Société Générale

Société Générale Private Banking Switzerland (SGPBS) has appointed Maxime Sabiaux as deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer and Valérie Bokobza as head of wealth management solutions.

As part of his role as deputy CEO which he assumed on April 1, Sabiaux will be based in Geneva and assist the unit's CEO, Franck Bonin, in the strategic and operational management of the bank, while in the COO role assumes responsibility for all of the bank's operations. 

Sabiaux joined Société Générale Group in 2009 in the General Inspectorate, heading various units including retail banking in France and abroad and investment banking. 

From 2015 he co-managed the department as chief inspector. In September 2018, he was named Global COO of Société Générale Private Banking, joining the Group's private bank.

As head of Wealth Management Solutions, Bokobza will manage the bank's investment solutions offering, overseeing a team of 30 specialists. She is also based in Geneva and reports to Bonin, with her appointment taking effect on the same day as Sabiaux's.

Before joining Société Générale Private Banking France in 2007 as a consultant, she worked for ten years in Investment Banking at HSBC France, responsible at first for international institutional clients and later for French corporate clients. 

She developed the different segments of the financial offering and took responsibility for the Advisory team. In 2017, she became Head of Business Development for France, responsible for specialized teams such as Third Party Managers, Foundations and Associations, and International Clients, and developing offerings for specific client groups, including CEOs of fast-growing companies, seniors, and female opinion leaders.

Quilter Cheviot Europe

Quilter Cheviot Europe, the Irish subsidiary of discretionary wealth manager Quilter Cheviot, has appointed Andrew Fahy as chief executive officer.

Fahy is taking over the role from Brian Weber who left the business at the end of last year.

Fahy joined the business as head of financial planning in Ireland in 2022 to help establish QCE's financial planning capability, having previously worked at Investec Wealth & Investment.

Andrew McGlone, chief executive of Quilter Cheviot, said: "I am pleased to announce Andrew's appointment to chief executive officer in Ireland. 

"We see being able to offer an integrated wealth management offering (comprising of both investment management and financial planning) to our European clients as a key enabler to QCE's growth strategy in the years to come and, given Andrew's prior experience, we believe he is the right person to drive this forward. 

"I would like to thank Brian for all that he has done for the business, and we wish him the very best for the future."

Fahy added: "I am delighted to have been asked to take responsibility for QCE. Over the past year, I have helped to broaden the company's wealth management capabilities, and in my new role I look forward to pursuing this further and helping to grow the business, while ensuring that we continue to provide top-class discretionary investment management and strong support for the external intermediary market."

Universal Investment 

Etienne Rougier will start as new COO of Universal Investment Group as of 17 April 2023. He will be responsible for driving and transforming the business to support its overall growth strategy. 

This includes enhancing customer delivery, which involves the onboarding experience for customers, seamless account maintenance and superior fund accounting. Through his leadership role, he will further strengthen the development of Universal Investment's growing subsidiaries in Luxembourg. 

In his new role Rougier will be responsible for Technology, Operations and Change Management. Rougier's appointment will see the C-suite expand, which already consists of chief executive officer Michael Reinhard, chief customer officer Katja Müller and chief regulatory officer Frank Eggloff.

Rougier started his career at AXA Investment Managers where he led several business reorganisation projects, most notably the outsourcing of AXA IM operations in Europe. In 2005, he was named Global Head of Change Management. 

He then moved to London to set up the multi-manager boutique Architas, a new asset management firm for AXA Group, where he was COO for five years and responsible for process implementation and business development. 

In 2013, he joined Alliance Bernstein where he spent almost ten years in various management roles. As Head of EMEA and Asia Insurance, he was responsible for client services, business development and implementing bespoke services for insurers in these markets. Rougier holds a master's degree in finance and will support Universal Investment's ambition to become one of the leading fund service platforms in Europe. 

Michael Reinhard, CEO of Universal Investment, said: "We are delighted to have Etienne on board. He brings more than two decades of experience in the asset management industry and has demonstrated strong skills in developing organisations and businesses. 

