Bill Maldonado has been named as the chief executive of the firm’s asset management business, Eastspring Investments.

Maldonado has been serving as interim chief executive since April this year and, having joined Eastspring Investments in September 2021, has been chief investment officer since May 2022.

Prior to joining Eastspring, Maldonado served as the Asia Pacific chief investment officer and global chief investment officer for equities at HSBC Global Asset Management.

A chief investment officer for Eastspring Investments will be appointed in due course.

RBC Wealth Management

The wealth manager has appointed Rod Ireland as interim head of RBC Wealth Management Asia.

This in addition to his current role as head of global markets Apac for RBC Capital Markets.

He replaces Terence Chow, who has left RBC.

Redington

The independent investment consultancy firm has appointed Gavin Howard as chief financial officer.

With more than 30 years’ experience in financial services, he has been chief financial officer at both IFG Group and Nucleus Financial, as well as having held senior executive positions at firms including Partnership Assurance and Octopus Lifestyle.

Brooks Macdonald

The wealth manager has appointed Henrietta Walker as head of the investment specialist team.

She joins Brooks Macdonald from her senior associate partner role at Sarasin & Partners, where she was deputy portfolio manager of its MPS.

Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM)

Chris Hutchinson has joined the firm as senior investment manager.

He previously worked at Investec Wealth and Investment.

Janus Henderson Investors

The asset manager has made multiple hires in its Asia distribution team.

Alexis Lavergne has joined the investment manager as investment specialist for fixed income, while Andrew Cox has joined as investment specialist for equity. Both are newly created roles and are based in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Joeson and Keith Chan have joined in Hong Kong as director and sales manager for intermediary sales respectively.

Lavergne joins Janus Henderson from H2O Asset Management, where he was client portfolio manager responsible for global macro fixed income and currencies strategies.

Meanwhile, Cox has joined Janus Henderson following a brief sabbatical. He previously served as head of investor relations and corporate development at real estate firm Globalworth.

Meanwhile, Joeson joins from Invesco, where she was senior manager for intermediary sales covering private bank distributions. She previously worked at Income Partners Asset Management and Citibank.

Chan was mostly recently an associate in the financial institutions group at Lazard Asset Management. He also worked at Bank J Safra Sarasin.

JM Finn

The investment manager has named Lucy Coutts as head of its York office.

Coutts, who has been at JM Finn since 2011, takes over as head of the recently relocated York office, effective immediately.

The global wealth tech provider announced that its chief executive John Wise has left the company.

Richard Lumb, a current director on the InvestCloud board has been appointed interim chief executive.

The board also has initiated a search for a permanent chief executive.

Eastspring Investments

The Asia-based asset management business of life insurer Prudential has appointed Bill Maldonado as its interim chief executive.

Maldonado’s appointment follows the retirement of former chief executive Wai-Kwong Seck, who had held the post for four years.

Seck will stay on at the asset management firm until the end of June to support Maldonado and the team in the transition.

Maldonado, who joined the firm in August 2021 as its chief investment officer, will retain this role to “focus on investment performance”.

Prior to joining Eastspring, Maldonado served as both the Asia Pacific and global chief investment officer for equities at HSBC Global Asset Management.

Responding to queries from our sister publication Fund Selector Asia on when the firm is looking to appoint a permanent chief executive, Eastspring said: “We are undertaking a thorough process to ensure that we find the right candidate for the business and will provide more information at the appropriate time.”

Kingswood

Paul Hammick has joined the international wealth and investment management group as chief risk officer.

He has over 26 years of experience in financial services, previously working at Lloyds Banking Group.

Shard Capital

The wealth and asset manager has appointed James Bushell as head of operations.

Bushell brings 28 years of financial services experience having held roles with Walker Cripps, Lloyds Bank Stockbrokers, Brewin Dolphin and Fiske.

JM Finn

The UK wealth firm has recruited Danny Szabo as an investment manager.

Prior to joining JM Finn, he managed discretionary assets on behalf of private clients and intermediaries at Atomos.

Bespoke Wealth

The UK advice firm has promoted Danielle Pearce to head of financial planning, according to her Linkedin profile.
Pearce was previously head of paraplanning.

JP Morgan Private Bank

The banking giant has hired Kenneth Yeo as ultra-high net worth team lead for southeast Asia, based in Singapore.

Yeo joins from independent asset manager Lighthouse Canton, where he spent just three months as managing director and senior client partner.

Franklin Templeton

The financial services firm has appointed Benjarong Techamuanvivit as its head of Thailand.

Techamuanvivit’s role is newly created and comes as Franklin Templeton looks to expand its presence in Thailand.

