The Sovereign Group

The Sovereign Group has appointed David MacDonald as head of business development, Singapore.

MacDonald's previous roles have included head of business development at AAM Advisory and head of learning solutions at Hubbis. 

He said on LinkedIn: "I'm delighted to share that I'm starting a new position as Head Of Business Development, Singapore, with The Sovereign Group! 

"I'm looking forward to working with a global team of passionate professionals providing best-in-class solutions to the HNWI and corporate communities the world over."

Julius Baer 

Julius Baer has hired senior relationship managers Jonathan A. Conner and Thomas E.M. Kloss to support business growth and regional expansion for Middle East & Africa. 

The two join the global banking group in Geneva and will report to Yvan Wicht, Group Head Middle East & Africa Geneva.

Jonathan A. Conner brings to Julius Baer more than 25 years of experience in financial services and, specifically, in the private banking industry.

Prior to joining Julius Baer, he worked at JP Morgan for 14 years, where he provided wealth management services to Ultra-High Net Worth individuals and families from the Middle East out of New York and Geneva. 

During this time, he held various senior roles, including senior relationship manager, team head and Middle East market manager. Prior to joining JP Morgan, he was Chief of Staff to the CEO of Citigroup Private Bank. 

Thomas E.M. Kloss joins Julius Baer from HSBC Private Bank in Geneva, where he was responsible for managing client relationships across the Middle East. Kloss worked at HSBC Private Bank for more than a decade, including in HSBC's Qatar local office in Doha. 

Yvan Wicht, group head Middle East & Africa Geneva at Julius Baer, said: "I am very pleased to welcome two seasoned professionals to the Julius Baer family. We already have well established teams in Geneva, and I am confident that the proven track records, experience and networks of Jonathan and Thomas will add great value to our business." 

Régis Burger, global head Middle East & Africa at Julius Baer, added: "We have successfully expanded our Middle East franchise during the past decades. Jonathan and Thomas are highly experienced Relationship Managers and therefore perfectly equipped to support our further development out of Geneva, an important location for Julius Baer. I am very much looking forward to working with them and confident that they will be able to support our growth strategy."

Rathbones 

Rathbones Group has appointed Jemima Gregson to the sales team as investment sales consultant for the west of England region.

She will report to Victoria Wellings, head of the sales desk.

She will be responsible for building new relationships and supporting existing adviser clients, across the west of England, including Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, South Wales, Cornwall and Devon.  She will work alongside Ben Johnson, head of regional sales. 
Gregson joins from Jupiter Asset Management where she was a sales support executive with responsibility for assisting the directors in all aspects of their work and in running client events.  

In May 2022, it was announced that Matt Honour joined Rathbones as DFM specialist, also covering the west region. 

Victoria Wellings, head of the sales desk at Rathbones, said: "We are thrilled to have Jemima join our team. She has developed considerable experience in supporting a growing sales team and, crucially, in working with clients to ensure we bring them the most relevant opportunities. With Matt's recent appointment, we now have a strong and dynamic team covering the west of England."

Crestbridge 

Crestbridge has promoted Brian Jemwa to head up its Real Estate Funds division as the firm looks to enhance its proposition for globally dynamic real estate fund managers.

He will take on responsibility for providing leadership and direction to Crestbridge's multijurisdictional real estate funds team.  

With a career in cross-border financial services spanning 19 years, he has particular expertise in financial and risk management and control assurance reporting and has worked with a range of key clients at Crestbridge since joining the firm in Jersey in 2015.

As well as being an integral member of Crestbridge's Real Estate leadership team, he continues to act as a director on several boards of regulated and unregulated entities, including Jersey companies with prime UK offices and retail assets with combined Assets Under Management (AUM) of more than £4bn.

Prior to joining Crestbridge, he worked for one of the Big 4 accountancy practices where he was responsible for the audits of large, regulated companies. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and approved as a Principal Person by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

Brian Jemwa, Crestbridge head of Real Estate Funds Services, said: "I'm delighted with the opportunity that this role presents, at what is a really exciting point in Crestbridge's journey. I look forward to drawing on the firm's considerable experience across the real assets spectrum to further enhance and shape the range of bespoke services provided to real estate fund managers, from administration, compliance, and reporting services to restructuring, listing, and ManCo support."

Sacker & Partners

Sacker & Partners LLP (Sackers), the UK's specialist law firm for pensions and retirement savings, has announced its 2022 promotions: Adeline Chapman has been promoted to partner; Kirsty Pake and Andrew Worthington to associate director; and Lucy Bennett, Shannon Diggory, Hannah Savill and Paige Willis to senior associate. 

