The Eleventh Annual WealthBriefing European Awards 2023

Ausaf Abbas founded Coombe Advisors to provide strategic, business and financial advice to a network of clients and associated businesses, with a focus on family offices, the wealth management industry and growth-oriented companies. Prior to that, Ausaf had a 25-year career at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, where he held various senior management positions in both investment banking and wealth management. His international experience includes 13 years based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, and extensive experience managing wealth businesses across the MENA region. His broad range of interests include acting as senior advisor to a real estate investment banking firm and serving as a director of SEO London and Tara Arts, two charities focused on education and Asian theatre.

Panos Archondakis is responsible for shaping and developing EPAM’s strategy for Banking and Wealth Management, tailoring EPAM services and solutions specifically for the industry while also working directly with clients to customize business models, develop digital strategy and lead multi-disciplinary solution teams.

Panos has held a variety of technology consulting and leadership roles in Financial Services and since 2005 has served at leading Wealth Managers including Morgan Stanley, UBS and Deutsche Bank, in London, New York and Hong Kong.

He has a broad range of experience covering the entire client service lifecycle and core banking as well as leading the development of digital banking strategy and solutions. He is currently focused on driving innovation and developing digital banking offerings across the spectrum of challengers, neobanks and major global institutions.

Paul joined BDO in 2000 becoming a partner in 2006 and is now head of BDO’s national private client practice. Paul advises in respect of all private client related tax matters but with a particular specialism in advising clients on their residence and domicile positions. Recognised as one of the most influential individuals in the wealth management industry, Paul is also is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Philippe is the CEO of FNZ for Switzerland and Private Banking. FNZ is a global leading tech company offering IT & Operations outsourcing services to financial institutions allowing them to leverage the scale of a 1.5 Trio AUM platform and be able to focus exclusively on their key differentiation activities. Prior to his current role, Philippe advised both wealthy individuals on leaving a legacy as well as Wealth Managers. He headed the Wealth & Asset Management practice of leading consulting firms where he advised global, regional or domestic leaders on all continents and in both offshore and/or onshore markets - seeking to improve their competitive position and economics. He also had operational roles in strategy, business development, sales management and digital, notably at UBS Weath Management.

Rosalyn Breedy, is a Corporate, Funds and Financial Services lawyer and Managing Director of Breedy Henderson. She has 30 years of experience working in private practice, investment banking and at a multi-family office. Rosalyn has a particular interest in financial regulation, and financial policy work alongside ESG, diversity and inclusion and she regularly writes and speaks on these matters.

Rosalyn is a non-executive director of Abdrn Smaller Companies Income Trust plc, Artorius Wealth Ltd,   Lanware Ltd  and Greengage Global Holding ltd. Chairman of the Milltrust International Advisory Council, sponsor of the Climate Impact Asia fund. Additionally, she is a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment Integrity and Ethics Committee, a member of the Advisory Council to Black Women in Asset Management and an Associate fellow Said Business School, Oxford University.

Christine is the CEO of the Private Banking division of InvestCloud (previously Finantix) following a career of successfully building businesses in Europe and Asia. In addition she is on the Board of Barclays Private Bank Switzerland and advisor to Fusion, a Swiss-based incubator. Previously, Christine was Senior Partner and CEO Switzerland at Capco, an international management consultancy, and part of the APAC Management Team, where she launched and led the global wealth and investment management practice and offices in Switzerland and Singapore. Christine started her career at J.P. Morgan where she worked for both the investment and private bank in New York, London, Geneva and Hong Kong. Christine holds an M.B.A. from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and an Economics and Accounting degree from Claremont McKenna College.

Sebastian Dovey is an entrepreneur, thought leader and board director in the fields of global wealth management, consumer insight, technology, scale-up companies and business management. Seb was the co-founder in 1998 of Scorpio Partnership, an award-winning global management consultancy and insight data business. This was acquired by Aon PLC in 2014. Seb is currently Chairman of F2 Strategy, and holds non-executive board roles at FiComm, Entrepreneurs Investment Office, and Angel Academe Nominee. He also holds advisory board seats at Moneyhub, Align 17 and Silver Lane. Separately, Seb is the Chairman of the Global Client Experience Innovation Committee for a major international bank and advises two sizeable financial families on their strategic growth for their investment offices.

