A highly experienced board-level executive, O’Connor (pictured) joins with an extensive track-record in leadership positions across the financial services sector. Throughout a 30 year career, she has led and advised a wide range of public and private-equity backed businesses, having also served in executive roles at professional services firms and the Financial Conduct Authority.

A lawyer by background, O’Connor’s most recent leadership role was as the divisional CEO for Capital Advisory and Placement at Howden Broking Group. Prior to this, she served as the acting CEO for KPMG UK, responsible for driving the strategic development of the firm. Whilst at KPMG UK, she also held executive roles as chief risk officer and head of clients and markets, and served on the KPMG UK board.

O’Connor has also held leadership roles at Willis Towers Watson (WTW), laterally as Divisional CEO, and initially as Global Head of Financial Institutions and Group Head of Risk and Compliance. A recognised leader at the firm, Mary also sat on the boards of Willis Limited and Towers Watson Limited.

She has also served at regulatory bodies, including as head of the Approved Persons and SIF Regime at the Financial Conduct Authority. She started her career in the legal sector, with roles in both the US and UK at leading magic-circle firms.

Her current NED appointments include Carne Group (appointed 2022), Europe’s largest independent third-party fund management company, supporting asset managers on their funds’ governance lifestyle. She previously served as a NED & Member of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committees for The Charity Bank between 2013-18.

Mike Covell, chair of the Ascot Lloyd Group Board, said: “The Board is delighted to welcome Mary to Ascot Lloyd. A proven leader at both management and board level, Mary’s expertise in driving growth and innovation will be a valuable asset as we continue to deliver on our core strategic priorities.

“With experience spanning the breadth of financial and professional services, Mary’s appointment reflects the continued ability of the business to attract leading talent in the market.”

Ascot Lloyd has £10bn in funds under influence and provides financial planning, wealth management and corporate benefit solutions to more than 57,000 clients. It is supported by Nordic Capital, a European private equity investor.

Jackson takes over from Nigel Stockton, who has led the business since 2015 and announced his intention to step down in February 2024, according to a statement.

Jackson joins from the Royal Bank of Canada where he was the chief executive officer of RBC Investor Services. He was responsible for developing and executing growth strategies for the business, leading a team of 5,000 employees in 17 countries, and delivering roughly $2.5bn in annual revenue.

At RBC Investor Services, Jackson implemented several digital transformation programmes, increasing operational efficiency and cost reduction. Prior to the four years he spent as CEO, he was the global head of client coverage for Investor & Treasury Services.

Jackson has gained financial services’ expertise during his tenure in senior management and client-facing roles at a range of global institutions including at JP Morgan, where he was head of investor services sales, and SEI investments. He led a team designing SEI’s innovative investment processing platform aimed at the global private banking and wealth management market.

Jackson said: “I am delighted to be joining Ascot Lloyd at this important moment in the evolution of the business. Ascot Lloyd has grown considerably over the past decade, firmly establishing itself as a leading player in the UK market. This is a pivotal time for the industry as whole; digital transformation, the intergenerational wealth transfer, and shifting client preferences are reshaping competitive lines within the industry. Ascot Lloyd has all the foundations in place to grow its strong market position as this industry evolves, and I look forward to working with the team to accelerate the impressive momentum the business has seen”.

Mike Covell, chair of Ascot Lloyd’s group board, said: “As we look ahead, in Francis we have found a deeply experienced chief executive, who has a proven track record of leading teams and delivering outstanding client service.

“Francis has worked at some of the leading financial institutions in the world, consistently delivering growth and innovative digital transformation strategies, making him a great fit for the business. Francis has the expertise to lead Ascot Lloyd through this next phase of growth, building on the clear trajectory that has been set over the past decade.”

Harpreet Bindra has been named as chief executive of HSBC Life (Singapore).

He will succeed Ho Lee Yen, who has decided to spend more time with her family, having successfully completed the integration of the businesses of AXA Singapore and HSBC Insurance.

Bindra joined HSBC in 2018.

Ocorian

The financial services provider has appointed Chantal Free as chief executive.

Free joins Ocorian from Capita, where she was chief executive of its portfolio division.

Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG)

The group has appointed Richard Harrison as chief executive.

He will join SBG from Wesleyan Assurance Society, where he is currently chief distribution officer.

Harrison joins SBG on 2 January 2024, at which point current interim chief executive John Cowan will resume his role as chair of the SBG board.

Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma)

Urban Angehrn will step down at the end of September 2023 as chief executive.

It has appointed deputy chief executive Birgit Rutishauser as chief executive ad interim with effect from 1 October 2023.

Angehrn will be at her disposal to ensure an orderly handover of all business and for follow-up to the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.

The board of directors has begun the process of filling the position of Finma chief executive.

Amundi

The asset manager has named Pierre Jond as chief executive of Amundi Luxembourg and chairman of Fund Channel, the B2B fund distribution platform jointly owned by Amundi and Caceis.

Before joining Amundi, Jond was head of France and Belgium region with BNP Paribas Securities Services.

Jond replaces Jeanne Duvoux, who has been appointed head of business support and operations for Amundi Group.

