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

Brandes Investment Partners
Brandes Investment Partners, a boutique investment management firm with $46.4 billion in client assets, has added three senior figures to its institutional distribution team: Daniel Mottram, Nicole Nesbitt, and Will Tsui.

Mottram serves as director, institutional group at Brandes, based in Boston. He began his career as a portfolio specialist in alternatives and multi asset, before moving to institutional sales and consultant relations at J O Hambro Capital Management. 

Nesbitt is joining as director, institutional group, based in San Diego. Most recently, she served as global head of institutional client service at Brown Advisory. 

Tsui, based in Los Angeles, is assuming the role of director, institutional group. He is joining Brandes from First Eagle, where he served in a similar role, with previous experience at Causeway Capital and as a research analyst at Aon. 

Brandes – headquartered in San Diego – was established in 1974. Brandes and its related entities have offices in Milwaukee, Toronto, Dublin, and Singapore.

FBT Gibbons
FBT Gibbons, a US law firm, announced earlier this week that it has expanded into Naples, Florida, adding partner Juan D Bendeck and associate Rayndel “Ray” Valle. 

The joiners are bringing their established estate planning, trusts and probate administration team, contributing to the firm’s wealth management practice, it said in a statement.

The move comes after the firm’s expansion into California – opening a Newport Beach office in 2025 – and making strategic investments across the US. It now operates from 26 offices.

“Southwest Florida is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country for wealth migration, and our clients are increasingly concentrated in the market,” Melanie McCoy, leader of FBT Gibbons’ wealth planning practice, said.

Bendeck brings more than 20 years of experience advising high net worth and ultra-HNW individuals, multigenerational families, and closely held enterprises on sophisticated estate planning, wealth transfer strategies, and trust and estate administration. He is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in wills, trusts, and estates, and holds an LLM in taxation.

Valle works alongside Bendeck and advises clients on estate planning and administration matters, including the tax implications of wealth transfer strategies.

The firm has almost 800 lawyers.

Raymond James
Raymond James has appointed Patrick O’Connor, chief operating officer of its advisor employee division, to serve as COO in support of all affiliation models within the US private client group.

O’Connor will lead PCG growth initiatives effective May 15, the St Petersburg, Florida-headquartered wealth management group said. He has worked at Raymond James for more than 24 years.

Before his COO role at the advisor employee division, O’Connor was a division director in RJA’s Central division and regional director of RJA’s Florida region.