The latest moves and appointments for wealth management in the UK, rest of Europe, Middle East and select international locations.

BCB Group
BCB Group, which provides business accounts and trading services for the digital assets sector such as bitcoin and tokens, has appointed Natasha Powell (pictured) as chief compliance officer. 

Powell, who was formerly a European regulatory policy expert at the Financial Services Authority (the precursor to the Financial Conduct Authority), spent 10 years in senior compliance roles at RBS, Schroders and Barclays Capital. 

Most recently, Powell led her own independent consultancy specialising in regulatory transformation and innovation, providing regulatory compliance and financial crime prevention management advice to European hedge funds, asset managers and prime brokerage firms.

Demands for compliance and risk management for digital assets is likely to grow amid the rapid expansion of cryptocurrencies and associated technologies such as smart contracts, tokens and distributed ledger tech. High volatility in cryptos is also likely to draw continued scrutiny from the world’s main financial regulators.

BCB Group is a crypto-dedicated payment services provider, serving clients including Bitstamp, FTX, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, Galaxy, Gemini, Huobi and Kraken. Its executive team has worked for Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Investec, Lloyds Commercial Bank, Norton Rose Fulbright, FIS and Sun Life of Canada.

Janus Henderson Investors
Asset manager Janus Henderson Investors has appointed Panos Nikopolitidis as head of operations in its London office.

Starting on16 May 2022, Nikopolitidis' responsibilities cover operations strategy, fund administration, investment operations, client operations, investment control, third-party administrator oversight, and performance and client reporting, the firm said in a statement. He will report to global chief operating officer, J R Lowry, and will also be a member of the Janus Henderson Executive Committee. 

Nikopolitidis was previously at Russell Investments where he had been head of Global Investment and Data Operations since 2017. Prior to that, he worked at OCL Capital LLP, a London-based boutique hedge fund manager, as head of operations/COO overseeing operations and trade activity. He has also worked at Hermes Fund Managers as head of investment operations for Hermes’ OCL Credit boutique, and before that at John Hancock Investment Management and State Street, both based in Boston.

Nikopolitidis is replacing Graham Foggin who is retiring at the end of June after 20 years at Janus Henderson, the firm said.

Welcoming him to the firm, Lowry said: “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in operations that will allow us to continue on our path to providing market-leading operating infrastructure to support our clients.”

London-based Janus Henderson Group is a global asset manager, working on equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternative asset class strategies, with $361 billion in assets under management.

Hampden & Co
Hampden & Co, a UK private bank, has appointed Hannah Berridge as head of professional partnerships.

Based in London, Berridge will report to chief commercial officer Andrew Bell, focusing on building the bank’s relationships with professional service firms and intermediaries such as wealth managers, mortgage brokers, financial advisors, solicitors, accountants, family offices and property consultants.

Berridge is joining from C. Hoare & Co. where she developed and managed partner relationships with legal, accountancy and wealth management firms, as well as serving the banking needs of clients. Prior to that, she worked as a private banker at Coutts.

Hampden & Co recently announced strong growth in lending and deposits for the financial year 2021, both driven in part by an increase in referrals from professional intermediaries, the firm said in a statement. Referrals from mortgage brokers rose over 38 per cent year-on-year, it added.

Hampden & Co also saw deposits increase 39 per cent to £696 million ($863 million) in 2021, with loans and advances up 29 per cent to £422 million ($523 million), the firm said. The bank benefited from strong demand from clients and intermediaries for its lending solutions, which include residential, retirement, multi-property, self-build and buy-to-let mortgages.

“With our focus exclusively on banking, we work in partnership rather than compete with other professionals. We are well-placed to help their clients optimise their borrowing and to safeguard their deposits, whilst providing a highly personalised day-to-day banking service,” Berridge said.
 

Kore Labs 
After a period of rapid growth in 2021, Kore Labs has appointed two non-executive directors to join its board – Phil Smith and Sally Clark. 

Smith was previously founder and group chief executive of the Embark Group. Prior to that, he was global managing director at both Barclays Wealth and Fortis Investments. Clark is currently an independent board member and non-executive director at Citibank, Metro Bank and FinTech business Acin and has had an extensive executive career with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland Group and JP Morgan.

In their roles, Smith and Clark will support Kore as it capitalises on the extensive opportunities for deploying its financial product governance solutions into retail financial services businesses, whether they are banks, insurers, asset managers or advice-led, the firm said. These businesses are under growing pressure to address governance and compliance requirements associated with the ‘rising bar’ of consumer outcome needs being set by regulators across the world.

Launched in 2019 by Sabrina Del Prete, London-based Kore Labs is a digital product governance solution for retail financial services businesses such as banks, investment managers and insurance companies.

Nuveen
Nuveen, a global investment manager of TIAA, has appointed Jonas Karlson and Ersen Taskiran as director and vice president of its Nordic business, to strengthen its presence there.

Karlson and Taskiran will join Nuveen’s Global Client Group team to expand its footprint in the region, working with existing and new clients across the wealth management and private banking markets, the firm said. Karlson and Taskiran based in Stockholm and Copenhagen respectively, will both report to Christoffer Hedberg, head of Nordics and Benelux.

Karlson has over 15 years’ experience in client servicing, business expansion and product development for the Swedish market. He is joining from BlackRock, where he was head of Asset Management Client Segment for the Nordic business.

Taskiran meanwhile has 17 years’ of experience in client servicing, risk management and fundraising in Denmark and the UK. Most recently, he was chief client manager and head of sales for Nykredit Portefølje Administration but previously worked at Northern Trust, JP. Morgan and Danske Bank.

Welcoming them to the firm, Hedberg said: “Their individual experiences will be pivotal as we look to deepen our footprint across the Nordics. Both have strong networks within their respective markets which will be valuable as we seek further expansion of our growing platform.”

Nuveen serves around 400 institutional clients in the EMEA region, spanning a range of investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, banks and family offices, with $1.2 trillion in assets under management as of 31 March 2022.