July was a relatively brisk month for moves and appointments; one of the standout firms was Rockefeller Capital Management.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management named Laura LaRosa as Mid-Atlantic regional president. LaRosa is responsible for developing and implementing a growth strategy to execute across Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Tysons Corner and Delaware. She is based in Philadelphia and reports to Rob Kricena, head of US markets.

Prior to joining the firm, LaRosa was at Glenmede for more than 25 years. She most recently served as a member of the management committee and as an executive director, where she led client development and growth efforts. LaRosa held a variety of senior posts at Glenmede, including director of portfolio management and director of fixed income management.

Hightower appointed Robert Picard in the newly-created executive role of managing director, head of alternative investments in the Hightower Investment Solutions group. 

Picard has 32 years’ experience on both the buy and sell side, having built multi-billion-dollar alternative investment programs at First Republic Private Wealth Management, The Carlyle Group/Rock Creek, Optima Fund Management, RBC Capital Markets and InfraHedge/State Street.

Riskalyze, a wealth management platform for financial advisors, appointed three new executive leaders: Craig Clark as first chief marketing officer, Josh Gray as chief technology officer, and Justin Boatman as chief product officer.

Prior to joining Riskalyze, Clark was the CMO of PDFTron Systems Inc, which was acquired by Thoma Bravo. Gray was CTO at Apex Clearing. Boatman spent nearly seven years at the intersection of “product meets market” for Riskalyze.

US probate and inheritance dispute law firm RMO – operating across the US – added Brian McDonnell as its director of strategy and business operations. McDonnell has worked in the legal sector for more than 15 years. Previously, McDonnell served as the infrastructure practice group operations manager at Nossaman LLP in Los Angeles.

Argent Financial Group, the wealth management firm, promoted Grant Nelson to mineral audit manager. Nelson focuses on determining the accuracy of oil and gas royalties through lease, volumes, price and tax analysis. He reports to David Luke, president of Argent Mineral Management. The job highlights how, in a business such as Argent that covers much of the Southern states of the US, handling mineral rights is an important wealth management task. 

Hopkins & Carley, a preeminent Silicon Valley law, firm added three prominent attorneys, Alma Soongi Beck, Gene Cherng and Paul Jensen, as counsel. 

Beck is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law and counsel, based in its Palo Alto office. Beck focuses on trusts, charitable planning, gift and estate tax planning, and post-death administration, including trust administration and probate. Beck also offers consultations on the legal and tax implications of domestic partnerships, marriage and property co-ownership, including for same sex and unmarried couples. Before joining Hopkins & Carley, Beck was a partner with Lakin Spears.

Cherng is an experienced trial lawyer and litigated in the district courts and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in various technologies such as network-attached storage, flash memory, computer peripherals, intelligent power distribution units, modular power supplies, display mounts and web locator services. He has also represented clients in trade secret, copyright and trademark cases. Prior to law school, he worked for two years as a bioanalyst at Chiron Corporation.

Jensen joined the Hopkins & Carley Manufactured Housing Group in San Jose. For more than 35 years, Jensen has represented community owners and operators in all aspects of manufactured housing communities law. 

Hopkins & Carley also brought in Ivo Daniele, Kenny Gutierrez, Annie Nguyen and Eber Teceros as associates. Daniele and Nguyen joined the litigation department in the San Jose office. Gutierrez joined the intellectual property group, and Teceros the corporate department in the Palo Alto office.

JTC made a number of senior appointments, including Zach Mueller as group director of group development in the London office, and William Blewett as director of private client services in South Dakota. Promotions were made across 18 jurisdictional teams, including 33 in Jersey, 24 in the UK, 18 in the US, eight in Amsterdam, five in Mauritius, four in Enniscorthy, two in Cayman, two in Luxembourg, and one each in Switzerland and Guernsey.

Asset manager Janus Henderson hired Shoby Kelliher as the new global head of enterprise data management. Kelliher is based in Denver, Colorado and reports to global chief operating officer James Lowry.

Raymond James welcomed financial advisor Fred Fryer to Raymond James Financial Services – the firm’s independent advisor channel – in Bentonville, Arkansas. At Fryer Wealth Planning, Fryer is joined by client service associates Melissa Koenig and Rebekah Fritz. 

Envestnet, a wealth management systems business, appointed Ron Ransom in the newly-created role of group head of environmental, social and governance. Ransom reports to Dawn Newsome, chief business operations officer for Envestnet. With nearly three decades of financial services experience, Ransom most recently served as chief business development officer at Envestnet, where he was responsible for managing Envestnet's go-to-market strategy. 

Rockefeller Capital Management appointed Rose Lee, as managing director and head of investment solutions. Lee leads the strategic development and management of investment and securities products as well as client solutions for the Rockefeller Global Family Office. Based in New York, she reports to Christopher Dupuy, co-head of the Rockefeller Global Family Office. Before joining Rockefeller, Lee served as head of structured product sales and development at Credit Suisse, working at the Swiss bank for six years. Before that, Lee spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs.

