Phoenix Group
Phoenix Group, the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business, has appointed Tom Sumpster as head of private debt direct origination.

Sumpster will work closely with Chief Investment Officer Mike Eakins, and will design and implement Phoenix's direct origination strategy for private debt as well as lead and co-ordinate Phoenix Group's direct origination through banks, sponsors, advisors and intermediaries.

Tom has over twenty years of experience including at Santander Group where he worked in debt capital markets, Royal Bank of Canada, where he spent 9 years as head of Acquisition Finance, Global Investment Banking and most recently at Legal & General Investment Management as head of Infrastructure, Real Assets.

Franklin Templeton
Franklin Templeton has appointed Karl Banyai as sales director, Austria, effective 1 March 2021. 

Based in Vienna, Banyai will be responsible for all retail clients in Austria, and his focus will be on expanding business relationships with banks and advisers. He will report to Peter Gorynski, Director Territorial Sales, Germany.

Banyai has almost 30 years of professional experience in the banking and investment management sector. Most recently, he was Head of Germany & Austria at Jupiter Asset Management. Prior to that, he headed BlackRock's retail sales in Austria for seven years. As an investment advisor at Constantia Privatbank AG, he also gained several years' experience in private banking. 

Peter Gorynski commented: "I am delighted to welcome Karl in the firm. Our clients in Austria will benefit from his vast knowledge and experience. This hire positions Franklin Templeton very well as we look to further expand our retail business in Austria."

TMF Group
TMF Group, an Australian provider of critical compliance and administrative services, has appointed Paul Adamiak as Commercial Director for Fund Services. Paul will start in his position today, on 1 March 2021.

Previously at TMF Group from 2008 to 2019, Adamiak's new role will see him focus on scaling up TMF Group's service offering to Australian and offshore asset managers and institutions investing in Australian real assets.

Adamiak is a qualified Chartered Accountant, with broad financial services industry experience. During his previous 11-year stint at TMF Group, he was an associate director in the global fund services business line. He held various sales, operations and product development roles, having spent his first 8 years in Amsterdam as a team leader overseeing client services and relationship management. In 2017, he returned home to Sydney to support the development of private equity & real estate administration services. 

He will report to Andrew O'Shea, global head of fund services, who commented: "Paul's previous experience at TMF Group showed what a great professional he is. Working with the Commercial Team, I expect him to have an immediate impact on how we approach clients.  I look forward to working with him in this new role. It is exciting to have him back on our team."

 

AJ Bell
AJ Bell, one of the UK's leading investment platforms, has brought BBC journalist and presenter Danni Hewson on board as financial analyst within its communications team. She'll be responsible for producing analysis and commentary across a broad range of subjects including financial markets, economics and personal finance.

Danni joins after spending more than 19 years at the BBC, presenting and reporting on business news across a variety of programmes including BBC Breakfast, BBC News, BBC Look North and latterly Radio 5 Live's flagship business programme "Wake up to Money."

Charlie Musson, head of communications at AJ Bell, comments: "Danni is a very experienced broadcaster and business commentator who is used to unpicking what can be complex topics and explaining them clearly and in a way people can relate to. I'm sure her analysis and commentary are going to be a great help to our customers and the financial press."

Hewson added: "I'm delighted to be joining such a brilliant team and I'm really excited to bring my experience and skills as a journalist and broadcaster to this award-winning investment platform. It's strange starting a new role remotely but the pandemic has made all of us think hard about our financial security so it's the perfect time to reach consumers."

Arete
Multi-family investment office Arete has announced several key appointments to its team. Andy Critchley and Mike Anslow are the company's first two senior hires of 2021.

Critchley will join the Arete team as a senior investment manager. His 20-year career has seen him work with financial and insurance sector giants including PwC, and the FTSE 100 insurance PLC, RSA. His most recent investment roles have seen him overseeing the deployment of funds at MSIF and the Development Bank of Wales. In his new role, he'll be integral to Arete's deal origination, investment appraisal, structuring, and deal execution.

Anslow will become Arete's head of operations and risk. In a career spanning 25 years, Anslow has held senior positions within several global brands including American Express, MBNA, and British Airways. Most recently he held key strategic roles within M&S, helping the organisation to renegotiation with M&S Retail and leading the project to build out the firm's branch network. In his new role at Arete, he'll be responsible for making sure deals meet all regulatory requirements

 

Just Group
Kalpana Shah has been appointed to the role of non-executive director at Just Group. Shah's appointment is effective from 1 March 2021.

Shah brings over 25 years of business experience in the insurance and investment industry and was elected to the governing body of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in 2019, where she is also a member of its Audit and Risk Committee.

John Hastings-Bass, chair, commented: "I am pleased that Kalpana will become a non-executive director of Just Group plc. She has considerable commercial and insurance experience which will benefit our Group and I look forward to welcoming her to the Board."