Just Group

Just Group has named Mark Godson as Group CFO and executive board director of Just Group.

Godson is currently a partner at EY and head of its actuarial practice. 

He will join the board with effect from 1 January 2024, succeeding Andy Parsons who is retiring on 31 December.  

David Richardson, group chief executive officer, said: "We are delighted to welcome Mark to Just Group. He is one of the top talents in the insurance market, bringing with him extensive commercial and financial insight gained from across the sector. We are delivering mid teen profit growth and our business has never been stronger. Mark has a growth mindset and is ideally placed to help us continue to deliver our profit pledge. I am looking forward to working closely with him.

Quilter Investors 

Quilter Investors has appointed Malachi Ferguson as a manager research analyst.

He joins from Liontrust Asset Management, where he worked as an analyst in the multi-asset team covering equities, fixed income, sustainable and alternative investments. Prior to this, he was an investment analyst at LGPS Central Limited, and has worked across global financial institutions in analytical roles.

Ferguson will be responsible for researching and analysing funds for inclusion within Quilter Investors' range of multi-asset portfolios. His key areas of research within his new role include US equities, investment grade credit, government bonds and liquidity funds.

He has previously been nominated for Citywire's '30 under 30' accolade, and he is a judge at Investment Week's Fund Manager of the Year 2023 and Sustainable Investment Awards 2023.

Ferguson will be reporting to the head of manager research, Kristian Cassar, who joined Quilter Investor's Manager Research Hub earlier this year. 

The hub consists of three teams - manager research, responsible investment and operational due diligence - and was introduced to enhance the business's coverage of investments and funds.

Kristian Cassar, head of manager research at Quilter Investors, said: "As we enhance the research capabilities here at Quilter Investors, we are delighted to be welcoming someone of Malachi's talents to the team. His abilities and experience will help in discovering a wide range of quality fund options that are of great value to our portfolio managers and ultimately our end clients.

"The market movements of the last eighteen months means that in-depth research and analysis of investment funds has become increasingly crucial. Malachi has proven in his previous role that he can analyse investments from across the multi-asset spectrum and with him we are excited to see the output our expanded research team can bring to the table."

Ferguson added: "I am pleased to be joining Quilter Investors, and I'm looking forward to working alongside a skilled research and portfolio management team to identify new investment opportunities. The sheer magnitude of the investment funds industry means that thorough analytical research is essential to pinpoint rewarding investments. Markets are very uncertain from a returns perspective just now, but this can also bring great opportunities to spot exciting and unique funds and I am excited to be doing that here at Quilter."

Redwood Group 

Redwood Group has announced five new appointments within its Jersey and Guernsey offices.

The appointments include Consultant Christine Birchall - whose hire in Jersey follows Matthew Journeaux's appointment as managing director earlier this year - and Sam Mahoney, who joins the Guernsey team as Compliance Advisory Manager.

In addition, Cara-Leah McKay, Billy Mosgrove and Sarah Cox join Redwood's Guernsey office as Operations Administrator, Compliance Administrator and Administrator respectively.

Birchall has over 10 years' industry experience, having previously managed and led several key compliance projects. She joins from a leading global bank, where she was Assistant VP within the Senior Regulatory Control/Advisory team.

She will support client services activity as Redwood's Jersey portfolio continues to grow, allowing Mr Journeaux to focus on further developing and driving the business forward.

Mahoney brings over a decade of compliance experience to the firm, most recently as Head of Compliance at a prominent Guernsey investment specialist, and has held numerous named roles for various high-profile financial institutions.

In his new role, Mahoney will oversee Redwood's longer-term clients with a team of three reporting to him.

McKay,Mosgrove and Cox all bring strong backgrounds in administration to Redwood. McKay will work within the operations team, supporting the business as it evolves its service offering and expands into new jurisdictions.

Mosgrove and Cox join Redwood Co Sec and will support senior staff with an increasing client base as the department continues to experience year-on-year growth.