Seb’s expertise spans 25 years of developing high-impact commercial strategies for private banks, global banks, asset managers, family offices, technology firms, service providers, aggregators and start-up initiatives. Seb is the 2018 winner of the Wealth Briefing Thought Leader of the Year award and he is Thought Leader-In-Residence for Fitch Learning worldwide. He is a regular commentator on the wealth management industry in the press and at conferences and academies, and has chaired and presented leading industry events in Asia, Europe and the United States. He has been a lecturer at The Swiss Finance Institute (formerly the Swiss Banking School) for its executive MBA programme. He serves as board member of the London School of Economics Generate initiative focused on entrepreneurship in the social sciences and is on the editorial board of WealthBriefing.

Pierre is Managing Partner at WIZE by TeamWork, the all-in-one Wealth & Asset Management solution, which is one of the fastest growing WealthTech companies in Switzerland dedicated to External Asset Managers, Family Offices, Fund Managers and Banks.

He brings the judges panel an extensive banking operations & IT expertise acquired in his current role since 2020 but also during the 9 previous years while heading business development of Bank Lombard Odier global custody & reporting services which he joined after 10 years as Private Banking Client Executive at IBM Geneva.

Both Swiss and Belgian, used to work in multi-cultural and multilingual environments, his motivation has been during his whole career to understanding customer's pains, translating those to experts who are able to solve them and setting the right level of expectations on both sides.

Steve is a founding director of Investment & Wealth Management Consultants (“IAWMC”) who provide a full spectrum of consulting services, from strategic advice through to delivery for wealth managers, private banks, family offices, asset managers, software vendors and service providers.

Steve has over 30 years’ experience in the Financial Services’ industry and has held senior positions in the Wealth Management sector as Operations Director for Schroders Private Bank and Head of Product Development for State Street's Wealth Manager Services division. In addition, he has worked at The Bank of New York
where he managed their enterprise level global banking relationships and at Citisoft Consultants where he was Head of European Business Development.

Steve is a regular keynote speaker at Wealth Management events and is often quoted in the press. He also serves on the judging panel for a number of prestigious industry awards covering the UK, Channel Islands and Switzerland and has been included in the Top 100 Most Influential People in Service Provision for Alternative
Investment Firms for the past 3 years.

By utilising his extensive network of contacts and market knowledge, Steve is able to add value to start-up & scale up Fintech companies and private equity organisations.

As a Founding Partner at Huddleston Jones, Danny leads their retained search practice, specializing in Private Wealth Management across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Prior to his executive search career, he gained extensive experience working for an International Wealth Manager in Dubai, Tokyo, and Johannesburg.

Since 2008, he has successfully led 'front office' search firms in Hong Kong and Singapore, recognized as a top executive search specialist in private banking and wealth management. With deep market knowledge, Danny has built a global network. He emphasizes comprehensive market research and candidate intelligence, aiming for excellence in client service.

Danny also served in the Royal Air Force and holds a Bachelor's degree with First Degree Honors in Business Management.

Keith has been a partner advising financial services firms for over 35 years, leading businesses for EY, CapGemini and Capco.  He led EY’s Wealth Management and Private Banking business for over 10 years and continues to advise organisations in this sector.  He is currently advising a range of fintechs and other start/scale ups on strategy, distribution, partnerships and funding.  He is also a trustee and adviser to several philanthropic and charity bodies.

Robert Macro is head of Druces’ international wealth and fiduciary practice and also leads the firm’s Family office team. He has significant experience with UK and international tax planning, trust matters, probates, tax disclosures and disputes for banks, high net worth individuals, trustees, international companies, UK collection societies and partnerships. Robert specialises in complex tax planning for international and domestic clients. He is highly recommended for his specialist knowledge in restructuring business assets and optimising investments into real estate and new technology worldwide. Over the past 16 years Robert has been involved in a number of notable matters successfully assisting clients caught up in the HSBC data theft in Switzerland and dealing with issues for fiduciaries drawn into litigation with a new government of a Middle Eastern state following the Arab Spring. He has also pioneered the successful use of various tax reliefs with claims for the remittance basis of taxation.