"His international perspective will help us take our operations in Europe to the next level and support our planned office openings in North America and Asia. In Luxembourg, Etienne will contribute to the further integration of our latest acquisition EFA - European Fund Administration."

Titanbay

Stuart McGlynn has joined private market investment platform Titanbay as head of intermediary sales, taking on the role following his departure from abrdn in November 2022.

He will lead the company's relationships with private banks and wealth managers across Europe and the UK.

McGlynn brings 24 years' experience from his career with abrdn, first joining Standard Life as a graduate, before ending his time with the firm as head of EMEA - global banks.

The appointment follows Titanbay's series A funding round, with abrdn as one of the leading investors, alongside FNZ and Motive Partners.

Thomas Eskebaek, CEO of Titanbay, said: "Stuart brings almost three decades of industry experience, and we are very excited to have him in our senior team.

"His expertise across the breadth of personal finance, wealth management and global banking makes him well placed to lead our intermediary partnerships as part of Titanbay's continued growth."

McGlynn added: "I am delighted to be joining Titanbay as their head of intermediary sales at an exciting time for the business, as individuals and institutions from across the financial community are seeking to increase their exposure to private markets investments.

"I am looking forward to building deep partnerships with wealth managers and private banks that enable them to deliver these exciting investment opportunities to their clients in a thoughtful and bespoke way."

EdenTree

EdenTree Investment Management has promoted Leonora Rae to head of corporate responsibility and charity partnerships.

Rae joined the firm's charity team in 2019 as an associate. In her new role, she will work closely with the corporate responsibility committee to drive positive social and environmental change.

Prior to joining EdenTree, she worked in the business development team at Cambridge Associates, dedicated to endowments and foundations. Before that, she served as a trustee at three UK charities. 

The firm recently refreshed and formalised its corporate responsibility strategy to mark six years of the committee and launch of the Community Investment fund. The strategy focuses on three areas: people, community and environment. 

Rae said: "It is a hugely exciting time to oversee EdenTree's corporate responsibility initiatives and working with colleagues across the business to continue to drive positive change in each of our focus areas of people, community and environment.

"Our corporate responsibility initiatives are at the heart of who we are as a responsible business and I look forward to continued collaboration with colleagues, clients, beneficiaries and charity partners to continue to drive positive change."

Daniel Barber, chief commercial officer at EdenTree, added: "Since 2016, our parent company Benefact Group has surpassed its giving target of £150m in grants and donations to good causes.

"The internal team, led by Leonora, have an important role in holding us accountable to the same high standards we expect from our investee companies, and the work they have in the pipeline is something we are excited about."

Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management has hired Thibault Renoux as SRI portfolio manager. He will be joining the investment team running the Eco Solutions equity strategy and will take an active part in the management and development of the Sycomore Global Eco Solutions fund, alongside Anne-Claire Abadie and Alban Préaubert. He will be a member of a broad investment team which now includes 25 fund manager-analysts.

He will co-manage the Sycomore Global Eco Solutions fund, launched in December 2021. The strategy invests in companies that are committed to making the energy and environmental transition happen. Their business models cover 8 themes, including renewables, energy efficiency & electrification, green mobility, sustainable construction, the circular economy, management of natural resources, sustainable food & responsible consumption, and eco-services. 

Anne-Claire Abadie and Alban Préaubert said: "We are very happy to welcome Thibault to the team. His experience as a conviction-driven, active fund manager will be a valuable asset to our new Environment investment approach. His deep knowledge of extra-financial issues, together with his expertise in data analysis, will be of great benefit to our Eco Solutions strategies". 

Renoux added: "I am delighted to be joining Sycomore AM, a forerunner in SRI, and I look forward to embracing the firm's Responsible Investment mission. I am particularly eager to take an active part in scaling up Sycomore's environmental strategy."

Renoux began his career at UBS where he served as a wealth management analyst.

In 2015, he joined Mirova as an equity analyst, specialising on global funds with an environmental focus. In 2017, He moved to BDF Gestion as an equity manager, where he developed a thematic environmental fund offering sustainable solutions supporting the fight against climate change.