Standard Life Aberdeen
Keith Skeoch has been appointed sole chief executive after Standard Life Aberdeen’s board unanimously approved the dissolution of its current co-chief structure.
Martin Gilber, former co-chief executive, has become vice chairman, chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments and will continue to be an executive director of the board.
Elsewhere, Bill Rattray will retire from the board as chief financial officer on 31 May 2019.
He will be succeeded by Stephanie Bruce, who will take up the position of chief financial officer and executive director on 1 June 2019.
Bruce’s appointment will be subject to election by shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) on 14 May 2019.
In addition, Richard Mully will retire from the board at the conclusion of the 2019 AGM.
Mully has been a director of the company since August 2017, having served as a director of Aberdeen since April 2012.
Julius Baer
The Swiss wealth manager has hired Esteban Polidura as head of investment products and solutions coordination Latin America.
He will start on 8 April 2019 and will be responsible for investment and product delivery to clients across the region.
Polidura will be based in Zurich and report to Beatriz Sánchez, head of Latin America.
Prior to Julius Baer, he was at UBS, where he was chief investment officer for Mexico.
Merian Global Investors
The asset management firm has named Catherine Cripps as an independent non-executive director.
She will also replace newly-appointed chief executive Mark Gregory as chair of the audit and risk committee.
In her role, Cripps will be responsible for developing the business’s strategy and growth, working alongside the board and executive management team.
She has 30 years’ experience working in financial services, including senior positions at Gam.
BMO Global Asset Management
BMO has hired Nina Roth, Alan Fitzpatrick and Derek Ip for its responsible investment team, reporting to co-heads Claudia Wearmouth and Alice Evans.
Roth joins as a director in the team, responsible for managing client relationships in Germany and will undertake environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis and engagement across a range of sectors.
Fitzpatrick will be a product specialist in the responsible investment team, a newly created role.
He will be responsible for supporting the client directors in relationship management, and for developing strategies to bolster the responsible investment client offering at BMO.
Ip will become an ESG analyst, and joins with over nine years of sustainability experience.
Nomura Asset Management UK
The global investment manager has named Anne Dillé-Weibel as business development director and Leigh Fisher as business development manager.
In a newly created role, Dillé-Weibel will be responsible for supporting the company’s ongoing strategy to develop its market share with insurers.
Fisher will focus on developing the fund distribution strategy for the firm’s products, as well as American Century Investments, to UK and Ireland financial intermediaries and platforms.
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
The Canadian firm’s UK and Europe operation has appointed Neil Smith as investment director at its Worcester office.
Smith joins from Seven Investment Management (7IM), where he spent four years working with the intermediary sector.
Prior to that, Smith was a wealth manager at RBS, where he worked for over 10 years.
