We round up job changes across the industry each week. This week, several major investment houses have added new CIOs, while HSBC has appointed its first ‘chief AI officer’.
Brooks Macdonald
Investment manager Brooks Macdonald has appointed Will Hobbs as its new chief investment officer, joining from Barclays, where he was chief investment officer and head of UK multi asset wealth. The appointment is effective from 7 April.
Andrea Montague, CEO Brooks Macdonald said: “I am delighted to welcome Will to Brooks Macdonald as our CIO. With his leadership and depth and breadth of experience, Will is an invaluable addition to our team as we continue to deliver strong
investment performance, product innovation, and excellent client service.”
He will report to Andrea and be a member of the executive committee.
Quintet (Brown Shipley)
Quintet Private Bank, parent company of wealth manager Brown Shipley, has appointed Lars Kalbreier as group chief investment officer and member of its authorised management committee, succeeding Bryan Crawford. He joins in June 2026.
Kalbreier is currently a partner at investment banking platform Bainbridge, where he is responsible for strategic asset allocation across public and private markets. He also oversees fund selection, asset-liability management and hedging strategies for institutional clients and family offices, predominantly from the Middle East.
Hugo Bänziger, chairman of the board of directors of Quintet, said: “[Lars] brings more than two decades of global investment leadership across wealth and asset management, with deep expertise in multi-asset investing and portfolio construction.
“We are confident that he will further strengthen our investment platform and deliver outstanding outcomes for our clients.”
Fulcrum Asset Management
Fulcrum Asset Management has appointed Karl Sternberg as a senior independent adviser to its Fulcrum Alternative Solutions business to provide strategic guidance to the team as it takes on additional clients for its open architecture strategies.
Sternberg founded Oxford Investment Partners in 2004 to help colleges professionalise their investments. He was chairman of the Christ Church Investment Committee and on the investment committee of St Catherine’s St Catherine’s College before stepping down last year and becoming Emeritus Fellow of both colleges.
Head of Fulcrum alternative solutions Matt Roberts said: “Karl brings invaluable experience and expertise that will be of great benefit to the team as we expand our relationships.”
HSBC
HSBC has appointed David Rice its first chief AI officer. Rice was previously the COO for HSBC’s corporate and institutional banking business and will assume the new role on 1 April.
The appointment is part of the bank’s wider focus on deploying AI at scale across HSBC by making generative AI tools available to all staff to simplify processes, procedures and policies.
Georges Elhedery, group CEO, HSBC said: ‘Our ambition here is simple – we will empower our colleagues to use AI to create a personalised experience for each customer, deliver it safely, in real time and at scale, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core. David will be instrumental in helping us realise our ambition in this area.”
Oakbridge Group
Fund services provider Oakbridge Group has made a series of senior promotions as the business continues to expand its client offering across key jurisdictions.
The appointments include:
- Edward Claxton – financial controller
- Charlotte Galvin – senior manager
- Georgia Christie – assistant manager
- Oliver Dodds – assistant manager
- James Howart – administrator
- Jacquie Blake – group EA and office manager
Chris Bowden, managing director of Oakbridge, said: “These promotions and our recent new hires reflect the continued growth of our business and the increasing demand for high quality corporate and fund services.”
Rimbal (ValidPath)
Rimbal, the parent group of UK-based independent financial adviser network ValidPath, has appointed Brian Wagner as chief technology officer (CTO) to lead its artificial intelligence (AI) innovation.
Wagner brings over two decades of experience in software engineering, cloud computing, enterprise security, and AI. He will lead the delivery of Rimbal’s technology roadmap and scale up the technological infrastructure that powers ValidPath, which supports hundreds of IFA firms across the UK.
Angus MacNee, CEO of ValidPath Group, said: “We are rebuilding the advice and compliance process from the ground up to be AI-native and not just a digitised version of what was possible with pen and paper.
”Brian’s experience building and scaling enterprise grade infrastructure will accelerate our roadmap to enable every adviser and client experience to be enhanced by AI.”
Suntera Global
Multi-jurisdictional fund services provider Suntera Global has named Paul Jones as COO.
Based in London, Jones will focus on building a transformational operating platform that delivers enhanced client service, optimal performance and supports the international service provider’s global growth strategy.
David Hudson, CEO of Suntera Global, said: “Paul joins Suntera Global with an impressive breadth of industry knowledge spanning multiple strands of the financial services industry which, combined with his collaborative approach, stand to make him a dynamic leader within the Suntera Global family.”