Mr. Grégoire Mure is the CEO of Trustconsult Luxembourg S.A., whose experiences include accounting tax and audit departments of a Big Four. He completed his Master’s degree in Economics and Management – Management Controller, specialized in Audit and Accounting. He worked overall 15 years in the financial sector. He is directors in several boards of entities (real estate sectors) and investment funds (private equity, cryptocurrencies funds and start-up)

Arabella Murphy has nearly 25 years’ experience of helping wealthy individuals and families from around the world to plan for the future and resolve disharmony. As founder and director of Propitious (London) Ltd., she helps clients find clear and constructive solutions to their questions about succession, family business, risks and disputes.

Arabella qualified as a solicitor in 1996 with Allen & Overy LLP, becoming a partner in 2007. In 2009, she was a founding partner of Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP. As a solicitor, Arabella was consistently ranked in the top tiers of the major directories for her expertise in private wealth planning and dispute resolution. She is a member of STEP and has written or co-authored several books on private wealth topics.

Billy is a headhunter and the Chief Executive of Stephenson Executive Search (SES), a multi-award-winning executive search firm focusing on appointments in the financial services and legal sectors.

Billy focuses on C suite and senior appointments in the private banking, wealth management and family office sectors and works across management, investment, distribution and operational functions. He operates at board level and his clients include FTSE 100, FTSE 250, AIM listed and private companies. Billy is a former investment advisor, he is a Chartered Fellow of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments, a Freeman of the City of London and serves on the board of a charity.

In 2021, SES was awarded Best Wealth Management Executive Search firm at the WealthBriefing Awards, Boutique Recruitment Specialist of the Year in the Innovation and Excellence awards and the company is part of the Race Fairness Commitment.

Ian is an experienced board and executive advisor/partner to wealth and asset managers; family offices, software firms and fin-techs helping to achieve and accelerate their path to be future ready and well positioned ahead of the next wave of industry and competitive disruption. Ian provides industry, strategic, client centric and modern technology assessment, focus and implementation insights, drawing on my extensive network and wide-ranging business and technology model approaches and change experience to optimise growth, resilience and performance. Ian is recognised as a trusted advisor, having supported a range of firms both as an independent advisor, partner and as an executive of major technology and business consulting brands including EY,IBM, PwC and Orbium ,a software platform integrator, sold to Accenture in 2019 where he then held a wider European wealth industry business and technology transformation advisor role across key markets and clients, until 2023, when he became an independent board advisor and partner.

Matthew joined JM Finn in March 2022 as a Business Manager in our Investment Management Team. Prior to joining JM Finn, Matthew spent 16 years with Bordier UK, where he was an Associate Director with responsibility for the company’s operations, including dealing and CASS. Matthew is a Chartered Member of the CISI, has a degree in Classics from the University of Bristol and holds both the Investment Operations Certificate (IOC) and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

Adam's 25 years’ experience in Wealth Management includes holding roles across fulfilment, front office, risk, change and technology.

With a desire to make things better, Adam has significant knowledge of the people and process needs of the enterprise-scale, technology-driven, transformation agenda.

Adam has a particular interest in optimising the data landscape supporting customer lifecycle management - ultimately driving efficiency, mitigating risk, demonstrating regulatory compliance, powering class-leading colleague and customer experiences.

Currently, Adam leads data engineering, change and governance functions for the NatWest Wealth businesses.
Adam lives with his wife in north-east London, is a keen cook, maintains an amateur radio licence and enjoys learning new concepts.

Mike is advisor to families, venture capital houses, start-up and growth business (as Board Adviser/NED). He is an investor, Co-Founder and formerly group chief operating officer of wealth manager and multi-family office Artorius. Mike was the architect behind the model that delivers a multi-jurisdictional client-centric wealth-planning proposition. Mike was previously a partner at accountancy firms RSM and Baker Tilly. Prior to this he has years’ experience in financial services and banking with KPMG, Santander and UK mutual societies. He also helped found a Saudi family office and managed a substantial private equity portfolio.

William Trout serves as Director of the Securities and Investments practice at Datos Insights, focusing on technology strategy and innovation in the capital markets. He has particular expertise in platform automation; data capture, storage and analytics; and portfolio management and optimization. Within the wealth and asset management arena, his interests include investment advisory and wholesaling and distribution services, as well as private banking and trust.

