in New York and Chicago.

JP Morgan continued to reshuffle its leadership. Daniel Pinto, president, and chief operating officer, gave up up day-to-day control of the corporate and investment bank. Instead, CEP Jamie Dimon and Pinto continued to jointly manage the company. Jennifer Piepszak, who took up Pinto’s responsibilities, moved from the consumer banking side; Troy Rohrbaugh, who has been running the markets division, also took up his responsibilities.

Nikko Asset Management selected Seth Masters and Mark Stoeckle in the US to join its board of directors. Masters spent more than 25 years at AllianceBernstein in New York, serving as chief investment officer across multiple asset classes, and catering to retail, institutional and high net worth clients. He is vice chairman at New York Angels, a New York-based organization composed of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Stoeckle has served as CEO at the Baltimore, Maryland-based investment manager Adams Funds for about 10 years since February 2013. He was also chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, and worked in other senior roles.

Fenergo appointed a chief customer officer: Andrew Brandman. Based in New York, Brandman joined from Salesforce, where he served as chief customer officer of financial services. Before that he served in C-suite roles at CIT and NYSE Euronext. He has also had management spots at UBS, Santander, and Credit Suisse.

Dimensional Fund Advisors announced that its global research head, Savina Rizova, had become co-chief investment officer alongside co-CEO Gerard O’Reilly. Rizova, who joined Dimensional in 2004 – a firm headquartered in Austin, Texas –  had led its research department since 2017. In the role, Rizova works with academics – from Eugene Fama and Robert Merton to Robert Novy-Marx and Marco Di Maggio – collaborating on research, co-authoring papers, and partnering with Dimensional’s broader investment team to implement thorough research in live portfolios. 

The firm also named Brad Steiman as president of its Canadian business. Steiman was formerly head of the wealth management group for Dimensional Fund Advisors Canada ULC. Chief talent officer Stacey Winning became global co-head of human resources alongside HR chief Aaron Marcus. 

Wilshire, a US-headquartered global financial services firm, appointed wealth management figure Chip Castille as product strategy head – a newly-formed role. Castille, who first joined the firm in 2000 before heading to other roles, reports to Jason Schwarz, deputy CEO and president of Wilshire. In total, Castille has worked for more than 30 years in the financial services sector. 

Antares Capital, an alternative asset manager with more than $67 billion in capital under management and administration, appointed Jack Snyder as managing director, head of US wealth distribution. Snyder, who oversees the launch of Antares’ private wealth strategy, is based in New York and reports to Vivek Mathew, head of asset management. Snyder previously served as MD, national sales manager for wirehouse and RIA channels and head of retail alternatives sales for First Eagle Investments. Prior to this role, he worked as MD, East regional manager, global private client group for Nuveen Investments.

Ameriprise Financial, the New York-listed group, said financial advisor Roberto Vargas moved his practice from JP Morgan Securities. Vargas chose to join Centennial Financial Services, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise, within the Ameriprise Financial Institutions Group in Jupiter, Florida.  

Procyon Partners appointed Harry Kirkpatrick as chief revenue officer. Prior to this, Kirkpatrick served as managing director, operations, and strategy at Connectus. Before that role, he worked for six years at Facet Wealth as chief revenue officer and head of financial planning.

Janus Henderson Investors appointed Christian Constandse to lead sales in Mexico. Constandse, who is based in Mexico City, reports to Ignacio De La Maza, head of intermediary business for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. In the sector for more than 18 years, Constandse previously worked at BlackRock where he was most recently head of its institutional business in Mexico. 

New Republic Partners hired Ali Bayler as managing director to lead the firm’s expansion in the mid-Atlantic region. In a 25-year career, Bayler previously served as a portfolio manager with Brown Advisory, was a managing director with Spider Management, a director with global law firms, and an analyst at Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management.

Rockefeller Global Family Office added Axiom Wealth Partners, a business with 26 people based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Axiom is led by managing directors and private advisors Jeffrey Towner, David Lund, Brett Howell, and Craig Sharp. The team also includes senior vice presidents and private advisors Jonathan Lund and Jeff Dykstra as well as vice presidents and private advisors Joel Barrett, Christine Steinmetz, Emie Badersnider, and Zach Gebben. The group, which joined from Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, reports to Brett Thelander, Northern divisional director of Rockefeller Global Family Office.

Baird added Brandon Corso as a director and financial advisor to a new office opening in Fairfax, Virginia. Corso previously worked at Edelman Financial Engines, where he managed over $585 million in assets.

