Canada Life 
Canada Life has announced a new distribution director for its Wealth Management Division. Deb Bond has been promoted from the Head of Sales role following an extensive search both internally and externally.

Sean Christian, MD and executive director, Canada Life Wealth Management said: "I am delighted to welcome Deb to the Wealth Management leadership team. Over recent years Deb has been central to the sales development of our wealth proposition. She has demonstrated exceptional leadership and people skills that will be essential as we build and develop a market-leading team and deliver our growth ambition."

Deb Bond said: "Canada Life is committed to developing our market leading presence in the wealth management space and so this is an incredibly exciting time to step up and lead the team to demonstrate our ambition. I am working alongside an incredibly talented group of people and know we will create the opportunity for individuals and their teams to excel."
Bond's appointment follows the departure of Aston Goodey earlier in the year.

RBS International

RBS International has named Susan Fouquier as head of institutional banking offshore. In this newly created role, Susan will help drive RBS International's client and product proposition while delivering on its strategic goals. 

Based in Guernsey, Susan will lead the teams in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, taking on the leadership of the Jersey team from Seán O'Callaghan, who has decided to leave the bank.
 
With over 15 years of professional banking experience, Susan brings with her extensive knowledge in a range of sectors including corporate real estate, product management, risk assurance, and SME banking. Most recently she was Head of Institutional Banking in Guernsey at RBS International and before that, Regional Managing Director, Business Banking in Scotland. 
 
Speaking of her appointment, Susan said: ‘'I am delighted to be leading RBS International's new Offshore team. Uniting the Guernsey, Gibraltar, Jersey and Isle of Man teams will allow us to accelerate our growth plans as part of the new Commercial and Institutional Franchise announced recently. I will be working closely with Seán over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth handover.''

Stuart Foster, managing director of RBS Institutional Banking, commented: "Susan has proven that she has the skills and expertise not only to lead the current team, but also to grow our business further to support our customers. RBS International has ambitious plans for the future, so we are delighted to have Susan take on this this newly created role.''
 
‘‘My thanks to Seán who has made an enormous contribution to the business over the past 12 years and will be missed by everyone. I wish him all the very best in his next adventure."

Lazard 

Lazard chief financial officer Evan L. Russo will succeed Ashish Bhutani as chief executive officer of its asset management business.

Bhutani will retire from the firm, where he spent nearly two decades, on 1 June 2022 to pursue philanthropic interests. He will remain as chairman of Lazard's asset management business and as vice chair of Lazard until the end of the year. 

The firm is working to identify a successor for Russo, who joined Lazard 15 years ago and has served as CFO since 2017.

Chair and CEO of Lazard Kenneth M. Jacobs said: "Over his two decades at Lazard, Ashish has led the transformation of our asset management business into a leading global franchise driven by a world-class team, and for the past 12 years he has served as a valued member of our board of directors."

"Ashish has been an inspirational partner, and I admire him as a leader and as a philanthropist. On behalf of Lazard's board, I thank Ashish for his substantial achievements as a senior leader of the firm and his contributions as a board member."

KPMG 
 
KPMG, a leading provider of audit, tax, and advisory services in Saudi Arabia, has appointed Tareq AlSunaid as head of tax for Saudi Arabia and Levant from April 1, 2022.
 
Tareq, a partner with the firm since 2015, is recognized for his drive, ambition, business acumen and relentless pursuit of growth, which have been at the core of his earlier role as Head of Domestic Tax.
 
"We are privileged to appoint Tareq AlSunaid as Head of Tax and for him to become part of the firm's executive leadership team. His breadth of experience in domestic and international tax will encourage our talented tax professionals to raise their game to yet another level. Tareq will be an invaluable asset to KPMG and further strengthen our position in the market," commented Dr. Abdullah Hamad Al Fozan, Chairman and CEO at KPMG in Saudi Arabia and the Levant
 
On his appointment, Tareq said: "I have always been happy to be a part of the KPMG and am proud to take this next step. I look forward to working with our talented and well-respected tax professionals in this exciting journey of growth and service our clients with their challenges."
 
A seasoned tax and Zakat advisor, Tareq has 24 years of experience working in the industry and professional services firms.  
 
His areas of expertise include domestic and international tax compliance, tax disputes and resolutions, and tax operations. 
 
In addition, Tareq has played a vital role in developing the firm's operations in the Al Khobar office through his market reach in the Eastern Province. 

T. Rowe Price

T. Rowe Price has appointed Kimberly Johnson as the firm's new chief operating officer, effective 29 April.

ohnson will also serve on the firm's management committee and will report to CEO and president Rob Sharps.

