Westpac senior exec departs immediately in misconduct probe

Following allegations of inappropriate contact, the chief investment officer of Australian wealth manager BT Financial Group has left the business with immediate effect. Other People Moves this week include Quilter Cheviot, Investec, European Wealth and Edison.

PEOPLE MOVES: KPMG, Investors Trust, Carrick

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Westpac

Martyn Wild, the chief investment officer of BT Financial Group, the wealth management business of Australian bank Westpac, abruptly left the business on Friday following allegations about inappropriate behaviour towards two female members of staff, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

BT Financial Group said in a statement on Friday: “Mr Wild had previously been disciplined for breaches of Westpac Group’s code of conduct arising out of a number of recent allegations.”

Among the “inappropriate contact”, complaints ranged from stroking one woman’s hair and making disparaging references to a woman’s weight. An earlier compliant that he had slapped one woman in the face could not be substantiated.

“In light of recent developments, we’ve agreed with Mr Wild that he will leave the business, effective immediately,” the company said.

Quilter Cheviot

Quilter Cheviot, part of Old Mutual Wealth, has appointed investment manager Antony Webb to its London-based managed portfolio service (MPS) team as it continues to evolve the service it provides to clients and intermediaries.

Webb re-joins the MPS team from Investec Wealth & Investment, where he worked as an investment manager. At Quilter Cheviot, he will support MPS lead portfolio manager Simon Doherty and co-director of investment for the multi-asset team, Ben Mountain, in overseeing the firm’s MPS investment strategies and delivering a market-leading service offering.

As a consequence, Webb’s role will also involve close cooperation with Quilter Cheviot’s business development team and regular interaction with professional intermediaries and their clients.

Investec AM

Peter Baird has been appointed as managing principal for Investec Asset Management’s Africa Private Equity funds. He will work with the firm’s Africa Private Equity investment team, which currently manages two funds.

Baird joins from Standard Chartered Bank in Johannesburg, where he led the African private equity business. Prior to this, he held senior roles in industry and as a partner in the healthcare and private-equity practices at McKinsey & Company in South Africa and the US for 11 years.

European Wealth

Andrew Harris and Martin Carey have joined European Wealth as investment managers at its London headquarters.

Harris, formerly a senior private banker at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank, will look after European Wealth’s business development and client management. His background also includes working as a client director at Butterfield Private Bank and roles at Vestra Wealth and Barclays Wealth.

Carey will chiefly manage non-resident portfolios and assist with developing the group’s international business in Switzerland, where its sole non-UK office sits in Zurich. He joins the team from Plumiri Wealth Solutions in Gibraltar, where he was a senior portfolio manager in charge of business development and investment management. Before that, he held senior roles at Nordea, NatWest and Lloyds private banks.

Edison

Investment research and advisory company Edison has appointed Dean Richardson as director and head of Australasia based in Sydney. Richardson brings more than 25 years’ extensive commercial experience in capital markets, public companies and investor relations to lead Edison’s growing Australasian team.

His recent experience has been in listed companies, where he was the main point of contact for the investment communities and markets in Australasia and the international investment community.

His focus was on developing investor relations strategies and relationships with both the buy and sell side, as well as having responsibility for relations with key stakeholders including governments, regional councils and industry bodies.

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