Federated Hermes continues to expand trading desk with new hire
Federated Hermes announced the continued growth of its trading desk, with the appointment of Imogen Hepsworth as a junior credit trader. Based in London, she will report to Dan Nicholls, head of Trading. She joins Federated Hermes from MarketAxess, where she spent five years as a facilitation trader – in London and the US – servicing the institutional client base for platform trading all-to-all and credit. Prior to MarketAxess she worked for JDX Consulting.
Federated Hermes continues to strengthen and expand its trading desk, with this announcement following the appointment of multi-asset trader Kendell James in 2023. James joined Federated Hermes as a after more than five years with Cantor Fitzgerald where he traded equities in New York and London.
Dan Nicholls, head of Trading at Federated Hermes, said in a statement: “This latest hire demonstrates our ability to attract and provide a platform for some of the industry’s most impressive talent.”
Federated Hermes is an investment manager with some $715 billion in AuM, providing equity, fixed income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity management strategies to more than 10,000 institutions and intermediaries worldwide. The London desk trade equity, fixed income, credit, FX, money markets, derivatives, commodity and treasury with trading teams also executing in live markets from New York, Pittsburgh and Hong Kong.
WISF chapter leads step down in Boston and Chicago
Women in Securities Finance (WISF) announced that two of it’s founding chapter leads have volunteered to step down as part of succession planning. Colleen Kenney, a founding Chicago chapter lead, and Brooke Hawkins Gillman, a founding Boston chapter lead will both step down from their WISF leadership roles as of January 2024. Kenney is a senior product manager of Securities Lending for Apex Fintech Solutions and Hawkins Gillman is a managing director and the global head of Client Relationship Management for eSecLending.
“Colleen and Brooke were both instrumental in the growth of WISF over the past 6 years and the rest of the WISF leadership team is incredibly grateful for the time they gave to support the group’s mission. Colleen and Brooke will remain actively engaged members of WISF and look forward to supporting the evolution of the mission-based organization as it grows and expands to support the advancement of women as well as all other minority groups within the securities finance industry,” WISF wrote on Linked In.
The mission of WISF is to support the advancement of women in the securities financing industry and the founding leadership team recognizes the importance of creating space for new professionals to contribute to and benefit from the group’s success. Succession planning is critical to establishing a sustainable future for the global networking group and we look forward to welcoming new leaders in the years to come. WISF currently has Chapters in New York, Boston, London, Toronto, and Chicago and is focused on integrating more global regions and members in the future.
Stefan Walter to become new CEO of FINMA
The Board of Directors of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has appointed Stefan Walter as the authority’s new CEO. He will take up his new role on 1 April 2024.
Stefan Walter has been director general at the European Central Bank (ECB) since 2014. There, he was initially responsible for the supervision of systemic banks in the eurozone. These included nine global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). He led the division for six years. From 2020, he was responsible for horizontal risk supervision at the ECB. This encompassed all categories of risk, in particular credit and liquidity risks, as well as developing and conducting stress tests.
Before joining ECB, Walter held the role of Global Bank Regulatory and Supervisory Policy Network Leader at Ernst & Young for two years. From 2006 until 2011, he was Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. In this role, Stefan Walter coordinated the international negotiations on regulatory reforms during the global financial crisis. Prior to this, he held various roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“FINMA is gaining an experienced leader in Stefan Walter with a wealth of international financial market experience in banking supervision. Particularly his knowledge in the area of large bank supervision and his links to international supervisory authorities will be a great asset for FINMA’s supervision of the systemically important Swiss banks,” said Marlene Amstad, chair of FINMA’s Board of Directors, in a statement.
ECB appoints Banafsheh Geretzki as director Internal Audit
The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the appointment of Banafsheh Geretzki as Director Internal Audit. In her new role, Geretzki will lead the ECB’s internal audit and investigation activities, including whistleblowing procedures and administrative inquiries. She will oversee the dossiers for the Audit Committee and maintain effective relationships with other European institutions such as the European Anti-Fraud Office and the European Court of Auditors.
The Directorate Internal Audit evaluates and seeks to continuously make more effective and efficient the risk management, control and governance processes at the ECB.
Geretzki has held her current role as head of Division in the ECB’s Directorate General Universal and Diversified Institutions since September 2021, where she has been responsible for the supervisory oversight of significant banks. She joined ECB Banking Supervision as an Adviser in the Stress Test Experts Division in 2020. She was previously European Co-Head of BlackRock’s Official Institutions Financial Markets Advisory. She has also held several management, advisory and investment banking roles at Alvarez and Marsal, Fortress Investment Group and Morgan Stanley.
