REYL Overseas 

REYL Overseas, a subsidiary of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, the Swiss banking group majority-owned by Fideuram - Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, has named Roger Groebli as chief executive officer, effective 1 March 2022.

Based in Zurich, one of his key responsibilities will be the development of wealth management services to U.S. clients.

He has over 35 years banking industry experience in securities trading, portfolio management, research and advisory in private banking. As financial analyst, he is a former strategist for Asian equities and Head Equity Research at ABN AMRO Private Banking based in Singapore. 
He is also prospecting and building relationships with HNW clients across three continents (Asia, Europe and North America).

He gained his extensive experience at UBS, ABN AMRO, LGT and in Credit Suisse recently as Head Private Banking North Asia. Roger re-joins REYL Overseas in the same role as from 2012-2015.

Groebli will focus primarily on strengthening both the development and growth of the company. With extensive experience at prestigious international banks and previous leadership in-house, Roger is well placed to provide tailor-made services to a multinational private clientele. 

Lorenzo Rocco di Torrepadula, head of wealth management and Partner of REYL Intesa Sanpaolo, said: "US private individuals who seek the services of REYL Overseas have a strong financial culture. Roger Groebli's expertise in the US market as well as management skills are a real asset to continue growing our business and offering, so we can reach the next stage of our development. Roger has extensive knowledge of REYL from his past experience with us and we are happy to welcome him back." 

Groebli added: "I am delighted to be part of the REYL team again and look forward to contributing to the expansion of REYL Overseas Ltd. In line with the hands-on personalised approach and entrepreneurial spirit the Bank is known for, our aim is to offer U.S. clients wealth management services of the highest international standards."

First Sentier Investors

First Sentier Investors has made a triple appointment to its responsible investment (RI) and corporate sustainability capabilities.
Joining from the WWF, where she was a technical specialist in the organisation's sustainable finance team, new hire Joanne Lee has been given the role of RI specialist.

Based in Hong Kong, she will be part of the firm's London-based RI team headed up by global RI head Will Oulton. Lee will be responsible for the delivery and promotion of RI's strategy in Asia.

Another new hire is Cressida Grant, who joins as head of corporate philanthropy.

David Allen joins First Sentier Investors as global head of investment management

London-based Grant will lead the firm's global philanthropic strategy and previously headed up philanthropy at The Prince's Trust, where she joins from. Prior to this, she developed and managed the Stonehage Fleming Charitable Foundation.

She will report to Rebecca Antonini who has been appointed to the newly-created role of head of corporate sustainability.

Reporting to chief financial and strategy officer Suzanne Evans, Antonini will work alongside the RI team and ensure the business is operating to internationally-accepted standards of sustainability.

She has been with the firm for 15 years, most recently as director of corporate development.

"We believe acting responsibly as a business is in the best interest of our clients, and enables us to support our key stakeholder groups including our employees, wider society and our shareholder," said the firm's CEO Mark Steinberg.

"Increasingly, corporates are also being assessed and held to account for their business practices and social impacts and how these are aligned with stated responsible investment principles."

Avignon Capital

Avignon Capital has appointed Dr Nils Kok as Senior Impact Adviser. Nils will be responsible for leading the sustainability team, be part of Avignon's Investment Committee, and work closely with senior management to further integrated ESG considerations into investment processes as well as develop new products and solutions. 

Kok is a Professor in Real Estate Finance at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. His research, which is frequently cited in the press, has a strong focus on the economics of energy efficiency and sustainability in the real estate sector. 

Previously, Kok was the founder and CEO of GRESB, a global ESG rating company for real estate and infrastructure investments. He also served as Chief Economist and non-executive board member at GeoPhy, a leading provider of automated valuations for the real estate sector. 

Patrick Flaton, managing partner and CEO of Avignon Capital said: "We are delighted to welcome Nils onto the team. Gaining someone with such experience and expertise in the market is a real coup for us and Nils' input will be invaluable as we forge ahead with ensuring ESG criteria features at the centre of how we work and the investments we make and advice on. With Nils on board, we are able to strengthen our Brown-2-Green strategy, integrating sustainability into everything we do at Avignon."

Nils Kok, Senior Impact Advisor of Avignon Capital said: "With a strong track record in asset and investment-management, Avignon is well-positioned to take on the challenge of converting the existing commercial real estate stock in Europe from inefficient and potentially stranded into net-zero carbon, sustainable and healthy assets. I'm excited to being part of the solution of reducing the carbon emitted by the global real estate sector, while creating better space for occupiers, and enhancing value for investors and their trustees,".