Will's research and consulting work is informed by more than more than two decades of industry experience. Prior to joining Datos Insights, Will led wealth and asset management in the U.S. and the U.K. at Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman, before launching separate advisor- and investor-focused research practices at Javelin Strategy & Research. Prior to those roles, Will spent many years in product and segment management at BBVA Compass, where he helped guide the introduction of a pioneering managed-accounts platform and the expansion of banking and investments services targeting high-net-worth and institutional investors.

An authority on digital advice delivery, Will has been widely quoted in the trade press as well as in publications such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and gatherings. In his spare time, Will is an avid runner and reader of history.

Will holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College.

Gillian is a chartered accountant, a chartered banker and a member of the CISI with MBAs in both banking and finance, and degrees in economics and law. Gillian started off in audit with Price Waterhouse before moving into industry post-qualification. She spent several years working for various financial institutions as well as working for a number years as a senior management consultant, before moving to a role as head of change at a small private bank. Gillian is currently heading up the cyber security programme for global payments at HSBC.

Eric Barnett is an independent non-executive director, having previously been chief executive officer of Kleinwort Hambros, the UK private bank formed from the old SG Hambros and Kleinwort Benson businesses for 11 years 2007-2018. He has over 30 years’ experience in Wealth Management, with a particular focus on commercial and strategy, and has been behind a number of well-known acquisitions in the sector. He is also currently working with a challenger bank in the SME sector.

Liz Bottomley was appointed General Manager of BOS Wealth Management Europe's (BOSWME) UK Branch in January 2019, having joined the London branch of OCBC Banking November 2018. As the General Manager of the UK Branch, she is responsible forgrowing the business for BOSWME in the UK, targeting internationally focused clients who
are UK resident. BOSWME is an asset management business, headquartered in Lux, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of BOS.

Liz has been advising private clients for over 25 years in Europe and Asia. Liz was previously the Head of Private Banking at Arbuthnot Latham, a boutique private bank in London
where the private banking business grew substantially under her tenor. She created a team to focus on international clients, particularly those living in Europe and Singapore
and Hong Kong in terms of Asian focus. Previously she had a successful and varied career with Coutts & Co covering private, commercial and international private banking and asset management. This culminated in her leading the Asia/Africa Team in London targeting high net worth clients living in those areas.

Liz is married to John and they have 3 children.

Jacqui Brabazon is a retired financial services professional with over 35-years of experience covering Marketing, HR, Talent, Philanthropy and Client Management including 20 years in global and regional roles.

Most recently Jacqui was Chief Marketing Officer of the International Private Bank at J.P. Morgan prior to which she ran the Private Bank’s Asia Marketing function. Before J.P. Morgan, Jacqui spent 14 years at Standard Chartered Private Bank (formerly American Express Private Bank) where she held a variety of positions that combined the Global CMO role with the Head of Talent Enhancement, Philanthropy and Alternative Distribution and Key Client Management.

Previous experience also includes 11 years at Kleinwort Benson in various roles including running a Private Bank Client Management unit, Marketing, Business Development and HR.

Jacqui holds a BSoc Sci from Birmingham University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management.

Sarah Courtney Dockett is Head of Women in Wealth, EMEA. She is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion.  She is also a Senior Private Banker in the UK UHNW Team based in London. Sarah is responsible for managing 30 UHNW clients and Family Office relationships. While they may be resident in the UK, Sarah’s clients span the globe and she specialises in dealing with US connected clients. Sarah has 23 years of experience working with Private Clients, 12 of which she has spent with Citi.

James Fleming has enjoyed a long career in banking and finance. He is currently a Non-Executive
Director and adviser to several small companies across the Wealth Management, Debt Advisory and
Commercial Real Estate sectors. Previously James was Head of International Private Banking at
Coutts & Co and then Chief Executive and Vice Chairman of Arbuthnot Latham & Co Limited. More
recently, he was Chief Executive of Sandaire, the Multi-Family Investment Office that was sold to
Schroders in December 2020. James started his career with Hambros Bank.

Martin heads the Schroder Wealth Management (US) team specialising in international wealth management for US clients residing in the US, UK and elsewhere. Prior to joining Schroders, Martin was managing director and head of Americas at the Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management International in London, and before that head of private wealth management at Kleinwort Benson. A stockbroker by training, Martin has over 30 years’ experience in advising clients and working in partnership with clients’ other professional advisors. He is also a Registered Investment Advisor with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and sits on the expert panel for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Mark Hussein is the UK CEO of HSBC Life and Head of UK Insurance at HSBC. Mark has spent more than two decades in a variety of financial services roles, with the majority working for HSBC Group. He was appointed CEO, HSBC Life (UK), and Head of UK Insurance in November 2015. He is responsible for the Life manufacturing business and General Insurance Partnerships across HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank.