James Wood, chief executive at Redwood, said: "Redwood has experienced a remarkable period of growth across our Channel Islands offices, and it is crucial that we are poised to capitalise on this success while continuing to deliver an exceptional service to existing and prospective clients.

"Christine and Sam's appointments underpin our commitment to investing in the highest-calibre expertise and they join at an exciting time for the business. With ambitious plans in place, having the right people on board is paramount to our success.

"Cara-Leah's appointment will help to boost our operations as we look to broaden our service offering, while Billy and Sarah will play a key role in supporting senior members of our Co Sec team so they can focus on identifying new business opportunities."

Withers 

International law firm Withers has promoted 11 lawyers to partner from across its private client and dispute resolution teams with effect from 1 July 2023.

The new partners are based across Asia, the US and Europe as follows:

Hong Kong

Anisha Ramanathan is an experienced family lawyer, working with Hong Kong-based clients who frequently have connections around the world. Anisha assists clients with relationship breakdown, divorce and separation, financial applications and arrangements for children, as well as advising from time to time on the drafting of wills, probate and general civil litigation matters.

As a dual qualified New York and Hong Kong lawyer Alex Chung advises on trust and estate planning, estate administration and US taxation issues. Alex is also experienced in advising individuals on relinquishing their US citizenship and pre-US immigration planning. His work with domestic Hong Kong clients includes drafting wills, trusts and enduring powers of attorney.

Deirdre Fu focuses on trust and succession planning and advises high-net-worth individuals and institutional trustees on wealth protection structuring, as well as the importance of planning in the event of incapacity. Deirdre also advises clients on establishing family investment holding vehicles and works with corporations on creating employee share trusts.
 
Singapore
Yong Sheng Hon assists clients with trust, tax and estate planning, family governance and immigration planning, as well as working with charitable and non-profit organisations. With qualifications in Singapore and England & Wales, Yong Sheng provides an international perspective on matters and frequently works with international families.
 
New York
Joseph Gallo is a commercial litigator with a wide-ranging practice advising clients on disputes from private negotiations to state or federal court litigation. Joe regularly advises clients on disputes with international and cross-border elements and has experience across a breadth of industry sectors.

Amanda Rottermund is a member of Withers' market-leading art law team. Amanda works with clients on purchases, sales, loans, consignments, and charitable giving of works of art, as well as representing borrowers and lenders in lending transactions with fine art as collateral. Amanda's clients include artists, their estates, galleries and art dealers.

Sandra Fung advises clients on transfer tax, trust and estate planning matters, in particular helping them to structure sophisticated lifetime planning strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of existing trusts. In addition, Sandra assists with trust structuring for assets subject to regulatory oversight, individuals subject to conflict of interest policies, and unified governance for voting control of publicly traded corporations.
 
San Diego
Allison Whitmore works with families in California on estate planning, estate and trust administration, estate and gift taxation, business succession planning and charitable giving. Allison also advises fiduciaries and beneficiaries on complex estate and trust administration matters.
 
Padova
Filippo Molinari advises high net worth Italians and international families on tax issues, including family business reorganisations and financial transactions, as well as assisting them with family wealth management and trust and estate planning.
 
London
James Hockin is an employment lawyer advising both employers and employees on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues. James is qualified in New York and England & Wales and frequently works on matters with a US connection.

Dr Robert Kovacs advises on public international law matters, international arbitration cases with a focus on disputes between investors and governments, and human rights cases. Robert works with clients around the world and holds a PhD in public international law.
 
Margaret Robertson, Withers' CEO, said: "This is a fantastic set of bright and talented new partners that will allow us to offer clients across the world an even stronger set of services and provide further support to our teams. What stands out in this cohort is their depth of experience in multi-jurisdictional matters, reflecting the increasingly global lives and interests of our clients."

