PEOPLE MOVES: Wealth Wizards, Sanlam UK, JO Hambro

Digital advice company makes c-suite changes, as CEO departs from wealth firm

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Wealth Wizards

The digital financial advice firm has made some changes to its management team.

Mark Kiddell will become chief commercial officer, while Ben Hampton will take on the role of chief product officer.

Kiddell was previously at Mercer, where he worked as growth enablement and operations leader for over three years.

Hampton joins from Abrdn, where he launched and ran the company’s digital retirement advice arm.

Sanlam UK

Group chief executive Jonathan Polin will leave Sanlam UK.

He will take on the position of chief executive at a different company created from the wealth management arm of Sanlam UK, which was sold to Oaktree Capital Management in September 2021.

Polin will be joined by Haig Bathgate as head of investments, who will join from 7IM after the deal completes in April.

Nicola Fraser remains chief financial officer, with Niral Parekh joining as chief operating officer and Christopher Kraft coming-in as chief commercial officer.

Parekh was previously head of retail asset and wealth management at Capco and head of product proposition and director of corporate strategy at Tilney Group.

Kraft was chief operating officer at True Potential, having spent almost a decade at Perella Weinberg Partners.

Their roles will also officially start in early April once change in control has been confirmed by the regulator. They will be supported by a senior management team with specialisms across the different business areas.

JO Hambro

The asset manager has hired Ben Morris as head of product EUKA.

He joins from Abrdn where he most recently served as head of equities, product strategy and specialists.

Saltus

The UK firm has named Alex Spreckley as managing director of financial planning, as the company looks to develop its financial advice proposition.

He was previously head of wealth management at Handelsbanken Wealth and Asset Management.

LGL Group

The fund and family office solution provider has made a series of leadership changes.

Zena Couppey has been promoted to chief executive after joining the business in 2020 as chief commercial officer.

Mike Newton has also been promoted, taking on the role of chief operating officer. He joined in 2021.

Lastly, Stephen McKenna will succeed Couppey as chief commercial officer, based in Luxembourg.

McKenna was previously group head of alternative assets and ESG.

Praxis IFM

The global financial services firm has made two senior hires.

Alexandra McInnes becomes group chief operating and risk officer and James Barber-Lomax as head of pensions.

McInnes was most recently a director at PwC’s advisory business in Guernsey, while Barber-Lomax has been at Praxis IFM for eight years.

Natixis Investment Managers

Mabrouk Chetouane has taken on the role of head of global market strategy and solutions, international at the investment firm and will be based in Paris.

He joins from BFT Investment Managers, where he was head of research and strategy.

The Advisers Association

The Australian trade body has appointed Bill Belmers as chair of the association.

He has been a board member since 2019 and vice chair since 2020.

Belmers is still a practising adviser with 23 years’ experience and is the funder and managing director of Queensland-based SEQ Advice.

Raymond James

Benjamin Smith has become a financial planner at the wealth manager’s Exeter branch.

He was previously at Mercer UK, where he held a similar role.