Kleist will report to Steve Prostano, who was fairly recently hired to lead Bank of the West’s ultra high net worth business, aimed at individuals and families with over $25 million in assets.

Last week, Bank of the West named Pierre Ramadier - head of wealth management for international retail markets at its parent company BNP Paribas - to head up the wealth management group, effective January 2016 . Bahnken recently joined Citizens Bank, as reported here.

Kleist has almost 20 years of experience in the wealth management space, working with multi-generational families and family offices. According to LinkedIn, he was previously CEO at Chambers Family Office; COO/CFO at Dore Family Office; COO/CFO at Neeley Family Office; and a senior manager at Deloitte.

At Bank of the West he joins a team that includes Cory Gabel, senior portfolio strategist, and Andy Petrick, senior trust officer.  

Bank of the West Wealth Management provides wealth planning, investment management, personal banking and trust services.

The group is part of BNP Paribas’s global wealth management business of some 6,300 professionals in 30 countries, with over $15.5 billion in assets under management in the US and €331 billion in AuM globally as of June 2015.