T. Rowe Price announced July 2021 that Celine Dufetel, who served as the firm's COO, chief financial officer and treasurer, would be stepping down. Robert Higginbotham, head of global distribution was given the COO responsibilities on an interim basis.

Johnson will join the firm from Fannie Mae, where she worked as COO and executive vice president, as well as being a member of Fannie Mae's management committee.

As COO of Fannie May, she oversaw $1.4bn operating budget and a team of 3,600. She also worked at the firm as chief risk officer, senior vice president of multifamily capital markets and credit pricing, and head of multifamily trading.

Now, as COO of T. Rowe Price, Johnson will lead various areas of the business, including Global Technology, Global Investment Operations, Global Client Account Services, Enterprise Change, Real Estate & Workplace Services, Enterprise Risk, and the regional operating teams.

"Operations and technology are essential to enabling our strategic priorities," said Sharps. "I am confident that with her deep experience and strategic vision, Kimberly will quickly become an integral part of our leadership team." 

Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton is pleased to announce the appointment of James Peoples, Tatiana Lazareva and Laura Hadrill as Senior Alternatives Sales Specialists, EMEA. Reporting to George Szemere, head of business development, Alternatives, EMEA, Peoples and Hadrill are based in London and Lazareva is based in Amsterdam.

In these newly created positions, Peoples, Lazareva and Hadrill will work in close coordination with regional distribution teams to engage wealth management, family office and institutional clients on Franklin Templeton's private markets and liquid alternatives strategies, with specific focus on those from its specialist investment managers, Benefit Street Partners and K2 Advisors.

George Szemere said: "Our global alternatives platform has developed rapidly in the last three years to over $200 billion1 in aggregate alternative assets under management and we now have a breadth of strategies and solutions to offer our EMEA clients. In this regard, I am delighted to welcome James, Tatiana and Laura, whose collective strong experience and approach to partnering with our distribution teams will further help develop Franklin Templeton's alternatives business in the EMEA region." 

"Alternatives have become an increasingly important consideration for all client segments and as investors continue to navigate the uncertain market environment, having access to a diverse range of alternatives strategies outside traditional asset classes should play an even more important role in delivering specific investment outcomes."

Before joining Franklin Templeton, Peoples was a principal at CQS where he sold alternative credit solutions to the UK, Swiss and Nordics clients. 

He also worked at Muzinich and BlueBay Asset Management as Sales Director with a global remit. Peoples started his career by spending seven years at Goldman Sachs on the credit trading desk and as an institutional portfolio manager on its Fixed Income team. 

Lazareva has over 15 years of experience in the industry and joins the firm from Schroders Capital, where she was Director, Private Asset Sales with a primary focus on UK wealth managers, family offices and global financial institutions. Prior to this, she was Head of Investor Relations at EG Capital Advisors. Lazareva started her career in financial services at Citigroup in the Global Markets team, where she was responsible for asset and liability product solutions. 

Hadrill joins Franklin Templeton from BlueBay Asset Management, where she spent 14 years, most recently as Sales Director. She worked closely with family offices and fund of hedge fund strategies in the UK and previously covered prospects and clients in countries including Switzerland, France and the U.S. across single and multi-family offices, endowments, funds of hedge funds, financial institutions and wealth managers.

Tilney Smith & Williamson 

Tilney Smith & Williamson, the leading wealth management and professional services group which is set to re-brand to Evelyn Partners in the summer, has announced that it is expanding its US tax team by appointing Sarjul Patel as US/UK Tax Director.  

Sarjul has a wealth of experience in the US international space, primarily focussing on US individuals including those with interests in US and non-US based trusts. He has worked closely with law firms and trust companies, often being instrumental in the planning around US connected individuals of family trust structures. 

Sarjul is able to draw on his knowledge and experience to navigate clients through their US/UK tax obligations, in a manner which is easy to understand. He has previously worked for top 50 and boutique firms specialising in US/UK cross border tax matters. Sarjul holds a degree in Economics and is a Fellow of the Association of Taxation Technicians and an IRS Enrolled Agent.

Adam Smith, Head of US Tax at Tilney Smith & Williamson said: "Sarjul is a fantastic appointment for us as we grow the US tax team ahead of our re-brand to Evelyn Partners this summer. His technical expertise and experience expands our US tax offering in what is a highly complex area of US international taxation.  US beneficiaries of foreign trusts face a plethora of rules and reporting obligations that requires expert guidance."