William Henson hired as XShares' CEO

XShares Group LLC has hired William P. Henson as its chief executive, in a move effective Oct. 1. The New York-based investment advisory firm, which has $100 million in assets under management, focuses on introducing exchange traded funds. Mr. Henson previously worked with XShares as a as partner responsible for merchant-banking investments at New York-based Grail Partners, an advisory merchant bank. Mr. Henson, who will retain his partnership with Grail, previously worked at Putnam Lovell Securities where he headed its corporate finance group. XShares also announced that it has secured a $10 million investment from a consortium of European institutional investors. The funds will be used to drive sales and marketing efforts and to stimulate product development, according to the company.