Rice Park Capital Management, a Minneapolis-based investment firm, promoted Craig Freel to co-chief investment officer alongside Matt Kennedy, who also serves as co-CIO. Prior to this, Nick Smith, Rice Park founder and CEO, had been co-CIO. 

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the US law firm, appointed Kira Idoko to join its investment funds practice group as a partner in the New York office. Idoko, formerly senior vice president, private funds at Brookfield Asset Management, focuses her practice on the formation and operation of private funds. Before Brookfield Asset Management, she served as vice president and assistant general counsel at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Idoko began her legal career at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Rockefeller Capital Management recruited a family team from RBC Wealth Management-US in New York City. The business, called The Claghorn Group, led by John W Claghorn III, joined Rockefeller Global Family Office and its Northeast division headed by divisional director Michael Parker. Previously at RBC Wealth Management, the group has more than 80 years of combined experience. Other members are: John W Claghorn IV (Jake), senior vice president and private wealth advisor; McKay Claghorn, SVP and private wealth advisor; Elizabeth Yermes, associate vice president; and Jack Browne, senior client associate.

The founders of Old Town Advisors, based in New Mexico, joined Concurrent Advisors and Raymond James. Presidents David Baland and Liatriz Levy, and client relationship manager Amanda Burrows previously managed about $300 million in client assets.
 

Rockefeller Capital Management appointed industry figure Rose Lee as a managing director and head of investment solutions, as well as a member of the management committee. Lee leads the strategic development and management of investment and securities products as well as client solutions for the Rockefeller Global Family Office. 

Janus Henderson appointed Aaron Kilberg as head of North America institutional sales, and Patrick Caragher as institutional sales director. Based in New York, Kilberg is responsible for leading the North America sales team and covering the East region, with a focus on corporate plans and public pensions. 

Kilberg joined from abrdn, where he was a senior business development director, responsible for developing new business relationships and solutions with institutional clients. Prior to that, he worked in various capacities at UBS Global Asset Management and Aviva Investors. Caragher, who is based in Chicago, is responsible for covering corporate and public pensions in the Midwest. Caragher was most recently a senior director in Aegon Asset Management’s US institutional team.

Dechert, the global law firm, appointed former SEC senior figure David Bartels as a partner in its financial services group, based in the Washington, DC office. At the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bartels was deputy chief counsel of the division of investment management.  

Global business advisory firm EisnerAmper appointed Ben Richmond as a partner in its Personal Wealth Advisors Group. Richmond has 15 years of experience in tax planning and compliance in various areas of domestic and international taxation. 

Argent Financial Group hired Annaliese Russell as internal auditor. Russell,who is based in the Ruston office, focuses on providing objective evaluations of financial and operational functions. She reports to Kimberly Breithaupt, chief audit executive. Before joining Argent, Russell served as a risk management intern for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

Compliance Risk Concepts, a group providing financial services for senior compliance professionals and executives, appointed a former senior FINRA figure, Jonathan Telfair, as its associate director of broker-dealer registration.

Alex. Brown, a division of Raymond James, welcomed financial advisor Trevor Ronderos in Miami, Florida. Ronderos previously managed approximately $122 million in client assets at Goldman Sachs and provides global wealth management services to ultra-high net worth and HNW clients. He and client service associate Ana Sofia Garcia joined Alex. Brown’s Brickell Avenue branch, which is led by Eric Termini, regional executive for South Florida.

Cetera Financial Group, the US network of financial professionals, announced that a branch office that oversees $250 million had affiliated with the Cetera community. The practice, led by industry veteran Michael Bergin, joined from National Securities and is based in Eatontown, New Jersey. Bergin began his financial services career in 1985. 

AllianceBernstein named a chief financial officer while the head of the business’s private wealth business stepped down. Kate Burke, appointed CFO, stayed on as chief operating officer. She stepped down as head of Bernstein Private Wealth. Onur Erzan, AB's head of the global client group, who was appointed head of Bernstein Private Wealth, maintained his global client role. Burke succeeded interim CFO Bill Siemers, who returned to his prior role as corporate controller and chief accounting officer and remains on the firm's operating committee. Erzan has been with the firm as head of global client group since January 2021. Burke has remained in Nashville, and Erzan has stayed on in New York City.

Citi Private Bank promoted Chris Petro to the role of global market manager for the New York Metro Area. Petro reports to HalĂ© Behzadi, head of North America for Citi Private Bank. He joined the US bank last year as a regional market manager Metro NY. Petro previously worked for more than 10 years at JP Morgan’s global investment opportunities group. Prior to JP Morgan, Petro worked in institutional sales at SG Cowen covering hedge funds and institutional asset managers.

Apollon Wealth Management, a US registered investment advisor, appointed Eric Sterner as its chief investment officer. He reports to founding partner and chief executive, Michael Dolberg. Sterner has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently he was vice president of PGIM’s Strategic Investment Research Group’s portfolio construction team.