The new division GSB Capital includes M&A, growth capital (debt and equity), direct investment, debt advisory and other advisory services with teams in both the UK and the UAE. Grant Bergman has joined as Global Head of GSB Capital to run the newly launched division.

Bergman brings over 18 years of investment banking experience in London, having previously launched and led private company advisory teams for both finnCap (now Cavendish Financial plc) and Investec Bank plc, where he advised on a number of global transactions. He graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Commerce in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and a Postgraduate Degree in Enterprise Management.

Ross Whatnall, Co-Founder and CEO at GSB, said: “This new division focussed on debt and equity markets adds a new layer of expertise to cater for all the financial needs of our clients. Grant Bergman brings a unique and holistic approach to advisory and investments.

“An entrepreneur at heart, he has managed two high-growth investment vehicles and co-founded a number of start-ups, scaling several to successful exit. In addition to his decade of advising large and mid-cap listed corporate clients, this means Grant brings to GSB Capital clients experience of both early and later-stage lifecycles.

“We will continue to find new avenues for growth for GSB and expect to expand the company more over the next 12 months and are looking to hire a number of experienced professionals to bolster the newly launched division in coming months.”

Launch

As part of the growth plan, GSB Capital is aiming to launch a co-investment vehicle later this year, which will allow it to further support disruptive, innovative and impactful businesses globally, it said.

Alongside the new GSB Capital division, financial services group GSB also consists of:

• GSB Wealth – offering expert advice, specialising in all aspects of financial planning – including pension and retirement planning, investment planning, tax planning, cash flow modelling, insurance, and more.
• GSB Private – offers an independent private banking, private finance and private office platform for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, families, companies and structures. Alongside this, GSB’s in-house, whole-of-market debt and finance brokerage, GSB Private Finance, also operates as an external asset manager.

The financial services firm has appointed Nigel Gregory and Christopher Somers to the group’s Dubai office.

Gregory joins as global head of GSB Capital and has worked in various senior executive roles across compliance, training, sales, and management in UK banks for 10 years.

Somers joins as senior partner in the GSB Private banking team and prior to joining, has held senior positions at Standard Chartered Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada.

CII

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has announced Enas Asiri and Suresh Nair as vice presidents.

Asiri is a long-standing member of the CII and became a Fellow (FCII) in 2015. Prior to joining National Life Assurance (BNL) in 2017, she was the head of the life and medical operations at the Arab Insurance Group (ARIG).

Nair brings three decades of experience in the insurance industry and is currently the executive director at Gargash Insurance Services in Dubai. He is also a Fellow of the CII and holds an MBA.

Lombard Odier

The wealth planning team has announced David Barker as senior wealth planner.

Barker has worked for over 25 years at the accountancy firm, Rawlinson & Hunter, in roles including head of tax and managing partner.

Sarasin & Partners

The investment manager has appointed Edward Lloyd and Jack Brodie.

Lloyd joins as senior investment manager after six years at Quilter Cheviot, whilst Brodie joins as investment analyst at the Sarasin Bread Street team.

Loyal North PLC

The financial planning business has hired Kuan Ang as group finance director and board member of the executive committee.

Ang brings 20 years’ experience working in senior roles for Ernst & Young and Deloitte.

SimplyBiz

The financial advice firm has hired Fabian Wiesner as head of distribution partnerships.

Wiesner joins from Aviva Investors as strategic partners manager and has previously held positions at Old Mutual Global Investors.

Spring Capital Partners

The funds distribution partner has appointed Dani Hristova and Will Nott as non-executive directors.

Hristova began her career at Legal & General Investment Management in 2015, and has since worked at Schroders Investment Management and Nordea Asset Management. She was recently appointed chief executive of Independent Investment Management Initiative (IIMI).

Nott brings four decades worth of asset management experience. He spent 34 years with M&G, where he was the chief executive of M&G Securities for 17 years. He was the President of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) from 2017 to 2019, and is currently chairman of Door Ventures, the digital RFP platform.

Mirabaud Wealth Management

The investment service has appointed Jonathan Unwin as head of portfolio management for the UK.

Unwin brings over 16 years’ experience managing client wealth. He has worked at Credit Suisse and in 2015, was the deputy head of asset management at Banque Havilland, a Luxembourg-based private bank.

Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)

The professional body has hired Emma Black as president of the CISI North East Committee.

Black co-founded the wealth management company called Tier One Capital and built a compare-the-market savings tool called Cascade Cash Management. She also co-founded the new bank – GB Bank – in 2017 and has lectured across undergraduate and post-graduate levels at Durham University, Newcastle University and Leeds University.

The wealth manager has hired Jon Urquhart as managing partner and co-head of GSB Private as it continues to expand its UK business.

Urquhart has spent 18 years in financial services, most recently as director of mortgages at Mantra Group, where he led the mortgages division and was a specialist in large loans with private banking clients.

Evelyn Partners

The professional services firm has appointed Bindesh Sajvani as chief risk officer and group head of compliance.