Newton Investment Management

Newton Investment Management, part of BNY Mellon Investment Management, has strengthened its multi-asset investment team with the appointment of Paul Brain as deputy chief investment officer. 

His existing role at Newton as head of fixed income will be assumed by Ella Hoxha, who joins from Pictet Asset Management, on 31 July. Brain will retain his current portfolio management responsibilities through a transition period, after which they will be assumed by Hoxha. 

In the newly created role, he will focus on developing Newton's multi-asset capabilities, drawing on his near 40 years of investment experience, and 20 years leading Newton's fixed income team. Reporting to Mitesh Sheth, Multi-Asset CIO at Newton, he will contribute to macro investment idea generation across the franchise, working on the expansion of Newton's research themes, and on product innovation, to ensure clients have access to solutions fit for the changing economic environment. 

His deep expertise in macro-analysis will be utilised across the full breadth of Newton's multi-asset capabilities, with additional oversight of multi-asset portfolios. Paul will remain a key resource for Newton's Fixed Income franchise, providing macro ideas, a sounding board and wider support. 

Hoxha joins a highly established and successful fixed income franchise at Newton and will take ownership of further developing Newton's fixed income product offering, working closely with the existing team. 

She brings over two decades of fixed income expertise, having most recently held the role of senior portfolio manager at Pictet, focusing on global fixed income strategies. Ella also led the development and launch of Pictet's Global Climate Government Bond Fund, playing a key role in the company's ESG efforts in the fixed income space. Prior to Pictet, she held senior portfolio management roles at Wellington Management and Invesco. 

Euan Munro, CEO at Newton, said: "Newton is renowned for its strong pedigree in both multi-asset and fixed income, and the leadership of these offerings is a core part of our success.

"Paul has been with the business for over 20 years and has a depth of experience that will provide our multi-asset franchise with a rigorous leader committed to delivering innovative client solutions anchored on investment performance. Alongside Mitesh, Paul will help to challenge investment conventions and evolve our proposition such that Newton's products remain at the forefront of the market." 

"Ella joins a highly respected fixed income team at Newton, and her leadership will be key to further developing our credentials in the market," added Munro. "Our team-based top-down thematic approach to fixed income investment is critical to our success as a business, and I am confident Ella will be a great fit for the role." 
 
Blackfinch Group 

Blackfinch Group, the Gloucester-based investment specialist focused on tax-efficient investments, property lending, renewable energy and ventures, has hired finance lawyer Tom Marshall to strengthen its in-house legal team and enable the group to provide clients with significant cost, time and efficiency savings.

Marshall joins Blackfinch from the banking and finance team at TLT (a national law firm with headquarters in Bristol), where he advised a wide range of clients on debt finance transactions. Prior to that, he trained and qualified at Osborne Clarke. 

David Higson, Head of Blackfinch Property, said: "As a specialist lender, Tom's real estate finance expertise and experience, and his experience acting for both lenders and borrowers, represents a real coup for the whole of Blackfinch Group. It's incredibly rare to find his expertise available as an in-house service within the specialist lending sector. 

"Our in-house legal team has already earned plaudits with commercial property developers and helped establish our reputation as a lender who goes the extra mile to facilitate complex deals through to completion. Now, with Tom on board, we will grow our capacity and loan book, enabling us to offer even faster transactions and processing - which will be music to the ears of our clients."

Marshall said: "I wanted to move in-house and I am attracted to the ethos of Blackfinch Group, plus the way that its portfolio is structured around property lending and its energy portfolio aligns perfectly with my experience. I'm also looking forward to getting involved in the ventures part of the business, where Blackfinch funds exciting and ground-breaking tech companies. 

"One of the big attractions of Blackfinch Group is its agility and the speed at which we can do transactions - having the legal function in-house really helps with that because it means that we can do things that bit quicker and we're also closer to the commercial side of the transaction. And there's obviously a cost saving for our customers because the external legal fees are reduced, so there are lots of advantages."