New Hire Roundup: FINRA Names Keenan, Weddle New Board Members

This week in new hires, FINRA announced elections and appointments to its board of governors; Anne Larson and Erin Rich moved to new positions at Wells Fargo; Hatteras Funds named Michael Hutten and Robert Brown to new positions; Gene Tannenbaum was named managing director of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.; Eugene Miller joined Westport Resources; Citi Private Bank added Blair Ege and Ryan McCleary; and U.S. Bank’s Ascent Private Capital welcomed Sisi Tran, Stephen Florance and Tom Crotty to posts in San Francisco.

Also, Michael Mahoney and Thomasin Bentley joined Clearbrook Global Advisors; Gemini Fund Services welcomed Kyle Thorberg and transferred Skyler Steinke; Michael Hines joined Concord Wealth Management; American Century Investments promoted Chris Krantz and Jeff Bourke; the Hedge Fund Association announced an addition to its high-net-worth board and changes to the leadership of its LatAm chapter; and Frederick Buffone became head of capital markets at Fifth Street Management.

FINRA Board of Governors Elections Held

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced voting results for its board of governors. Robert Keenan, chief executive officer of St. Bernard Financial Services, was elected small firm governor; James Weddle, managing partner at Edward Jones, was elected large firm governor; and Shelly Lazarus, former chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, was named as a public governor, replacing Shirley Jackson, who had served on the Board since FINRA’s inception in 2007.

Governors are appointed or elected to three-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Weddle was originally elected in 2010 and has served as the large firm governor for the past three years.

In addition, four governors were recently reappointed. John Brennan of the Vanguard Group, Inc. was reappointed as investment company affiliate, while reappointed public governors were William Heyman of the Travelers Companies, Inc.; John Schmidlin, retired; and Gary Stern, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Wells Fargo Advisors Advances Anne Larson and Erin Rich

Wells Fargo Advisors has named Anne Larson as director of client acquisition and Erin Rich as director of client experience. Both leadership roles are newly created positions. Larson will focus on developing practical growth strategies, training and other programs that can be used by leaders and financial advisors across the firm to enhance their ability to bring more new clients to the firm. Rich will work with other brokerage firm leaders to help ensure that all clients experience the same high level of service and advice at all of the firm’s locations and through all of its business channels.

Larson brings more than 20 years of hands-on marketing and sales experience in financial services. Most recently, she served for seven years as head of marketing for Wells Fargo Merchant Services. Earlier, she was with Charles Schwab, where she led 30 branches and 100 financial consultants as regional vice president of sales.

Rich brings more than 18 years of experience with Wells Fargo, with extensive background in leading customer experience, marketing and strategic initiatives.

Hatteras Funds Appoints Hutten, Brown

Hatteras Funds announced Monday that Michael Hutten has been named president of distribution and Robert Brown has been named managing director of strategic relationships.

Hutten, who originally joined Hatteras in August of 2006 as a regional director for the west, has a broad understanding of alternative investments and brings over 20 years of financial services industry experience to the role. Previously, he held various sales and management roles at JPMorgan Asset Management, Santa Barbara Alpha Strategies, Robertson Stephens and Montgomery Partners, the alternative investment division of Montgomery Asset Management. Brown, with more than 15 years of alternative investment industry experience, as well as extensive knowledge of the institutional marketplace and client-focused product development, previously held various positions within the firm, including head of sales and marketing, regional sales, sales management, national accounts, and marketing management. Before joining in 2004, he was vice president of alternative strategies at Highland Associates, where he performed alternative investment strategy research, alternative investment manager search and due diligence and client education.

Lincoln Financial Network Appoints Gene Tannenbaum Managing Director

Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail private client business of Lincoln Financial Group, announced Monday that Gene Tannenbaum has been appointed managing director of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. (LFA), with responsibility for leading the metro N.Y./N.J. regional planning group. In this role, he will manage the Long Island, N.J. and N.Y. regional planning offices responsible for recruiting and retaining advisors and driving sales growth and overall strategy execution for the region. He will be based in Rye Brook, N.Y., and report to John DiMonda, senior vice president, head of Lincoln Financial Advisors.

Tannenbaum joins from Woodbury Financial Services, where he served from 2005 to 2013 as a regional vice president for the northeast region, based in Poughquag, N.Y. Earlier, he held the role of general agent with the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America in Garden City, N.Y. Prior to that, he was field manager at Prudential Insurance and Prudential Financial Services from 1991 to 1999.

Westport Resources Welcomes Eugene Miller

Westport Resources welcomed Eugene Miller as director of family office services, a new position within the firm that serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Miller comes from Citi Private Bank, which he joined in February of 2012 and where he was director and UHNW private banker. Prior to that, he served as president of Galaxy Family Resources in Greenwich, Conn., which he joined in 2008. Earlier, he was SVP and wealth management strategist at Genspring Family Offices, where he advised clients on asset management strategies as well as provided assistance with intellectual capital matters, family governance, philanthropy and other services.

Citi Private Bank Adds Blair Ege, Ryan McCleary

Citi Private Bank announced Monday that Blair Ege has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as director and UHNW private banker, and Ryan McCleary has joined the Houston office with the same title. Ege will report to Barbara McCollum, mid-Atlantic regional market manager, and McCleary reports to Russ Labrasca, Houston regional executive.

Ege joins from BNY Mellon in Washington, D.C., where she spent seven years as a senior director. Earlier, she was a managing director at Babson Capital Management LLC. She began with Babson’s parent company, MassMutual Financial Group, in 1990 as a branch manager. Berore that, she was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch for five years, also holding roles as manager of trust services, retirement plans and insurance.

McCleary joins from Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, where he was most recently a SVP and senior relationship manager, as well as a member of the asset allocation committee. He started his career in 1997 as an equity analyst at Beutel Goodman Capital Management.

U.S. Bank’s Ascent Private Capital Names Three in San Francisco

Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank has added three new appointments in San Francisco. Sisi Tran, who has been named director of wealth strategy, is responsible for advising families on a variety of wealth planning matters. Stephen Florance, named managing director, investment consulting, is responsible for working with clients to help create customized investment portfolios tailored to their unique objectives. Tom Crotty, named managing director of financial administration, is responsible for risk management, customized reporting, information management coordination, financial administration, and tax reporting coordination.