Sajvani joins from Pendal Group the owner of J O Hambro Capital Management, where he was the global chief risk officer.

Prior to this he was global chief risk officer for Intermediate Capital Group Plc, the UK publicly listed alternative asset management group.

His career has included senior risk and compliance roles in subsidiaries of Lloyds Bank Plc (Scottish Widows Investment Management), Aviva Plc (Morley Fund Management) and at Aberdeen Asset Management.

CISI

The institute has promoted Glen Murphy to head of CISI’s Wealth Management Forum Committee.
Murphy takes over from Hamish Warnock, who has chaired the committee since 2020.

He has over 20 years of experience in wealth and investment management. He was formerly chief operating officer at Stonehage Fleming and Multrees and has held leadership roles at Schroders and Rathbones.

He is also a member of the CISI Fintech Forum Committee.

Murphy is keen to grow the professional forum membership to drive more robust engagement in the CISI through regular activities and thought leadership events.

The institute has also appointed Christopher Clark and Sushil Saluja as new members of the board.

Clark is a relationship manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin and has been active with the CISI Scottish Committee for many years.

He served as committee president for four years and has been a keen advocate of financial education.

Saluja is a senior business leader and adviser based in London, focused on international business, technology-led transformation, and education .

He has over 30 years’ prior experience at Accenture. He led business units for EMEA (based in London) and Asia Pacific (based in Hong Kong) and has launched FinTech accelerators in Hong Kong and Dubai.
Since leaving Accenture, he has undertaken roles within Temasek (Singapore) and for the Bank of England. He currently acts as senior adviser to several multinational organisations.

Liontrust

The asset manager has appointed Kristian Cook as head of UK distribution.

Under Cook, the UK single strategy and Multi-Asset sales teams are being brought into one team to further enhance the strong levels of client service at Liontrust.

Cook will report to Ian Chimes, head of global distribution.

Prior to joining Liontrust, he was at Franklin Templeton and JP Morgan Asset Management.

The newly structured UK sales team will promote both single strategy funds and solutions, with the latter including sustainable managed funds, multi-asset funds and portfolios, depending on the individual requirements of clients.

Bravura Solutions Limited

The software solutions provider has promoted Paul Dunn and Chris Spencer to regional chief executive officers.

Dun and Spencer will take up their new roles as chief executive’s of APAC and EMEA business respectively with immediate effect.

Both will be responsible for the end-to-end financial management and operational delivery for their regions, with a focus on driving growth and improving client outcomes.

And will report into group chief executive and managing director, Andrew Russell.

Hampden & Co

The private bank has hired Claire Mann to the new role of head of client proposition.
Mann will lead the bank’s Client Relationship Management (CRM) programme.

She will report to Andrew Bell, chief commercial officer at the bank.

Mann joins from Handelsbanken where she was senior operations and programme manager responsible for the design, implementation and management of CRM.

She has also held senior operational and CRM roles at NatWest, KPMG and HSBC.

The wealth manager has hired Stuart Ritchie as managing partner and Mauro De Santis Bo as partner.

Ritchie is part of the GSB leadership team, providing strategic direction to help the business reach its objectives.

De Santis Bo started his career as a lawyer in 2010 with one of the top 3 firms in Argentina, before moving to the UAE in 2013 and embarking on a new journey in the financial services sector.

He now benefits from a decade of experience as a financial planner and specialises in providing comprehensive financial planning solutions for expats around the World.

The firm has also appointed Christopher Wright as senior executive officer, chief executive and head of UAE.

As well as David Smylie as group head of GSB private.

IFGL

The investment solutions provider has appointed Kelvin Revere as IFGL group actuary, appointed actuary for RL360 insurance company and RL360 life insurance company.

Revere brings 25 years’ experience within on-shore and off-shore life companies.

Since joining the group in 2010, he has held the toles of head of actuarial and chief actuary.

Legal & General

The investment service has hired James Shattock as managing director for UK protection and Pippa Keefe succeeds his role as commercial director.

Shattock brings over 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry. He joined Legal & General three years ago from UNUM UK where he was chief underwriting officer.

Keefe, who was previously Legal & General retail protection businesses development director, brings over 13 years’ experience in the protection market.

Brooks Macdonald Group

The investment manager has hired Maarten Slendebroek as chairman and as non-executive director.

Slendebroek was the chief executive of Jupiter for five years from February 2014 and has been the chair of supervisory board of Robeco since August 2020.

Platform One

The investment platform has appointed Matt Freeguard as its director of product.

Freeguard joins from the investment wrap platform and wealth software, Shares, where he was investment products manager.

The Exit Partnership

The business manager has hired financial planner and wealth management professional, Zane Hunter.

Hunter as sat on the board of leadership teams, most recently as head of wealth for One Four Nine group.

Blevins Franks

Martin Gilbert has joined the board of the specialist financial advice firm.