Fairstone Group

Peter Donaldson has been named as managing director of the firm’s partnership channel.

He moves from his current role as a Fairstone divisional director. Donaldson joined the business in 2021.

St James’s Place (SJP)

Joe Wiggins has been named as director of investment research for the wealth manager.

He will join SJP on 12 September and previously worked as chief investment officer at Fundhouse.

Seven Investment Management (7IM)

The wealth manager has appointed Agustin Fernandez as managing director for corporate and strategy development.

He joins from HSBC, where he was head of Emea wealth and asset management wealth tech within the investment banking division for four years. Fernandez joined HSBC in 2011.

Professional Wealth Management

The IWP-owned firm has hired Alex Tait and Will Welch as financial advisers.

The duo were previously professional rugby players for Newcastle Falcons.

Ascot Lloyd

The IFA group has appointed Jaco Cebula as group technology officer.

For the past 18 months, Cebula has worked closely with the Ascot Lloyd team in his role as a technology consultant for Sionic, a global consulting firm.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

The Singapore regulator has appointed Chia Der Jiun as managing director.

Chia takes over from Ravi Menon, who will retire from the Singapore Public Service and step down as managing director.

He is currently Permanent Secretary (Development) at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), had previously spent 18 years at MAS, where he played a leadership role across MAS’ major functions, including monetary policy implementation, reserve management, banking supervision, prudential policy, and macroeconomic surveillance.

Nedgroup Investments

The global asset manager has expanded its international distribution team with the hiring of Rachel Ferguson as client solutions lead, effective September.

Prior to joining Nedgroup, Ferguson worked as a business development manager at Aegon Asset Management (formally Kames Capital) and was with the firm for a total of seven years.

Rothschild & Co

The financial services giant has hired Alfredo Pérez de Quesada Garrido as a senior client adviser in Spain.

He has over 18 years’ experience in the financial industry and joins from Credit Suisse (Madrid).

Also, Rothschild & Co has hired five client advisers in its wealth management business in Zurich, to focus mainly on clients from Central and Eastern Europe. The new team joins from Credit Suisse.

The team is headed by Gerold Reiser, who has over 18 years’ experience as a private banker.

Alongside Reiser, the four other client advisers joining Rothschild & Co are Maciej Wiackowski, Magdalena Majewska Koch, Viktors Bolbats and Lars Lang.

Square Mile

The research and consulting firm has appointed Maria Mealing as a business development director.

Mealing has over 30 years’ industry experience, most recently as associate director at Janus Henderson.

Walker Crips Financial Planning

Matthew Crawshaw and Kaz Dev have joined the firm as regional director for the Midlands and assistant director in the south west region, respectively.

Crawshaw joins from Abrdn, where he was regional director for the north and midlands.

Dev joins from Francis Clark Financial Planning, where he served as head of professional services and chartered financial planner.

Third Financial

The investment platform has named David Lewis as chairman of its regulated entity Third Platform Services.

Most recently, he was managing director at BNY Mellon in London.

Burgess will lead Ascot Lloyd’s finance and operational transformation functions, working closely with chief executive Nigel Stockton to drive the strategic agenda across the business.

He joins from Cabot Credit Management, where he was chief financial officer and the board member responsible for all emerging markets businesses.

Stockton said: “We are delighted to welcome Christian to the executive team at Ascot Lloyd, who brings a proven ability to execute ambitious strategic agendas within complex markets. As we continue to evolve our business to meet the changing needs of clients, automation and digitalisation have become a core part of our thinking.

“Christian will spearhead our efforts in this space, whilst leading our wider operations and finance teams, ensuring that our business remains as competitive as possible in a fast-evolving marketplace.”

M&A

Elsewhere, Peter Blanc, head of M&A at Howden Group Holdings, joins as a non-executive director.

Blanc will add “considerable weight” to Ascot Lloyd’s M&A function as the businesses continue to grow through a mixture of organic and inorganic growth.

Mike Covell, chair at Ascot Lloyd, added: “The depth of experience that Peter brings to the Ascot Lloyd board will be hugely beneficial as we continue to deliver on our core strategic priorities. The level of expertise flowing through the business is matched by the ambition of the growth strategy, and the skills that Peter brings, particularly in the M&A space, add to our evolving set of capabilities.

“With experience spanning the breadth of financial markets at some of the biggest institutions, the appointment reflects Ascot Lloyd’s ability to attract leading talent in the market.”

This comes a year after Ascot Lloyd said that its acquisition policy will “continue to be the foundation” to its strategy.

The deal will see 19 members of staff join Ascot Lloyd – and will continue to be based in their existing offices in Swansea. The acquisition adds £323m ($414m, €378m) to Ascot Lloyd’s assets under management (AuM).

The firm’s acquisition push has been boosted by its sale to European private equity business Nordic Capital for an undisclosed sum in April 2022. The IFA firm was previously owned by US investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, the company that acquired Sanlam UK.

Ascot Lloyd has also been very active in 2023 bolstering its organic growth with the launch of an academy and an adviser platform.