Brooks Macdonald International 

Richard Hughes has been appointed as CEO of Brooks Macdonald International, subject to regulatory approval.

The current CEO of the International business Andrew Shepherd, who has been in the role since April 2019, is due to return to London to assume the role of Group CEO with effect from 1 July.

Shepherd will succeed Caroline Connellan who, after four years as CEO, is to leave the Group in order to become CEO of personal wealth at Standard Life Aberdeen.

Hughes was appointed deputy CEO of International in April 2019 having joined in 2013 as head of business development and has played an instrumental role in transforming and growing the International business, including its acquisition of Lloyds' international wealth management and funds business in 2020.

Hughes has 20 years' experience in financial services, with the past 12 years in senior roles within the wealth management sector in Jersey, Guernsey and London.

Based in Jersey, he sits on the committee of the newly formed Channel Islands Wealth Management Association (CIWMA), and he is also Chairman of Cancer Research UK Jersey.

Andrew Shepherd, incoming Group CEO, said: "I know that in Richard I am handing the International business over to very capable hands and have every confidence in his ability to continue to build on the fantastic momentum to date."

Standard Life

Caroline Connellan has left her role as chief executive of Brooks Macdonald to join Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) as chief executive of personal wealth, which includes 1825 Financial Planning and D2C proposition Digital Retirement Advice.

SLA said the appointment of Connellan has come at a "key juncture" as it seeks to "significantly grow" its personal wealth business under its recently announced unifying single brand Abrdn.

In her new role, Connellan will report directly to chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen Stephen Bird as a member of the executive leadership team.

Bird said: "Critically, she has a deep customer-centric mindset and extensive experience in creating compelling and innovative offerings.

"Earlier this year, we outlined our strategy for growth encompassing three vectors; asset management, adviser and personal."

JP Morgan Private Bank

Elaine Zhang, who was most recently Credit Suisse's market leader for Greater China, has joined JP Morgan Private Bank as a managing director and China market leader with expectations to start in August.

In her Singapore-based role, Zhang reports to the bank's head of Singapore and Southeast Asia James Wey.

Zhang has over 20 years of private banking experience with a focus on ultra-high net worth Chinese clients and leading China market relationship managers.

She was most recently a market leader for Greater China in Singapore at Credit Suisse where she served for more than a decade. Previously, she had also worked with the former American Express Private Banking, DBS and Bank of China.

Harneys

Harneys Fiduciary Cyprus has appointed Theodoros Assiotis and Theodoros Zafiropoulos to the board of directors for Harneys Fiduciary Cyprus. The pair will co-head the firm's Cyprus Fiduciary offering.

Theodoros Assiotis is head of the fiduciary accounting services team, specialising in the provision of accounting and preparation of financial statements for BVI, Cayman and Cyprus companies and trusts.

Theodoros Zafiropoulos is a partner in the Banking and Finance team in Cyprus.

Global head of Harneys Fiduciary, Ross Munro, said: "Cyprus is the premier hub for international business opportunities in the Mediterranean and one of the top venues for the incorporation and establishment of businesses across Europe. I look forward to fully leveraging our position and offering in Cyprus, under their joint leadership."

Carey Olsen
Carey Olsen has named Jude Hodge as counsel in its British Virgin Islands (BVI) corporate practice.

Hodge specialises in advising clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, with particular expertise in banking and finance, real estate, voluntary liquidations, investment funds, corporate due diligence, continuations, group reorganisations, and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Carey Olsen, Jude worked in the corporate and finance teams at three other leading offshore firms in the BVI and the Channel Islands.

Clinton Hempel, managing partner of Carey Olsen's BVI office, said: "Following recent appointments made in our dispute resolution and litigation team, Jude's arrival further reflects the significant and increasing client demand we are experiencing for our services in the British Virgin Islands and our continuing commitment to building a strong and talented team."

Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management has named Christoph Schumacher as global head of real assets, private markets, having previously served as global head of real estate and managing director at Credit Suisse Asset Management.

In this newly created position, he will be responsible for defining the firm's private real assets strategy and managing the operations and development, launch, and growth of investment solutions for clients across the globe.

The role unites the firm's real asset capabilities across real estate, infrastructure, timber and agriculture, all of which have been key drivers of diversification offering sustainable and nature-based solutions, and have a long history of helping to generate differentiated return for clients.

Schumacher will oversee $42.9bn AUM globally and the heads of each of Manulife's real asset teams will report directly to Mr. Schumacher.

"Christoph shares our vision to unify and collectively grow our global real assets business," said Steve Blewitt, global head of private markets, Manulife Investment Management. "As more of our clients seek solutions across a broad range of alternative asset classes, Christoph's acumen and experience will help ensure Manulife Investment Management continues to meet our clients' needs and help drive strong investment performance over the long-term."

Schumacher will be relocating to Boston and reports to Steve Blewitt.

HSBC Asset Management
HSBC Asset Management has appointed Jasvir Virk as business development director for its UK institutional team. In this new role and based in London, Jasvir joined on 10 May and reports to Maria Ryan, Head of Institutional Sales UK, MENA and Nordics.

With over 20 years' experience in the industry, Jasvir will be responsible for broadening and deepening the firm's relationships with UK institutional investors, with a particular focus on UK pension schemes.

Virk joined from BlackRock, where she was a senior director and a member of the UK institutional business responsible for client relationship management and business development.

Prior to that, she was head of client relations Europe at PineBridge Investments, working with both institutional and intermediary clients across Europe. Jasvir has also held several roles at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Jasvir's appointment follows that of Paul Griffiths as Global Head of Institutional Business earlier this month.

Maria Ryan said: "Jasvir brings a wealth of experience working with some of the largest and most sophisticated clients in the UK. Her background in both traditional and alternative markets will be invaluable as we continue to broaden our offering to the UK institutional market."

Crestbridge

Family office professional Karen Clark has been appointed by Crestbridge to support its international strategic growth ambitions.
Joining Crestbridge as a director, Karen, who is based in California, US, has over 30 years of experience advising families of wealth in all corners of the globe on matters of governance, succession, and family office operations.

In her new role, Karen will draw on her decades of experience of strategic planning and operational best practice to support Crestbridge's rapidly growing global family office services team, spanning the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Heather Tibbo, group head of family officer Services at Crestbridge, said: "Karen is hugely respected in the family office sector, and brings with her industry leading experience and knowledge, spanning intergenerational wealth transfer, cross-border planning, strategic philanthropy and succession planning.

"Building on our innovative joint venture with Willow Street in the US at the start of last year to form Crestbridge Fiduciary, we are gearing up for further growth as families around the world continue to look for high quality support."