The move is part of the firm’s strategic plan to expand and strengthen its presence in the Middle East.

The office will give investors across the region increased access to AB’s asset management services.

AB has appointed Jean-Paul Hobeika, who is currently managing director – Middle East institutions, as senior executive officer.

Hobeika, who joined the AB in August 2022, will work closely with Eduard van Nes, head of intermediary sales for Middle East and Africa, who recently relocated to Dubai.

Willem van Gijzen, head of Cemea institutions at AB, said: “We are committed to our growth in the region, and this license allows us to launch into our next phase. The Middle East has been an important region for AB for a number of years.

“By opening an office in DIFC, we can move into our next phase as it will allow us to improve our ability to serve clients through proximity as well as capturing important market opportunities.”

DIFC demand

The DIFC has attracted several notable financial giants recently and the total number of wealth and asset management companies in the financial centre has increased to over 300.

International Adviser reported that financial services giant Edmond de Rothschild Group and Holborn Assets received DFSA approval to open an advisory office in the DIFC. In March 2023, IA also exclusively revealed that St James’s Place has been given in-principle approval for an DFSA licence.

Some firms which joined the DIFC in 2022 included Nomura, Octogone Group, Continental Group International, Habib Bank, Alpadis Group and Finsbury Wealth.

The asset management firm has named Jessica Hardman as head of its UK-based operations.

Hardman will take on this role in addition to her position as head of European portfolio management and head of UK real estate group.

She will also become chief executive for DWS Investments UK.

AllianceBernstein

The asset management firm has hired Thiemo Volkholz as head of retail for Germany and Austria.

Volkholz joins from PGIM Investments, where he was head of German, Austrian and Swiss accounts.

It has also promoted Peter Leffler from director of Swiss sales to head of Switzerland, retail.

WTW

The global advisory company has appointed Diya Luke as global head of investment, effective July 1.

She will succeed Chris Ford who will retire at the end of June.

MDR Mayfair

The private advisory service has recruited Azeem Rafiq and Dylan Hartley within its sports and entertainment division.

Rafiq is a former professional cricketer who played cricket in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Hartley is a former England Rugby captain and played for the Northampton Saints.

MDR Mayfair is part of law firm Mischon De Raya Group.

“In the current environment, we have taken proactive actions impacting headcount across our global businesses, which is approximately 4% of our global employee base. Combined with other ongoing saving efforts, these actions will help to offset some of the current dynamics and allow us to continue to invest in our key priorities,” a spokesperson told our sister publication Fund Selector Asia.

The spokesperson confirmed that the cuts included roles in Asia.

Last week, AllianceBernstein announced that its AuM fell 17% to $646.4bn (£534.2bn, €604.2bn).

“2022 presented an extraordinarily challenging investing and operating environment. Investment returns were adversely impacted by a concurrent decline in equity and fixed income markets, with fixed income posting the worst annual returns on record,” said Seth Bernstein, president and chief executive of AllianceBernstein.

For more insight on asset and wealth management in Asia, please click on www.fundselectorasia.com

The asset management giant has appointed Peter Branner as chief investment officer, effective 1 May 2023.

He joins from APG Asset Management, where he was chief investment officer.

LGT Wealth Management

The UK wealth manager has promoted five staff members to partner.

They are:

• James Arumainayagam, investment manager – joined in 2014;
• Douglas Monro, investment manager – been at firm since inception;
• Andrew Vacha, investment manager – been at firm since inception;
• Hannah Modlock, business development director – joined in 2015; and
• Mick O’Mara, head of custody services – joined 2017.

Deutsche Bank

The banking giant has named Johanes Oeni as a managing director and head of the international private bank in south east Asia.

Based in Singapore, Oeni will join Deutsche Bank in April 2023 from Credit Suisse, where he led the wealth management business in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Credit Suisse

The bank has promoted Claude Harbonn as market group head for Malaysia and Indonesia, according to an internal memo seen by our sister publication Fund Selector Asia.

Harbonn was most recently the co-head of advisory and sales for Apac at Credit Suisse.

Following Harbonn’s appointment, Credit Suisse has also promoted team leader for Indonesia Heinz Puth as the market group head for Indonesia and he will report to Harbonn.

