BDO Group 

BDO Group has appointed Dianne Gollop as the head of financial crime compliance. 

She will also be responsible for the role of the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and the Money Laundering Compliance Officer (MLCO).

Gollop previously worked at PwC as the Senior manager of AML Compliance for Jersey & Guernsey and spent time working in the financial crime examinations unit at the JFSC. 

Matthew Corbin, chief executive of the BDO Group in Jersey, said: "We are delighted to welcome Dianne to the firm. Dianne has a wealth of experience in anti-money laundering especially where the regulations have continually evolved over the years. 

"Dianne has a wide skill set through the financial crime examinations she conducted while with the JFSC. This will be vital to ensuring we remain compliant. Supported by our multi-disciplinary team, Dianne will work across the business to ensure that we are able to provide our services that support our clients' needs today and in the future."

Maxwell Partners

Maxwell Partners, the London-based algorithmic trading, blockchain and digital asset investment firm, has announced today that it has appointed Mikkel Morch and Angus John MacCormick as strategic advisors to strengthen and expand its algo trading business for investors in the cryptocurrency markets. 
 
Maxwell Partners offers long-short proprietary AI trading solutions to investors from all backgrounds. The long-short strategy means the algorithm is also counter-cyclical and suitable for beginner retail investors, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, large institutions, hedge funds, family offices, banks and wealth managers. 

Mikkel Mørch is the founder and Chairman of the Cyprus-based digital asset investment fund ARK36, one of the first licensed funds in Europe investing exclusively in bitcoin and other leading crypto-assets. Mikkel is a seasoned investor with over 25 years of experience running global investment companies.

His role as strategic advisor at Maxwell Partners will focus on business development and helping the firm to position itself as a global leader within the digital asset and investment sectors. 
 
Angus John MacCormick is managing partner at the Belgium-based blockchain technology company SettleMint. Angus is an experienced investor, coach and startup entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the Blockchain, Web3.0, MetaVerse and security industry. He is skilled with global expertise in taking new advanced technologies to market, including Cloud, AI, IoT, mobility, Crypto, Cyber Security, Networking, Data Centre, Video and Emerging Technologies. He will help Maxwell Partners to expand its distribution capabilities. 

Morch said: "Maxwell Partners is a game-changing company offering impressive algo trading solutions to investors from all backgrounds, including myself. Such a rapid pace of growth shows the strength of Maxwell's offering but also entails significant challenges. I am delighted to be joining the firm as a Strategic Advisor to help management face these challenges head-on and ensure Maxwell can continue to scale without sacrificing the quality of its services."

Personal Finance Society

The Board (Board) of the Personal Finance Society (PFS), the professional body for the financial advice and planning profession in the UK, has appointed Don MacIntyre as Interim CEO starting this week. 

MacIntyre will provide executive leadership as the professional body evolves its working practices and governance to further its members' interests and the positive reputation of personal finance and financial planning profession.

MacIntyre joins the PFS following recent success leading the UK Cyber Security Council, a self-regulating body for the UK's cyber security profession.

Sarah Lord, president of the Personal Finance Society, said: "The Board is delighted that Don will bring his varied expertise and extensive experience to this important role. Not only will he represent and advocate for PFS members' interests, he will also work closely with the Board to preserve PFS assets and enhance our governance."

MacIntyre said: "The PFS is a professional body that continues to grow and evolve, to support members' ability and professionalism in providing financial advice and planning services to clients. Maintaining public confidence and a laser focus on members' interests and the means by which the PFS can meet their needs, efficiently, effectively, and consistently will be a significant part of my work in the coming months. The financial planning profession has an important role to play in an increasingly challenging economy and I look forward to helping further its ability to do so."

MacIntyre will have a number of priority programmes for the remainder of 2022, including to:
•             Promote the PFS strategic plan and deliver a successful Annual General Meeting in September 2022.
•             Enable the PFS to deliver a world-class show-case event in November 2022, the Festival of Financial Planning.
•             Support the Board to ensure that the PFS continues to meet its purpose and, through the CII, is able to provide members with their Statements of Professional Standing, contemporary training and valuable Chartered status. 
He will also work with the Board and an executive search consultancy to secure a permanent CEO and undertake a smooth transition in leadership early in 2023. 

Abacus Trust Group

Abacus Trust Group - leading corporate, fiduciary and fund services Group are delighted to announce two promotions, as part of its ongoing strategy to deepen its client services capabilities and its people resources plan for the long-term strength of the Group.

Kevin Loundes has been promoted to managing director with overall responsibility for the Isle of Man office.

He is a chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor and holds over 20 years' experience of working closely with international families and their advisors. Kevin has extensive experience of working with international clients in relation to their wealth structuring and succession planning.

Sam Eves has also been promoted from associate director to the position of director for Abacus Trust Company Limited.

Eves will lead both the Client Services and Client Accounting Teams for the business and is responsible for the delivery of our bespoke financial services to an international client base, including the formation, administration and ongoing management and advice for a portfolio of trusts and companies.

As a charted accountant with over 16 years in the financial services industry, Eves has worked with clients across the globe to structure and manage their wealth, with significant experience in UK commercial, residential and agricultural property, private company shares and international investment portfolios.

Andrew Faulkes, Abacus Trust Group CEO said: "These senior appointments underscore our plans to further develop our existing Group Services and grow our business, as well as solidifying our commitment to the development of our whole team.

Copia Capital 

Discretionary Fund Manager, Copia Capital Management (Copia), has appointed Richard Warne and Peter Wasko as senior portfolio managers to its investment management team.

Warne has worked in investment management roles for more than two decades. He joins from YOU Asset Management, where he was responsible for running model portfolios and funds, with a core focus on UK equities, global equities, property and real assets.

Prior to that, he worked for Credit Suisse and Citibank Global Asset Management, managing institutional equity pension funds and discretionary portfolios. 

Wasko has over 20 years' investment experience, including 17 years as senior investment manager at Abrdn (formerly RBS Asset Management). He brings extensive capital markets knowledge across asset classes, investment strategies and client types and has significant experience of manager selection, discretionary portfolio construction and asset allocation, covering alternative investments as well as long-only multi-manager investment funds. 

Robert Vaudry, managing director at Copia, will continue to lead the team and provide strategic direction, while Joanne Benson, Head of Investments, remains responsible for portfolio management and fund selection.

Vaudry said: "I am delighted to welcome Richard and Peter to the investment team. Their significant experience, alongside Joanne's extensive investment expertise and our highly scientific investment methodology guided by Copia's specially developed and proprietary Risk Barometer, will help us continue to maximise investment performance for advisers and their clients.

"Thanks to the strength of our team, our focus on client service and the performance of our portfolios we are seeing increasing demand for our DFM services, particularly our outsourced CIP solution: Custom MPS, making us one of the fastest growing DFMs in the UK."