It added that the appointment is subject to the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as she will be based in Singapore.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, she served as the deputy managing director and head of corporate strategy for product, digital and marketing at Eastspring Asset Management (Thailand).

Guinness Global Investors

The investment firm has hired Dennis Mehrtens as head of sales in Germany.

He was most recently managing director for the Dach region at Fiera Capital.

Waverton Investment Management

The DFM firm has made four hires to its Glasgow office.

The team, led by Graeme Brock and Roger Haxton, join from Evelyn Partners where they were both Partners. They are joined by Lauren Craig and Charlotte Ayre.

Brock and Haxton join Waverton as portfolio managers and directors.

Craig has been named as a portfolio manager focusing on running portfolios as well as managing client relationships. Ayre completes the team of four as the team assistant.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

HM Treasury has announced the appointment of Sophie Hutcherson to the board of the UK regulator.

Hutcherson has 30 years’ experience in financial services having worked as senior adviser to the chief executive at Wells Fargo and held various senior positions at Deutsche Bank UK.

Barnett Waddingham

The pension consultancy firm has named Mark Smith as an independent non-executive director to its self-invested personal pension (Sipp) business board.

Smith has over 35 years’ experience in financial services and the personal pensions industry. He spent 10 years at Mattioli Woods as a main PLC board director, departing as chief operating officer in 2018.

Canada Life

The insurance giant has appointed Tim Coulson as managing director of bulk purchase annuities.

Coulson was most recently at Just Group, where he built and led its defined benefit de-risking business.

The wealth group has hired Jason Edwards as partner and chief compliance officer, according to his Linkedin profile.

Edwards was previously at St James’s Place, where he was head of the compliance advisory division.

Butterfield

The banking group has appointed Richard Saunders as managing director of Jersey.

This is in addition to his current role as managing director of Channel Islands and UK.

Saunders, who served as managing director of Guernsey since 2015, takes over responsibility for Jersey from Noel McLaughlin.

Alan Bain has been promoted to managing director of Guernsey. Bain has served as chief financial officer in Guernsey since 2016.

Lastly, Maria Moore has been appointed as head of finance, banking for the Channel Islands and the UK. She joined the company recently as head of finance in Jersey.

Brown Advisory

The global investment management firm has named Serena Sim as head of intermediary sales for Asia.

Sim joins from Janus Henderson, where she was head of intermediary sales for southeast Asia.

Also, Rebecca Fernandes has been appointed international counsel, based in the firm’s London office.

She was most recently counsel at Lazard Asset Management.

Highvern

The private wealth services provider has appointed Hugh O’Donnell as a client director at its Swiss office.

He joins from Equiom Group, where he was head of fiduciary and senior executive officer in the Middle East.

Eastspring Investments

The asset management business of Prudential has appointed Mike Woolley as head of UK wholesale distribution.

He joined Eastspring in December 2022. He previously held the roles of head of UK wholesale at Gresham House and BNP Paribas Asset Management, and has also served as head of UK sales at EFG Asset Management.

Hawksford

The financial services provider has promoted 59 employees to new roles throughout its international client facing and business support services teams during the first month of 2023.

These include 27 in Jersey, 14 in China, eight respectively in Hong Kong and Singapore, and one promotion each in London and Ireland.

The promotions include Fabio Stella being promoted to the role of director in China, Karen Gallagher as global head of marketing (Jersey) and Jennie Ekedahl as managing director of private client services (Jersey).

AllianceBernstein

Tom Laker has been named as UK retail sales manager at the investment manager.

He will be responsible for developing client relationships in London and the Channel Islands.

Most recently, he was at Gam, where he was client manager, building its London and Channel Island distribution footprint.

STM Group

The cross-border financial services firm has appointed Peter Smith as an independent non-executive director.

He was chief financial officer of Lighthouse Group from 2008 until 2019, when the business was acquired by Quilter.

Most recently, he has been an adviser to Quilter in respect of its integration of Lighthouse Group.

Joseph Pinto will become chief executive of M&G Asset Management, effective from March 2023 and subject to regulatory approval.

He will join from Natixis Investment Managers, where he has served as head of distribution and investment solutions for Emea, Apac and LatAm and global chief operating officer.

Pinto will succeed Jonathan Daniels who will retire after 21 years with the business.

Natixis Investment Managers

Fabrice Chemouny has been appointed head of international distribution to replace Pinto.

He was previously head of Asia Pacific at Natixis Investment Managers.