OCC appoints new CFRO and announces board changes
OCC announced that Massimo Cutuli has joined the clearing organization as chief financial risk officer-elect and will succeed current CFRO Dale Michaels following his upcoming retirement. Cutuli will be responsible for OCC’s market, credit and liquidity risk, default management, customer margin methodologies and model development activities. He will work closely with Michaels and OCC leadership to facilitate a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Cutuli has more than 25 years of experience in financial services and management consulting, most recently as chief risk officer at Optiver US. At Optiver, he was responsible for all risk oversight of the firm’s US activities including market and operational risk, algorithmic trading controls, principal strategic investment risk due diligence and working with finance on capital optimization. Prior to Optiver, Cutuli was the head of Risk for Citadel Securities where he was responsible for risk oversight in North America, EMEA and APAC. He also had stints at J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg.
“On behalf of our Board of Directors, I want to thank Dale for helping OCC achieve significant improvements in our approach to financial risk management during his tenure,” said Craig Donohue, OCC chair, in a statement. “He and his team were instrumental in developing our Financial Safeguards Framework, our new liquidity stress testing approach and the enhancement of our end-day settlement pricing algorithm. We thank him for his many contributions to OCC and wish him all the best in his retirement.”
In a separate statement, OCC announced updates to its Board of Directors:
- Craig Donohue, OCC executive chair since 2014, has transitioned to chair while OCC CEO, Andrej Bolkovic, has joined the board. In Donohue’s continuing role as chair, he will remain integrally involved with oversight and governance at OCC.
- OCC’s Board of Directors has appointed Roland Chai, Nasdaq’s president of European Market Services. Chai brings more than 20 years of experience in technology, risk management, trading and post-trade across multiple asset classes. In his current role, he leads Nasdaq´s multi-asset trading, clearing, listings and market services businesses across Europe. Previously, Chai led Nasdaq’s Marketplace Technology business; he joined the exchange in the role of Global chief risk officer in 2020. Chai fills the seat vacated by Meyer “Sandy” Frucher, retired Nasdaq vice chair. Frucher became an exchange director in September 1998 and was OCC’s longest-serving board member.
“On behalf of our Board of Directors, we are pleased to welcome Andrej Bolkovic to the Board as part of our transition to a non-executive chair governance structure,” said Donohue in a statement. “Since joining OCC in August 2022, Andrej has proven to be a highly effective CEO, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in leading OCC. We are also pleased to welcome Roland to our board, as he brings a wealth of knowledge in the global listed derivatives industry.”
Yannic Yvon will re-join SEB in a new role as head of Debt Advisory
SEB announced that Yannic Yvon will take on the role of head of Debt Advisory at SEB in summer 2024. He has been head of Corporate & Infrastructure Debt at DNB in Oslo over the past five years where he was responsible for a number of high profile Nordic debt advisory mandates. Prior to that he was a senior originator in Corporate Loan Origination at SEB where he worked for about 4 years. Before SEB he was a vice president at Deutsche Bank in London.
“Debt Advisory is an important strategic priority for Investment Banking and will enhance our offering as a leading Energy Transition bank in addition to supporting our Originate-to-Distribute ambitions. I am very happy that Yannic Yvon will re-join SEB taking on the helm as head of Debt Advisory, says Carlo Lugani, head of Debt Capital Markets at SEB, in a statement.
“SEB has the ideal platform to become a leader in Nordic debt advisory services. I am truly excited to return to SEB and enable our clients to draw on a global pool of debt sources and identify and secure leading terms in increasingly complex credit markets,” Yvon said in a statement.
Investec bolsters corporate broking team with four new hires
Investec Bank announced the expansion of its corporate broking team with four key appointments. Ben Lawrence joins as managing director focusing on the healthcare sector, Kamalini Hull as executive director for the financial sector, Gordon Hamilton as associate for the energy team, and Sara Wallace as analyst for the PLC Advisory team.
- Ben Lawrence has 24 years of corporate broking and financial advisory experience. Before joining Investec, he served as a Managing Director in the UK Investment Banking teams at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Ben has advised on a wide range of strategic and capital raising transactions in the healthcare sector, including extensive work for Shire and BTG.
- Kamalini Hull, formerly Head of Growth Capital at Stifel brings 20 years of investment banking and fintech management experience to the team, with deep expertise providing advice on M&A, IPO and ECM transactions to financial services and fintech companies.
- Gordon Hamilton is a Chartered Accountant who joins from Canaccord Genuity, where he most recently worked in the Natural Resources investment banking team.
- Sara Wallace has joined the PLC Advisory team as an analyst after spending over three years at Investec. Previously, she produced macro-market research and advised hedge funds on risk arbitrage opportunities in public M&A.