Redwheel 

Redwheel (formerly RWC Partners), the specialist, independent investment organisation, announced the expansion of its new Sustainability team with the appointments of Olivia Seddon-Daines as Senior Sustainability Specialist and Katherine Velasquez Rodriguez as Responsible Investment Associate, both effective immediately. 

The appointments mark the next phase of recruitment for Redwheel's centralised Sustainability function, established in January 2021 with the appointment of Chris Anker as Redwheel's head of sustainability. Anker was hired to lead sustainability initiatives through a new centre of excellence as the group focuses on putting its sustainability efforts and ESG practices at the heart of its activities. Executive level sponsorship of responsible investment activity at Redwheel continues to be provided by Arthur Grigoryants, head of investment strategy, to whom Chris reports.

Olivia Seddon-Daines joins the team as Senior Sustainability Specialist and will work closely with Redwheel's investment teams to support training and development relating to stewardship and ESG integration and will have oversight of related communications. Prior to joining Redwheel, Olivia was Head of ESG at Somerset Capital Management.

Katherine Velasquez Rodriguez joins Redwheel as a Responsible Investment Associate. Her primary focus is the identification and development of portfolio analysis tools and techniques to support responsible investment in practice. Prior to joining Redwheel, Katherine was an ESG Quantitative Analyst at La Française Group, supporting sustainable strategies. 

Anker said: "With highly complementary skill sets and backgrounds, Olivia and Katherine are important hires for Redwheel, and bring to a close the first phase of our work to build a team devoted to collaboration, implementation and reporting of our responsible investment activities across our client portfolios.  I look forward to working with them both and, together, to delivering better outcomes for our clients."

FE fundinfo 
Leading fund data and technology company FE fundinfo has appointed a new director of sales to lead its growing adviser proposition, and a client director, responsible for sales, business development and client management in the Nordic region.
Oli Greenspan will be responsible for the development and continued expansion of FE fundinfo's adviser business. He will lead both the technology & investment solutions sales team, partnering with key customers to deliver the best possible technology and investment solutions to the wealth and advice marketplace. 
 
Prior to joining FE fundinfo, Oli held a number of high-profile strategic sales roles, with experience gained across a number of different industries. Most recently he worked for property finance company Octane Capital and also worked as Head of Business Development and Innovation for Octopus Investments.

FE fundinfo has also appointed Jens Jørgen Holm Møller as client director, responsible for sales, business development and client management in the Nordic region.

FE fundinfo said it had significantly enhanced its presence in the Nordic region over the past year, having acquired the Copenhagen-based data and dissemination company FundConnect in August 2021. Jens will have a strategic role in FE fundinfo's continued growth in the region and will be working with leading asset managers and fund distributors across fund markets in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland to fulfil their needs.

Jens has over 30 years of experience in fund management and in working with organisations to meet Danish and international regulatory requirements, as well as adapting to changing market conditions.
Prior to joining FE fundinfo, Jens most recently ran his own consultancy offering management support to primarily asset managers and banks.

ACA Group

ACA Group, the governance, risk, and compliance adviser in financial services, has named Annie Morris as chief product officer to lead ACA's integrated product strategy and vision. 

She is a pioneer in financial technology as one of the early female leaders in the OMS space. With 25 years of experience in product strategy and financial technology, Annie has vast knowledge in bringing new products to market and expanding established products to meet client demand.

With the GRC space experiencing accelerated transformation and fast acting regulations, ACA is committed to continuing to lead the front on bringing consulting, managed services, and technology together to empower day-to-day tasks and mitigate risk. In her role, Annie will utilize her understanding of financial services and the technology for front, back, and middle offices to scale solutions to elevate ACA's product suite to the next level.

GAM Investments

GAM Investments has appointed Guglielmo Mazzola as Senior Investment Specialist for GAM Systematic. He is based in London.
In this role, Guglielmo will manage the interface with clients and GAM's distribution team. He will work closely with the GAM Systematic team to help further articulate their investment strategies and share investment information on GAM's systematic and alternative client solutions.

Prior to joining GAM, Guglielmo worked as Senior Portfolio Manager at Tiber Capital LPP, a London-based asset manager specialising in alternative investments and systematic managed futures/ Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA). Guglielmo's responsibilities included research, portfolio construction and managing client relationships. 

From 2008 to 2010 Guglielmo worked for HSBC Bank Plc in Italy (Milan) as an M&A Analyst. Guglielmo holds a BA in Institutions and Financial Markets Management and a MSc in Finance from Bocconi University in Milan. 

Peter Sanderson, Group CEO said: "We are very pleased and fortunate to welcome Guglielmo to GAM. He brings deep experience in systematic investing and related client management communications. Guglielmo alongside the team will be instrumental in helping us harness and maximise our alternatives capabilities to provide the investment thought leadership, innovation and client-centricity required to meet our clients' needs."