The promotions took effect on 1 August 2022.

David Saunders, senior partner, said: "These promotions are a powerful demonstration of how Sackers continues to grow talent from within the organisation, how diverse that talent is and how broad our pensions interests are. We are very pleased to be able to recognise the achievements of these seven individuals and look forward to supporting them as their careers continue to evolve."

Adeline, Kirsty and Andrew are all experienced, senior lawyers advising trustee and employer clients in a range of sectors on all aspects of their pension arrangements.

In a first for Sackers, Adeline has completed the journey from paralegal to partner. She joined the firm in 2008, qualified in 2011 and then progressed in increasingly senior roles through to partnership. 

Recent work has included advice on scheme funding and support arrangements, liability management exercises and buy-in / outs, the pensions aspects of corporate reorganisations, as well as master trust transfers and developments in governance. Adeline also has a particular interest in pension transfers and regularly speaks and writes on the topic. 

Kirsty's recent experience includes advising on scheme governance and regulatory compliance, liability management exercises, DC decumulation options, scheme closures and discharging scheme assets.  She has a keen interest in scheme administration and pension transfers, on which she regularly provides training and advice.  

Andrew oversees a mixture of day-to-day queries and larger projects, with recent examples of project work including scheme closures, bulk transfers, scheme mergers, navigating periods of sponsor distress and GMP equalisation.  Andrew has been heavily involved with clients' data protection work for a number of years and is also a member of Sackers' DB consolidators team.

Lucy Bennett, Shannon Diggory and Hannah Savill all advise trustees and employers on a broad range of DB and DC issues, including benefit changes, mergers and scheme closures, and risk transfer projects. 

Paige Willis is a member of Sackers' finance and investment group and advises on a variety of finance transactions, with a particular focus on contingent assets as an alternative funding solution for pension schemes.

IQ-EQ 

Global investor services group IQ-EQ has appointed Diana Senanayake to the dual role of managing director of its Luxembourg headquarters and Regional CEO for Continental Europe.

Diana Senanayake has a career of 26 years in financial services. Her extensive senior leadership, management and corporate governance experience spans multiple jurisdictions worldwide. She has particular expertise in the European and Asian markets, with previous roles based in Singapore, Malaysia and Belgium as well as Luxembourg.

Most recently, she spent four years as chief executive officer for BNP Paribas Securities Services, Southeast Asia. Before that, she held a series of managing director positions with RBC Investor & Treasury Services, culminating as managing director, Global Client Coverage.

In her new position with IQ-EQ, Diana will not only lead the day-to-day running and strategic direction of the firm's head office in Luxembourg; she will also take responsibility for all activities across IQ-EQ's continental European offices - including Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Cyprus. 

As a key member of the firm's global Group Management Team, she will head up the regional leadership team encompassing finance, HR, operations, sales, risk and compliance as well as client relationship management and client services.

She said: "IQ-EQ is going from strength to strength as it grows at pace and I am excited to work closely with my new colleagues, both in Luxembourg and internationally, to ensure that the Group continues on its upward trajectory."

She will report to IQ-EQ's Group Chief Executive Officer, Mark Pesco, who said: "We conducted a very thorough executive search to find suitably experienced candidates to head up our Luxembourg office and lead the wider region, and only the very best could take on both of these key leadership positions! I feel confident we have found the right personality and skillset in Diana and look forward to working with her as we continue to grow our Luxembourg business and our footprint across the continent."

Charles Russell Speechlys

Global law practice Charles Russell Speechlys has appointed Nicola Saccardo as a partner within the firm's private client team in London, to help expand its international reach.

Saccordo has joined the firm from the London office of Maisto, an Italian law firm specialising in tax. He is an Italian tax specialist with over 20 years' experience, advising clients on cross-border tax and estate planning matters, the firm said in a statement. Much of his work is centred around the relocation of HNW individuals to Italy and the taxation of trusts.

Saccordo has in-depth understanding of international and EU tax law and his ability to navigate the associated tax and regulatory frameworks, the firm said.

He is the chair of the tax committee of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, a member of the International Estate Planning Committee of ACTEC and chair of the International Client Special Interest Group of STEP, the firm said.

Simon Ridpath, managing partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, said: "The addition of an Italian tax offering will significantly bolster our portfolio of tax services as we continue to expand our international private capital focus and support high net worth global families looking to relocate to Italy with ease and confidence."