The latest moves, appointments and personnel changes among wealth management and related organisations in the UK, the rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and select international locations.

Julius Baer International
UK-based wealth manager Julius Baer International (JBI), part of the Julius Baer Group, has appointed two new independent, non-executive directors to join its board with immediate effect: Denise Cockrem and Sam Tymms (pictured left to right).

Cockrem has more than 10 years’ experience of non-executive and executive board roles in the financial services, energy and charity sectors. Before recently retiring as the group chief financial officer of Ecclesiastical Insurance, a specialist insurance provider, she was at the Good Energy Group, an AIM-listed renewable electricity company where she was chief financial officer. In addition, Cockrem has held a variety of finance positions at RSA Insurance Group, Direct Line, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays, which followed roles at Neville Russell and Ernst and Young. She was also non-executive director of Skipton Building Society from September 2015 to April 2021.

Tymms has more than 32 years of experience across the financial services industry, and more than 10 years in non-executive and executive board roles. She serves as a managing director at Promontory Financial Group, a global firm specialising in strategy, risk management, and compliance consulting. Tymms previously held non-executive director positions at DWF Group and IG Group, where she served as chair of the risk committee respectively. Earlier in her career, Tymms spent two decades at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) [now the FCA], where she held several senior leadership positions running functions responsible for major retail banks and insurers.

Alongside their board duties, Cockrem will take on the role of chair of JBI’s remuneration and performance committee and Tymms will become chair of JBI’s risk and audit committee, both sub-committees of the board.

“Both Denise and Sam understand how to support a growing business in the financial services sector, and we are excited to learn from their experiences as we look to deliver on our value proposition to clients and employees,” David Durlacher, CEO of Julius Baer International, said.

Collyer Bristow
London-based law firm, Collyer Bristow, has strengthened its private wealth offering with the appointment of Charmaine Hast, a family lawyer and former head of family law at Wedlake Bell, who has joined as a consultant in the family team.

Hast has expertise in advising on complex, high-value and high-profile family matters, often with a cross-border element. She has represented a number of public figures including pop stars, actors and actresses, members of parliament, sportspeople, TV personalities, and entrepreneurs, the firm said in a statement.

Hast established the family department at Wedlake Bell in 2011 and previously established and headed the family team of South-East-based TWM Solicitors.

“Her high net worth focus aligns perfectly with that of our family team, and with her reputation and wealth of experience, a consultant of Charmaine’s calibre adds significant weight to Collyer Bristow’s already enviable private wealth offering,” Toby Yerburgh, head of family law at Collyer Bristow, said.

The firm is known for its private wealth, real estate, business, and dispute resolution services. It has over 120 people based in London, with an additional office in Geneva supporting its private wealth practice. It is also focused on Italy, the US, Channel Islands, Switzerland, and the Middle East.

Industrial Thought
London-based financial services group Industrial Thought has appointed Mike Baker as its managing director. 

Baker, who has 30 years of wealth management experience, has spent the last 12 months consulting for Industrial Thought, supporting the leadership team with strategy development and positioning as it evolves its portfolio. Before that, he was managing director for the progressive financial software company FinoComp, the firm said in a statement. 

“Mike’s input has been invaluable during our latest stage of growth. His excellent industry reputation has been built on a long track record of proven success, which has been borne out during his time with us,” Industrial Thought chairman David Pirrie added.

Industrial Thought is the parent company of a group of businesses specialising in investment taxation, financial data, and related consultancy services.

Russell-Cooke
Russell-Cooke, a London-based law firm, has appointed Jessica Zama as a senior associate to work within the private client team alongside the firm’s other cross-border specialists.

Zama is a dual-qualified Italian avvocato stabilito and English solicitor with more than a decade of experience. (An avvocato stabilito is an Italian lawyer who is registered with the Ordine degli Avvocati or the Bar Association of Rome.) She specialises in cross-border estate planning for individuals with assets in Italy, Italian wills and Italian succession law and procedure. Zama is also experienced in assisting clients with property transactions in Italy and on immigration matters.

“Her deep expertise advising on Italian law will greatly enhance our existing offering to clients with a background or assets in Italy, as well as attract new clients,” partner Andrew Godfrey said.

Russell-Cooke has a broad practice, advising a mix of commercial, not-for-profit, regulatory, private individuals and family offices.