People Moves: $29B Choreo Hires People Officer From Edelman
Choreo, a Chicago-based registered investment advisor focused on tax-smart wealth planning with about $28.6 billion in assets under management and advisement, has hired for a new role of chief people and transformation officer.
Kelly O’Donnell will take the role of overseeing human resources, brand and communications, and the firm’s integration management office, which coordinates enterprise integration following acquisitions.
O’Donnell joins after 21 years at Financial Engines and Edelman Financial Engines, most recently serving as president of workplace, where she led distribution, marketing and strategy functions. She will report to Choreo CEO Jason Van de Loo, who said in a statement that she will help Choreo with its “next phase” in her new role.
“She has led teams across strategy, operations, client experience and human resources, and she understands how those capabilities need to come together to support growth,” he said.
O’Donnell began her career at Coopers & Lybrand and later served as director of consulting at Cerulli Associates. She later held roles including chief administrative officer and chief risk officer, with responsibilities spanning corporate strategy and development, communications, legal and compliance, human resources and risk management.
HSBC Hires Global Heads of Family Offices and U.S. Private Bank
HSBC Private Bank announced two senior appointments to support its strategy to better serve ultra-high-net-worth and family-office clients.
Hannes Hofmann joins from Citi Private Bank as global head of family offices in a newly created role, and Cayman Wills also joins from Citi Private Bank to lead HSBC’s U.S. private bank.
“These appointments will strengthen how we support and expand our relationships with some of the world’s wealthiest families, as we better serve the growing number of family office and ultra-high-net-worth clients across our key markets,” Ida Liu, CEO of HSBC Private Bank, said in a statement.
Hofmann will be based in London, where he will oversee the bank’s global family office offering and partner with HSBC’s corporate and institutional banking teams. He brings more than 25 years of experience in global private banking and was most recently the global head of the family office group at Citi Private Bank.
Wills will lead the continued development of HSBC Private Bank’s U.S. business from New York. She brings more than 20 years of experience in global wealth management and joins from Citi Private Bank, where she served as head of the Northeast region.
Both Hofmann and Wills will report to Liu.
Lear Investment Names Peter Grauer to Head New Advisory Board
Lear Investment Management, a Dallas-based RIA approaching $2 billion in AUM, has named former Bloomberg Chairman and CEO Peter Grauer to be chair of its newly formed advisory board, the firm announced.
Grauer will provide counsel to the firm’s leadership on strategic planning, organizational development, governance and long-term growth, but will not participate in day-to-day portfolio management or individual investment decisions.
“Peter has spent his career helping build and guide exceptional organizations,” Rick Lear, founder and chief investment officer of Lear Investment, said in a statement. “Having his counsel is both an honor and a powerful endorsement of what our team can accomplish in the years to come.”
Grauer was chairman of Bloomberg for more than 20 years and also has public-company governance experience, having served as a director of Blackstone, Glencore and DaVita.
Alaris Acquisitions Names Senior Deal Leader
Alaris Acquisitions, a Charlotte, N.C.-based sell-side mergers and acquisitions advisory firm serving the wealth management industry, has hired Jon Dubravac from OneDigital to be a senior deal leader, the company announced.
In the new role, Dubravac will guide advisory firm owners through the full M&A process, from initial planning and preparation through closing, working closely with founders to understand their financial and personal objectives.
Dubravac co-founded WealthSource Partners, growing the firm to approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management and nearly 90 employees before its acquisition by OneDigital.
After OneDigital, Dubravac founded Blueprint Strategies, an independent M&A and strategic advisory firm focused on helping wealth management founders prepare for transactions.
Alaris subsequently acquired Blueprint, bringing Dubravac’s seller-focused advisory expertise directly into its platform.
“Jon brings an incredibly rare perspective to the M&A process because he has lived nearly every chapter of it himself,” Allen Darby, founder and CEO of Alaris, said in a statement. “He understands what it means to build an RIA from the ground up, sell a business, integrate it into a larger organization and then sit across the table from other founders as their advisor.”
BridgePort Financial Hires Osaic M&A Leader as Business Development Exec
BridgePort Financial Solutions, a Phoenix-based fee-only RIA launched by Cambridge Investment Research, has appointed Tina Decker as senior vice president of business development, the firm announced.
Decker joins from independent broker/dealer Osaic where she held leadership roles across operations, executive strategy and M&A. Most recently, she was vice president of M&A and succession planning, negotiating and executing more than 400 deals representing over $10 billion in acquired and retained assets.
With BridgePort, she will identify, evaluate and execute acquisition and partnership opportunities while reporting to Clara Sierra, managing director at BridgePort.
“Tina’s combination of M&A expertise, deep industry relationships, and true understanding of what makes a transition successful for advisors, firms, and clients is second-to-none,” Sierra said in a statement.
Cambridge hired Sierra from Moody’s Analytics in May.