Carlton Nelson, head of Corporate Broking & PLC Advisory at Investec, said in a statement: “These key appointments bring valuable experience and expertise to the team, enhancing our ability to serve clients and strengthening our position in the mid-market. Over the last three years, we have raised more than £9 billion of equity for clients and have advised on significant deals, including that of Dechra, one of the biggest take-privates last year. It’s an exciting time, and we are delighted to welcome these new additions to our corporate broking team.”
UBS announces changes to board, new head of asset management unit
The Board of Directors of UBS Group announced that it will nominate Gail Kelly for election to the board at the Annual General Meeting on 24 April 2024. It was also announced that Dieter Wemmer will not stand for re-election. Joining in 2016, he is the longest serving board member.
Kelly’s executive banking career spans over 35 years. She served as the Group CEO and managing director for two banks in Australia, St. George Bank followed by Westpac. During her CEO tenure she navigated Westpac through the challenges of the global financial crisis and the successful merger with St. George Bank in 2008, the largest in market financial services merger in Australia. She continues to hold a portfolio of roles, including as senior global advisor to the UBS Group CEO and Group Executive Board.
UBS chair Colm Kelleher said in a statement: “As one of the most influential voices in the Asia Pacific financial industry and an acknowledged leader, Gail has an outstanding reputation and is recognized as an excellent bank CEO who successfully navigated a merger. I greatly look forward to working with her on the Board.”
In separate news, Reuters reported that UBS named Aleksandar Ivanovic as new head of its $1.6 trillion asset management business. Ivanovic, who takes over in March from Suni Harford after she retires, will be running a key UBS division but one that is much smaller than its wealth management business, which generated 50% of UBS’s revenues in the third quarter of 2023. UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said Ivanovic’s extensive experience and broad network across the bank made him “the ideal person to build on our strong foundation and progress our integration plans.”
SFT: Zekraus departs from Pirum
Pirum chief operating officer and head of the Americas, Robert Zekraus, has left Pirum. Speaking to SFT, Pirum chief executive Philip Morgan indicated that during Zekraus’ three-year tenure, Pirum has expanded its client coverage, grown its US footprint and accelerated its service coverage across all products. Most recently, this includes the roll out of Pirum’s recalls solution, which will help clients to position themselves for the transition to T+1 settlement.
Zekraus told SFT: “”The framework, team and client connectivity are now firmly established in the US and the region is now well positioned to contribute to the overall success and growth of the company.”
Morgan said: “I would like to thank Bob for his contribution in developing our footprint in North America. In 2024 our investment in the team and products will continue to grow as we assist our clients in meeting evolving market infrastructure challenges, such as those around the move to T+1. There is more to come very soon.”
Whitmore leaves Jupiter to start new firm Brickwood
Ben Whitmore of Jupiter has left to start his own venture, Brickwood Asset Management. Whitmore ran £10 billion for Jupiter, having been with the firm for 18 years, according to FT Adviser. Previous to that, he was at Schroders.
Sean Peche, portfolio manager on the Ranmore Global Equity Fund, said in a statement: “We all want to live in a society that allocates capital more efficiently, and we believe value investing is the answer. So, the more value boutiques there are, the better and right now, there aren’t that many independent value franchises with skin in the game. So, it’s great that Ben and his team see the vast opportunity and are spreading the value message.”
Prescient Fund Services names Davy as CEO and Gleeson as COO for Ireland operations
The European arm of Prescient Fund Services has appointed Emily Davy to the role of chief executive officer based in Dublin. Davy was previously head of Legal and Compliance for Prescient’s Irish operations. In addition, Eoin Gleeson is moving into the role of Chief Operating Officer in Dublin.
Davy joined Prescient Ireland in 2018 and the board in 2021. Gleeson is promoted into the role, and prior to joining Prescient Ireland in 2010 he held supervisory and management positions within PFPC International, HedgeServ and UBS.
Craig Mockford, CEO of Prescient Fund Services, said in a statement: “These appointments reflect the growth and importance of the Irish business and the Prescient fund platforms for our clients. Ireland represents a fast-growing component of our overall offering for our asset manager client segment servicing. Emily and Eoin, together with our chief risk officer, Grant Jacobi, comprise the executive team who will be managing the further expansion of our offering for UCITS and alternative fund clients, bringing their considerable experience of Irish funds to the process.”
Emily Davy, CEO of Prescient Ireland, said in a statement: “Prescient continues to see a busy pipeline of new business for our Irish operation, with our fund management clients realizing the full benefits of Ireland as a domicile for both long only and alternative funds business. Our management company stands ready to facilitate international fund strategies, including with the high-quality compliance and oversight support that a top tier EU funds jurisdiction like Ireland requires.”