Christophe Lanne, chief administration officer for Asset & Wealth Management, will oversee post-sales support activities for international distribution, as well as Natixis IM solutions activities, in addition to his existing responsibilities for global operations and technology, human resources and corporate social responsibility strategy.

IFGL

The financial services giant has recruited Greg Watson for the newly created role of chief technology officer.

He previously held a similar position at Sainsbury’s Bank in Edinburgh.

Metlife UK

The insurance provider hired Justin Harper as head of propositions for the UK.

He was most recently at LV= where he led the protection proposition development team.

Eastspring Investments

The Prudential subsidiary has named Faizal Gaffoor as deputy regional chief executive and head of products and partnerships.

He joined the business in December 2022 in Singapore from UOB Asset Management where he served as managing director and group chief marketing officer.

Wealth Professional

The UK-based financial advice and consultancy firm has appointed David Webster as director.

He will help the company enhance the customer experience and further grow the business.

Webster has provided consultancy services to several financial advice firms and, prior to that, held senior positions at IFA companies.

FNZ

The global platform has hired Renata Mrazova as group chief people officer, based in Prague.

She most recently held a similar role at Home Credit International.

Harding Loevner

The US-based asset manager has recruited Richard Clarke-Wilson as business development lead for the UK and Ireland.

He is the first member of the business development team to be based outside of the US and will be tasked with building relationships with intermediaries in the region.

Clarke-Wilson was previously at Majedie Asset Management where he spent more than six years as client director.

LGIM

The investment manager has strengthened its presence in Switzerland with a senior hire.

Patrick Lutz becomes head of wholesale distribution in the country, based in the newly opened Zurich office.

He spent the last 14 years at Franklin Templeton where most recently he was country head for Switzerland.

The Pearl Family Office

The London-based family office has hired Jamila Long as relationship director.

She has held several senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Private Banking and more recently at Chateau Fiduciaire.

Irwin Mitchell

The law firm has made a senior hire in its Birmingham office.

Ian Bond has joined the private client team as a partner from Thursfields where he was head of Wills and estates.

Irwin Mitchell added that it intends to make another partner and associate in March to expand the practice in the Midlands.

The asset management subsidiary of Prudential has promoted Matthew Appelstein to head of international distribution.

He joined the firm in 2019 and will retain his role as chief executive of Eastspring’s Americas business.

IQ-EQ

The investor services group has promoted Joannes van de Kimmenade to managing director for Belgium.

He was previously market leader for IQ-EQ Belgium where he was responsible for serving and expanding the portfolio of clients in the region.

Deutsche Bank

The German bank has made some changes to the senior management of its Ireland operations.

Neil Brady will take on the role of chief country officer for Ireland, effective from 1 October 2022, while keeping his responsibilities as global head of surveillance, messaging and agency securities lending (ASL) operations within the corporate bank.

He has been at Deutsche Bank since 1995, when he joined as a graduate.

Indosuez Wealth Management

The global wealth management arm of the Credit Agricole group has made two senior hires in Singapore.

Yeng Fang Ong becomes southeast Asia global market head, while Rosemarie Chong takes on the role of ultra-high net worth and wealth partnership market head.

Yeng was previously managing director and head of UOB Private Bank for eight years, whereas Chong used to work as managing director of Swiss-based BCV Investment Asia.

Fidelity international

Ilga Haubelt has been named head of equities for Europe at the investment firm.

She will be based in London and lead Fidelity’s European-based equity team.

Haubelt joins from Newton Investment Management where she served as head of equity income and senior portfolio manager.

Bank of Singapore

The private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation has recruited Yazid Mahadi as head of fund selection, based in the Lion City.

He was most recently managing director of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam.

Knight Frank Investment Management

The specialist real estate investment firm made three senior hires.

Ian Wilson has become partner to grow the residential investment management business. He joins from CBRE Investment Management where he led the residential investment practice.

Xaviere Roudeix-Crouan will work within the quantitative modelling research team; she was previously at real estate investment manager Redevco.

Lastly, Chantal Beaudoin has taken on the role of head of ESG. She used to work for Lamington Group as senior sustainability manager.

Brewin Dolphin

The UK-headquartered wealth manager promoted Richard Annis to head of office for Leeds.

He takes over from Micheal Craven who will retire on 1 October 2022.

Annis has been at Brewin Dolphin in Leeds since 1993 when he joined as a graduate trainee.

Edmund de Rothschild Asset Management

The asset management arm of Edmund de Rothschild has strengthened its equities capabilities with the hire of a portfolio manager based in Paris.

Benjamin Rousseau joins the team to focus on European small and mid-cap equities.

He was previously at Cogefi Gestion where he served in a similar role for four years.