New blood to co-direct wealth manager's NE region and take point on sales. Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia has hired John Dowd as a director of Wachovia Wealth Management's northeastern U.S. region, and Thomas Scaturro as national sales director for Wachovia Wealth Management, a new position. Both executives had been with Bank of New York Mellon. They report to Stan Gregor, president of Wachovia Wealth Management's Wealth Markets Group, which caters to clients with $10 million in net worth or more than $5 million in investable assets.

Two parts

"Hiring two industry veterans with the leadership caliber of John Dowd and Tom Scaturro to complement our strong leadership team demonstrates our commitment to significantly expand our presence in the Northeast and further reinforces our goal to be one of the preeminent leaders in the ultra-high-net-worth space," says Gregor.

Dowd was in charge of sales, portfolio-management and banking for BNY Mellon Wealth Management 's in the tri-state area in and around Manhattan. Before the Bank of New York and Mellon merged in 2007, he was chief trust officer and head of private banking for the Bank of New York.

Scaturro reported to Dowd as head of sales for BNY Mellon Wealth Management in the tri-state area. Before the merger, he was responsible for business development, training and product development for the Bank of New York's private bank.

(And yes, Thomas Scaturro is related to Peter Scaturro, head of Goldman Sachs' Private Wealth Management group and a former CEO of U.S. Trust: they're brothers.)

Wachovia Wealth Management plans to divide its Northeast region in two, with Dowd in charge of business in New York, Connecticut and the northern part of New Jersey and Antoinette Cooper remaining in charge of business in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and, with a bit more geographic focus, Boston.

Wachovia is the eighth biggest wealth manager in the U.S., according to Barron's. -FWR

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