The latest moves in North America's wealth management sector.

William Blair
William Blair Investment Management has appointed a group of NN Investment Partners' figures to build an emerging markets debt team. They will join the firm in the first quarter of 2020.   

The joiners are Marcelo Assalin, Marco Ruijer, and a number of others.

Assalin will report to Stephanie Braming, partner, global head of William Blair Investment Management, and serve in her leadership team.

Most recently, Assalin was head of the EMD team at NNIP, while Ruijer was lead portfolio manager on their emerging markets debt hard currency strategy. The team has been built over time since 2013. They have expertise across the emerging market debt spectrum, including hard currency, corporate debt, local bond, frontier markets, multicurrency and local currency.  

Assalin has been managing such EMD strategies since 1996 and Ruijer has been managing EMD strategies since 2002. The team operates from New York, London, the Netherlands, and Singapore. The EMD team’s work will also complement the developed markets fixed income growth initiatives of William Blair’s recent senior fixed income hire, Ruta Ziverte. 

As of September 30, William Blair Investment Management managed $54.2 billion in assets.

Raymond James
Raymond James has brought over financial advisors James Alioto and Florence Alioto-Prospero to Raymond James & Associates – the firm’s employee advisor broker/dealer – in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

James Alioto, managing director of investments, and Florence Alioto-Prospero, senior investment portfolio associate, join RJA from Wells Fargo Advisors where they previously managed over $325 million in client assets.

Together, the group operates as father-daughter team Alioto Wealth Management Group of Raymond James. Joining them is Darlene McGregor, senior registered client service associate.

Alioto has 48 years of experience in the financial services industry. He attended Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where he studied finance. Additionally, he attended the three-year security association course of study at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Alioto-Prospero brings 19 years of experience in the financial services industry to the firm. Also a graduate of Marquette University, she studied international business and marketing. 

McGregor has over 37 years of experience in the financial services industry, where she has made it her priority to serve clients at the highest level. She assists the advisors in planning and building investment portfolios while also assisting clients with requests, needs and concerns. 

Ameriprise
Peter Kettle has been appointed by Ameriprise Financial Services as a financial advisor. He joins from Iron Birch Advisors®, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services. He is based in New York City.

Kettle graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford in the UK, and gained his MBA in Finance at New York University. He has 28 years of experience in the financial services industry.