White House
After just 10 days and one expletive ridden phone call with a journalist, White House communications director and investment firm founder Anthony Scaramucci has been sacked.
A vocal critic of the US Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, often referred to as the US equivalent to RDR, Scaramucci was offered a White House role in the early days of the Trump administration that was later rescinded due to an ethics conflict.
At the time, he was in the process of selling his hedge fund, SkyBridge Capital, to a division of HNA Group, a politically connected Chinese conglomerate. HNA has been on a massive acquisition spree of late, buying stakes in companies including Deutsche Bank and Old Mutual Asset Management.
A spokesperson for SkyBridge told newswire Reuters that the sale was proceeding as planned and was expected to close by the end of the summer. She declined to comment on whether or not Scaramucci would return to the firm.
Legal & General Insurance
LGI has appointed Nick Frankland to a new role of managing director for fintech, effective from 1 August 2017. The newly created business will build and buy into a range of fintech companies that use the latest technology and innovative approaches to help and engage customers.
Frankland joined L&G in 2010 as a senior director and has since led a number of major businesses across the group, including a period as group digital operations director. He specialises in transformation and chief operating officer roles and has an extensive background in sales and marketing.
Dubai International Finance Centre
Sir Anthony Coleman, a former deputy chief justice of the DIFC court, has died aged 79. Coleman sat on the court between 2008 and 2013 and was appointed deputy chief justice in 2010. He was previously judge of the commercial court in the High Court in London between 1992 and 2007.
In an interview with legal magazine Counsel in 2014, Coleman said: “There has […] been a steady increase in cases since the recovery from the financial crisis of five years ago. […] which stalled, for example, the large scale construction in the Gulf and collapsed the value of properties – many of which were sold off-plan – had an impact on individuals and investors, which has resulted in disputes in some cases in respect of negligent financial advice given to parties and also in termination of employment contracts and resulting claims for wrongful dismissal.
“The DIFC court amended its rules in 2012 to allow parties unconnected with the DIFC to contract into the jurisdiction of the DIFC court and that will certainly bring more cases to the court.
“The court is being seen by many to be much more user friendly in its approach than many local courts in the Gulf area and the quality of the judiciary sitting in the DIFC has laid an excellent foundation for the court’s future.”
UBS Asset Management
Rob Worthington has been appointed to the newly created Asia Pacific head of investment solutions specialists role at UBS AM to strengthen the firm’s multi-asset capabilities.
He joined the Swiss fund house in Hong Kong in mid-July from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he was lead client portfolio manager on the Asia Pacific multi-asset team. Before joining JP Morgan, Worthington served as an officer in the British Army for seven years.
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas Cardif Life Insurance in Korea has named Benoit Meslet as its representative director and chief executive, succeeding Jean-Christophe Darbes who will take up a new role with the group.
Meslet has 15 years’ industry experience across financial services and insurance. Prior to joining BNP, he was chief transformation & strategy officer with NN Life in Japan. He previously held several senior positions within ING Group.
Rowan Dartington
The wealth manager has recruited two business development managers into newly rebranded Rowan Dartington Intermediaries, formerly Rowan Dartington Signature. Steve Smart and Steve Thompson will be based in London and Scotland, respectively.
Smart joins with 17 years’ financial services experience, having worked for Axa and Old Mutual Wealth among others. More recently he has specialised in sophisticated investments for high net worth clients at Ingenious. At Rowan Dartington, he will be responsible for the greater London region.
Thompson is tasked with growing the DFM business in Scotland via his existing relationships, while opening doors with new firms and prospects. He has worked in the financial services industry for over 26 years. During that time, he worked with Aegon, Kames Capital, Hartford, MetLife, Morningstar Europe and, more recently, spent five years living and working in the Middle East with Assicurazioni Generali.
Quilter Cheviot
Quilter Cheviot, part of Old Mutual Wealth, has reinforced its business development team with the appointment of Edward Walker as regional development manager for the south-west of England. He joins from Zurich Insurance Group, where he worked as a business account manager and a platform consultant for over six years.
Walker reports to James Rodgers, head of Quilter Cheviot’s Bristol office. He will be tasked with fulfilling new business targets, as well as developing new and existing relationships with financial advisers and other professional entities.
Investec Wealth & Investment
IW&I is expanding both its Liverpool and Manchester offices with the hire of two financial planning directors: Lee Burberry joins the Liverpool office and Gary Taylor joins the Manchester office. They each bring with them 30 years’ financial services experience.
Both come from the Liverpool office of investment management firm Rathbones where they provided advice to clients on all aspects of financial planning; including pensions, estate and tax planning and protection.