Canada’s Wellington-Altus created the new post of chief experience officer, to be held by Steph Condra. Condra has held several leadership positions and worked in the sector for more than two decades. She was most recently head, National Strategy Office at BMO Private Wealth, where she guided the integration of its private banking and full-service brokerage (Nesbitt Burns) businesses. 

Principal Financial Group made its global investments head, Kamal Bhatia, CEO of Principal Asset Management. Bhatia took over from Pat Halter, who will be retiring after 40 years with the company on April 2, 2024. During this transition period, Halter will assume the interim role of division president.

At Principal since 2019, Bhatia joined as president and CEO of Principal Funds before becoming chief operating officer for the asset management business in 2020 and global head of investments in 2023. Before this, he served in senior roles including CEO and chairman of the board for OC Private Capital, a joint venture between OppenheimerFunds and the Carlyle Group, focused on private credit.

UBS Wealth Management USA, part of UBS, appointed Steve Nassau as a senior advisor and Kristin Landis as a senior registered associate, respectively. They are located in UBS’s Orange County/Irvine office, which is part of the UBS Pacific Desert Market.

Northern Trust Asset Management appointed Suzanne Casey as co-head of its newly-formed wealth client group. Casey, who has 30 years of sales and leadership experience, co-leads the group with Sunitha C Thomas. Both report to NTAM president Daniel Gamba.

Glenmede named Bethany Bryant as regional director of its Cleveland, Ohio office. Larry Hatch, who led the Cleveland market for 11 years, continues to serve Glenmede’s clients and the firm. With more than three decades’ industry experience, Bryant joined from The Private Trust Company, an affiliate of LPL Financial, where she most recently served as president after co-founding the company. Bryant reports to Adam Douberly, director of regional markets.

Partners Capital, the US outsourced chief investment office firm, promoted eight of its team to senior roles, including a partner and seven new managing directors. It made Edmondo Barletta, who has been at the business since 2013, a partner. He joined the firm in London and relocated to Paris in 2019 to lead its continental European business. Before joining Partners Capital, Barletta worked at Bain Capital Private Equity in London, and at Bain & Company in Paris. 

At the managing director level, four senior principals based in Europe were promoted: Joe Basrawy, Matt Libling and Louisa Saunders in the London office, as well Niccolò Frigieri in Paris. In the US, Chris Bunzel, Pamela Haddad, and Steve Kaplan, all based in the Boston office, were promoted. 

Bunzel, who has been at the firm since 2012, joined as a member of client CIO and public equities teams. He leads the investment programs for several private and institutional clients in North America. Haddad joined Partners Capital in 2020 as head of people for North America; Kaplan joined the business in 2015 and is head of client operations in North America.

Libling, who joined in 2014, oversees multi-asset class investment portfolios for several UK private and institutional clients. He is a member of the firm’s private debt and alternatives investment committee.

RBC Wealth Management in the US welcomed a team of financial advisors to its Wilmington office. The Cypress Group, formerly from Truist, includes:

-- Paul S Brinkley, managing director – financial advisor; 
-- Jeremy Beakes, senior vice president – financial advisor; 
-- Adam VanDamme, financial advisor; 
-- Meredith Clark, client associate; and 
-- Leticia Glenn-Jones, client associate.

Envestnet CEO Bill Crager officially announced his resignation as the company’s head. He co-founded Envestnet with the late Jud Bergman in 1999.

Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Mark T Uyeda took up his second term at the US regulator at the end of December, 2023. Uyeda began his first term as an SEC Commissioner on June 30, 2022, after being nominated by President Joseph Biden and confirmed by the US Senate for a term expiring in 2023. In June 2023, President Biden nominated Commissioner Uyeda for a term expiring in 2028. In addition to his service as a Commissioner, Uyeda has served on the SEC staff in several roles from 2006 to 2022, including as senior advisor to chairman Jay Clayton, senior advisor to acting chairman Michael S Piwowar, and counsel to Commissioner Paul S Atkins. He also served in various staff positions in the division of investment management and on detail from the SEC to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs as a securities counsel to the committee's minority staff.

Fiduciary Trust International hired Matt McKean as a wealth director, based in its Boca Raton office. McKean most recently served as executive director at JP Morgan Private Bank in Las Olas, Florida. Earlier in his career, McKean served as director – trust and estate specialist/wealth at the restructuring group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He also served on the firm's Advisory Council to Management (ACTM) – a senior management planning board. He first joined Merrill Lynch in 2002.

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