Between two tenures at HSBC, Mark spent three years with Kleinwort Benson as Head of Private Wealth Management UK and the Channel Islands. This gave him responsibility for both Private Banking and Private Fiduciary Services in the UK, Channel Islands and Internationally. He was a member of the Kleinwort Benson group regional executive committee and sat on the board of Kleinwort Benson Trustees.

Sean is the Founder and CEO of Greengage. He has extensive experience in financial services, having worked in various executive management positions. He founded Greengage after working at the first bank in the world to offer crypto products to clients, Falcon Private Bank, where he served as the COO and Interim CEO of the London operation until leaving to establish Greengage.  

 Prior to that he held management positions at Clariden Leu, a division of Credit Suisse, and Zurich Financial Services. Mr Kiernan has an MBA from the University of St. Gallen and a BSc from Georgetown University. 

Tom is a Managing Director and Head of International Product and Origination at iCapital Network, responsible for the development and expansion of the firm’s product offering in markets outside the United States. Tom has almost 30 years of experience within wealth management working with clients and managing teams, businesses, and global product classes. Prior to joining the firm, Tom spent 11 years at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, most recently as head of the Global Funds Group, overseeing the sourcing, research, structuring, marketing, and servicing of both traditional and alternative fund offerings across all client franchises. Previously, Tom was CEO of Deutsche Bank’s UK wealth management business. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Tom spent a decade at Credit Suisse, where his last role was as the London Head of International Private Banking. He started his career in wealth management at Goldman Sachs in London. Tom holds a BA/MA degree in Zoology from Oxford University and completed the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School.

Combining both an in-depth knowledge of marketing strategy and business development, Matthew has sat on senior management teams and led significant business growth. His deep experience with HNW/UHNW clients, knowledge of wealth management and expertise in marketing strategy to improve brand awareness, client experience and business development are extensive. Until recently he was Managing Director, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Close Brothers Asset Management having previously held senior management positions at Deutsche Bank, Coutts and Credit Suisse.

Iain joined London & Capital in in 2006 and became a Partner in 2008. He heads the firm’s Private Investment Office, which he founded in 2012. The Private Investment Office provides wealth management services for some of the firm’s largest clients, both UK based and international. 

Before London & Capital, Iain ran his own wealth management business, in association with Zurich Financial Services, where he built a large HNW client base. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Freeman, Farmer and Anderson Company at only 27.

Iain was named Private Client Asset Manager of the Year by Magic Circle Awards in 2021 and as Top Recommended in UNHW Wealth Managers 2022.

Iain is also a trustee for the Daniel Freedman Foundation.

Richard Thomas is the Head of EFG International’s UK Region and member of the Global Business Committee since 02 January 2019. In addition, he is CEO of EFG Private Bank Ltd, London, EFG International’s wholly owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom.

Prior to joining EFG, Richard Thomas worked at Barclays UK, where he last held the role of Chief Operating Officer, Savings, Wealth and Investments. He joined Barclays in 2008 and served as Chief Operating Officer UK Private Bank from 2015 to 2017 and Business Head London Region and Specialist Proposition UK from 2012 to 2015. Before that, he was a Managing Director and Team Leader UK. Prior to his career at Barclays, he held senior posts in the UK’s Ministry of Defence and held the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy.

Richard Thomas is a British citizen and was born in 1967. He holds a Sloan Fellowship MSc in Business Strategy and Leadership from London Business School as well as a MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2000 for his service abroad.

Bruce is a chartered accountant with over 37 years financial services experience, previously a partner in PwC, latterly as Global leader of their Wealth Management practice and the key driver of their bi-annual Wealth Management Report. Bruce is now CEO of Weatherill Consulting providing advice on client centricity and wider strategic matters to wealth managers. He is the author of The Value of Trust: the quest by Wealth Managers for Trusted Advisor status and a number of other thought leadership reports. Bruce is chairman of ClearView Financial Media and a non-executive of a number of companies including Fidelity Holdings UK, The Wisdom Council, ComPeer, JDX Consulting and Ten Group.