The global asset manager has appointed Oskar Geldof as head of BeNeLux.

Geldof has over 20 years’ experience and joins after a decade at Fidelity International where he was head of institutional sales for the Netherlands.

GSB Capital

The global wealth manager has hired Natasha Nathanielsz as client impact manager.

Nathanielsz brings 20 years’ experience in banking, customer service, and bank office administration support.

Evelyn Partners

The financial services company has expanded its Bristol financial planning team, hiring Bronwen Lancaster as partner, Joy Wisniewski as associate director of financial planning, and Chris Iles as a financial planner.

Lancaster has 20 years’ experience and joins Evelyn Partners from law firm, Irwin Mitchell.

Wisniewski joins from Hartsfield, where she spent 9 years, and previously worked as an advanced financial planner in banking in Australia.

Iles joins from Schroders Personal Wealth where he was a chartered financial planner.

Franklin Templeton

The investment service firm has appointed Maximilian Beeck as head of wholesale Switzerland.

Starting his career at UBS, Beeck has also previously worked at Janus Henderson and Allianz Global Investors.

Natixis Investment Managers

The asset manager has appointed Laura Kaliszewski as global head of client sustainable investing.

Kaliszewski joined Natixis in 2020 and has more than 15 years‘ experience in sustainable and impact investing, portfolio management, credit and risk with firms such as Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.

Charles Stanley

The wealth manager has announced Abbas Owainati as head of asset allocation and Amish Patel as head of equity research.

Owainati has held roles as a macro strategist and economist at Quilter Investors.

Patel was previously a senior equity analyst at Talisman Global Asset Management and has worked at Quilter Cheviot and Janus Henderson.

WisdomTree

The asset manager has appointed Eva Casey as director of Ireland and Channel Islands sales.

Casey has 13 years’ experience in the asset management industry and joins WisdomTree from the institutional business team at State Street Global Advisers (SSGA).

Prior to SSGA, Casey spent seven years at Invesco, and has worked at Société Générale and Aviva Investors.

Walker Crips Financial Planning

The investment service has hired Joanne Crewe and Paul Gooch as financial planners.

Crewe has spent 23 years advising clients at Pannells Financial Planning Ltd before its acquisition.

Gooch also worked at Pannells Financial Planning Ltd, spending two decades advising clients and being part of the senior leadership team.

PGIM Investments

The investment manager has announced Rochus Appert as country head of Switzerland.

Appert has 30 years’ experience in the Swiss financial industry and joins from Columbia Threadneedle where he was most recently head of discretionary sales, Switzerland.

Appert has previously worked at BMO Global Asset Management, State Street Global Advisers, Credit Suisse and WestLB.

Kleinwort Hambros

The private bank has hired Gene Salerno as its new chief investment officer (CIO).

Gene brings over 20 years’ experience of cross-asset expertise and innovation.

He has headed investment strategy for SG Kleinwort Hambros, and since 2020, has been chief transformation officer.

AAB Group

The accountancy firm has hired Emma Lancaster as chief executive.

Succeeding Graeme Allan who has been at AAB for more than 16 years, Lancaster brings 15 years of board level experience in CEO and CFO roles in private equity backed, international, and people-based businesses.

Independent Governance

The pensions trusteeship and governance services has made four new hires.

This includes Yogen Mauree and Kate Tollis as trustee directors, alongside Peter Clarke as trustee manager, and Charlotte Bracken as marketing manager.

Mauree has joined from Signet Capital as head of risk management.

Tollis brings 25 years’ experience, joining from IGG as head of scheme governance and secretariat alongside roles for the British Airways (DB) pension schemes.

Newton Investment Management

The investment manager has appointed Liliana Castillo Dearth to lead the firm’s emerging market and Asia equities team.

Dearth has managed equity strategies for more than 20 years, most recently as portfolio manager at Wellington Management. Prior to Wellington, Dearth spent 18 years at AllianceBernstein.

Sarasin & Partners

The investment manager has announced six new hires.

These include two appointments from the charities team, Alexander True and Tania McLuckie – and four appointments from the private client team – Stephen Rothwell, Nick Wood, James Fishbourne and Graeme Bruce.

True, who joined Sarasin & Partners in 2014, brings over 15 years’ experience in financial services and charity portfolio management.

McLuckie has 10 years of investment experience across multi-asset and absolute return portfolios for charities, pensions, trusts and private clients.

Rothwell brings 25 years’ experience in the investment management and banking industry, working in management positions and with private clients and their advisers.

Wood, who joined Sarasin & Partners in 1998, is responsible for managing investment portfolios including trusts and pensions.

Fishbourne joined Sarasin & Partners in 2004 and is an investment manager with responsibility for private client portfolios.

Bruce who joined the firm in 2013 manages segregated international private client portfolios.

Belasko

Belasko has appointed Hannah Dunnell as managing director in its Guernsey office.

Dunnell brings 17 years’ experience in the local financial services industry, working across fund administration, corporate services and company secretarial services.