The latest senior moves, appointments and personnel changes in the North American wealth management sector.

Axyon
Axyon AI, which works with asset managers by using AI tools and strategies, has appointed a New York University senior academic as scientific advisor.

Petter N Kolm is a professor and director of the Mathematics in Finance MS Program at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. Professor Kolm is also a member of the boards of directors of the International Association of Quantitative Finance (IAQF) and the Society of Quantitative Analysts (SQA). He is a published author who has produced books on quantitative finance and has issued several academic research publications. He was awarded the prestigious "Quant of the Year" in 2021 by Portfolio Management Research (PMR) and the Journal of Portfolio Management (JPM).

“With a research portfolio that spans data science, econometrics, financial mathematics, forecasting models, high-frequency trading, machine learning, portfolio optimization and more, professor Kolm's expertise aligns perfectly with Axyon AI's cutting-edge initiatives,” Jacopo Credi, co-founder and CTO, Axyon AI, said.

The firm was founded in 2016.

Elevation Point
Elevation Point has appointed Caitlin Douglas as founding partner and chief operating officer. 

Douglas, who has worked in the sector for almost 20 years, was previously managing director of transition services and co-head of service at Dynasty Financial Partners, where she managed both transition and relationship management teams. Prior to that, Douglas served as director of client services at Keeney Financial Group in Columbia, Maryland.

Jim Dickson is CEO and founding partner of the firm.

State Street
US financial group State Street has appointed former BNY Mellon senior figure Vanessa Fernandes as head of digital asset solutions. Fernandes, who will be based in New Jersey, will report directly to Donna Milrod, chief product officer at State Street.

Fernandes has more than 25 years of financial services experience in technology and operations. She will partner with business leaders across product, technology, operations, as well as the chief commercial office to drive the overall execution of State Street's digital asset strategy.

At BNY Mellon, Fernandes was managing director and global head of digital experience. She has also held several senior leadership positions at ItaĂş Unibanco, including chief information officer, chief technology officer for emerging technologies, global head of corporate architecture, and CEO of Digital Assets, where she pioneered innovative strategies for tokenized bank products and cryptocurrency custody.

Fernandes' appointment comes after State Street’s strategic agreement with Taurus SA, a global player in digital asset infrastructure. This collaboration will enhance State Street's digital asset capabilities by adding tokenization and the technological foundation to offer, subject to regulatory approval, digital asset custody services to its existing fund administration and accounting offerings for digital assets, State Street said. 

JM Finn
JM Finn has appointed Jon Cunliffe to lead its investment office, a role that brings together JM Finn’s research and investment strategy capabilities. 

Cunliffe will oversee the research team, the management team of the in-house investment portfolios, coordinate the third-party fund research, as well as developing the in-house risk-defined investment strategies, the UK firm said. 

With over 35 years’ experience in investment management, Cunliffe was most recently chief investment officer at Charles Stanley and the managing director of Investments for the People’s Partnership.