Puth first joined Credit Suisse in 1986 before leaving the Swiss bank for Julius Baer in 2006. He has held several senior position at Julius Baer including the deputy head of southeast Asia before re-joining Credit Suisse in 2018.

Moreover, Sascha Banz will become the sole head of advisory and sales for Apac and continue to be based in Hong Kong.

Hargreaves Lansdown

The investment firm has appointed chief information and security officer.

Segun joins Hargreaves Lansdown from Sainsburys Bank, where he was chief information security officer.

Rothschild & Co

The financial services giant has named Oren Shapira, Noah Gordon and Rotem Grinfeld as client advisers in its wealth management arm in Israel.

Shapira joins from UBS, where he was most recently a team leader. Gordon previously worked at Discount Bank for 17 years.

Grinfeld has vast experience in managing wealthy clients’ capital at Credit Suisse –and Bank Hapoalim.

Elsewhere, the firm has named Thomas Bamert as head of wealth and pension planning Switzerland.

This comes after the firm entered into a strategic partnership with pension consulting firm PensExpert, which provides pension solutions tailored to the wealth management and private banking industry.

Bamert most recently worked for Bank Julius Baer as a wealth planning adviser.

Church House Investments

The investment manager has appointed Cranley Macfarlane as a client director.

Macfarlane joins after a two-and-a-half-year stint as a fund manager at Tellsons Investors. Prior to that, he was an investment manager at JM Finn for nine years, during which time he focused on private clients.

Indigo Financial Analysis & Consultancy

The UAE advice firm has named Neil Stewart as director.

Stewart was previously senior partner and financial planner at Finsbury Associates.

Alpadis Group

The private wealth services provider has named Bruno Sidler as managing director of its Zurich office.

This is following the retirement of Ewald Scherrer.

Sidler was previously at Vistra, where he was an executive director and partner.

Scherrer will continue his journey with Alpadis Group as non-executive director of Alpadis Trust (Switzerland) going forward.

AllianceBernstein (AB)

The investment manager has recruited Tom Laker as UK retail sales manager.

He will be responsible for developing client relationships in London and the Channel Islands reporting to Lee Matthews, head of UK wholesale.

Most recently, Laker was at GAM, where he was client manager.

Indosuez Wealth Management

The global wealth management brand of Crédit Agricole group has hired Diana Hong, as executive director and team head of north Asia and Elina Yan, executive director of north Asia.

Prior to Indosuez, Hong was at Taipei Fubon Bank as senior vice president and team head of private banking.

Before joining Indosuez, Yan was executive director for the China market at Bank J Safra Sarasin.

Navigation Wealth Management

The Yorkshire-based financial advice firm has appointed Paul Greveson as adviser and business development executive.

He was senior acquisitions consultant at broker IFA Acquisitions.

Praxis

The global private wealth services provider has made a series of promotions.

Jo Abbott has been named client services director in Jersey.

Some seven Channel Islands professionals have moved up to associate director level including Jodie Travers, Samantha Le Brun and Tom Zierer in Guernsey, Alistair Cann and Samantha Godwin in Jersey, and Emma Sanford and Hilary Arthur for HR and investments, respectively.

Other senior promotions include Craig Platt and Lucy Janes to senior trust managers, and Francesca Moullin to senior manager of new business in Guernsey. In Jersey, Jonathan Aldrich-Blake was made senior investment analyst, while Richard Sheppard and Suzanne Dolman were both promoted to senior trust managers.

AJ Bell

The investment firm has hired James Flintoft as fund manager.

He joins AJ Bell from Vertem Asset Management where he was head of investments.

True Bearing

The UK advice group has hired Steve Cook as an independent financial planner, and Ian Bailey as legal intermediary.

Cook was an IFA at Apogee Wealth Management, while Bailey was estate planning consultant at the Willwriting Partnership.

Stephenson Harwood

The law firm has strengthened its global private wealth practice with the addition of Beatrice Puoti.

She joins as a partner based in the firm’s London office from Burges Salmon, where she was a partner and head of the firm’s private wealth sector.

Pimfa

The trade association for wealth management, investment services and the personal investment and financial advice industry has hired Andrew Shepherd and Helen O’Neill to its board of directors.

Shepherd is Brooks Macdonald chief executive, while O’Neill is chief operating officer of Tatton Asset Management.

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.