New hires

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has promoted
Florence E. Harmon to deputy secretary.
Ms. Harmon, 47, joined the SEC in 1997.
She has been since August 2001 senior special counsel in the market regulation division, where she supervises staff in reviewing and analyzing complex self-regulatory organization rule filings, including listing standards for derivative products and other non-conventional investments.
Ms. Harmon also is responsible for developing rules on self-
regulatory organization processes and procedures to support commission action.
In addition, the SEC has appointed Alexander F. Cohen deputy general counsel for
legal policy and administrative practice.
Mr. Cohen, 45, was a partner in the Los Angeles-based international law firm Latham & Watkins LLP and co-chairman of its
corporate-finance practice group.
He has particular expertise in advising non-U.S. issuers on a wide variety of matters under the U.S. securities laws. Mr. Cohen most recently was based in Latham & Watkins’ Hong Kong office.

RiverSource Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial Inc. of Minneapolis, has hired Patrick Bannigan as senior vice president in the asset management, products and marketing group.
Mr. Bannigan, 41, will lead RiverSource Investments’ retail product development, operations, business unit compliance, business development and marketing.
He has more than 17 years’ experience in the asset management industry.
Most recently, Mr. Bannigan was managing director and global head of product for Morgan Stanley Investment Management of New York.

Geronimo Financial Asset Management, an investment management firm in Denver, has hired David Caffrey as managing director.
Mr. Caffrey, 38, has 14 years’ financial services, sales and management experience. He is responsible for marketing, sales and client support, primarily in the registered investment adviser channel.
Mr. Caffrey most recently was vice president of sales at TD Ameritrade Institutional in Jersey City, N.J.

Focus Financial Partners LLC of New York has hired James Shanahan as chief financial officer and Michael Paley as senior vice president for business development.
Most recently, Mr. Shanahan, 36, was the chief financial officer/vice president of operations for an enterprise software security subsidiary of Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp.
Mr. Paley, 32, was a principal at Kidd & Co., a private-equity firm based in Greenwich, Conn.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. in Chicago has appointed John Harris national sales manager and Aaron Bauer director of internal sales and advisory services.
Mr. Harris, 34, joined the firm during Envestnet’s merger with Oberon Financial Technology of Sunnyvale, Calif., where he was sales manager.
Mr. Bauer, 28, came to Envestnet in 2002. He has served as a managed accounts services representative, a client services representative for the Northeast region and as a regional consultant for the mid-Atlantic region.

Jackson National Life Insurance Co. of Lansing, Mich., has appointed Stephen L. Johnson assistant vice president of national accounts.
Mr. Johnson, 45, is responsible for maintaining the company’s relationships with national firms and institutions, identifying new potential distribution partners and negotiating new distribution agreements.
Mr. Johnson was with Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray, where he held various management positions during his nearly 20 years with the firm.
Most recently, he was director of retirement income planning and distribution.
RIA Compliance Consultants in Omaha, Neb., has hired Jarrod H. James as a senior compliance consultant.
Most recently, Mr. James, 29, worked at Omaha-based Securities America Inc. as a compliance examiner focused on the firm’s investment advisory unit, which maintained nearly $10 billion in assets under administration and management.

Arbor Capital Management of Amherst, N.Y., has appointed Matthew J. Wilkinson director of sales and marketing.
He will be responsible for establishing relationships with consulting firms, retirement plan sponsors and various board members to promote Arbor Capital’s Large Cap Growth investment product.
Mr. Wilkinson, 26, was a consulting analyst at Yanni Partners Inc. of Pittsburgh.

The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Horsham, Pa., has added several people to its team as a result of expanding its distribution strategy.
Senior vice president Ralph L. Crews, 57, has been appointed to head retail distribution, which consists of the company’s career and independent-distribution channels.
This position gives him overall responsibility for increasing sales, marketing and recruiting activities in both channels.
Mr. Crews has worked in the financial industry for 32 years. He has been responsible for the growth and performance of the company’s career distribution channel since 2001.
Vice president William D. Gruccio, 57, will replace Mr. Crews in the latter role.
An industry veteran of 34 years, Mr. Gruccio joined Penn Mutual in 1997 as the career channel’s regional vice president after serving as an agent, sales manager, home-office training consultant and general manager with two major insurance
companies.
Vice president Thomas H. Coffey, 63, has been appointed leader of the independent-distribution channel, where he will be responsible for supervising the sales, marketing and recruiting activities of the regional offices affiliated with that channel.
Mr. Coffey joined Penn Mutual in 2001 as regional vice president of the independent channel and has played a key role in its growth.
Prior to that, he spent a major portion of his 30-year career in the industry helping Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. of Fort Wayne, Ind., expand its presence in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Frank Howell, 41, has been promoted to senior vice president of the newly created sales support operations.
He will be responsible for providing the company’s retail and wholesale distribution operations with a full range of sales and marketing assistance.
Mr. Howell, who has almost 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, joined the company in 1998 as a variable product specialist.

Securities America Inc. of Omaha, Neb., has hired Marcus Hagood as Northwest regional director for branch office development.
Mr. Hagood,
35, will be responsible for recruiting representatives to Securities America. He has 12 years’ industry experience.
He spent the past 10 years with what now is TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. of Omaha, including positions in client service, transition and operations management, and direct sales with Advanced Clearing, the firm’s clearing division, as well as account management and direct sales with TD Ameritrade Institutional, its Jersey City, N.J.-based registered investment adviser custody division.

Wilmington Trust Corp.
in Delaware has hired Walter M. Hall III and Mark E. Sofge as
private-client advisers in its Atlanta office.
Mr. Hall, 48, and Mr. Sofge, 47, will work closely with affluent clients in the Atlanta area and the Southeast to develop customized wealth management strategies to address clients’ current financial needs and their future goals.
Based on their clients’ objectives, they will create personalized financial plans blending private banking, trust, and investment management
services.
Before joining Wilmington Trust, both executives were with the wealth management division of Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp.
Mr. Hall was a relationship manager in Atlanta. Mr. Sofge was a relationship manager in Duluth, Ga.

Mutual Fund Directors Forum, a non-profit organization based in Washington, has hired David S. Schwartz, 38, as senior counsel.
He will assume responsibility for many forum educational events.
Mr. Schwartz has experience in investment company regulation and disclosure, as well as
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and executive compensation.
He was a senior counsel within the division of investment management at the Securities and Exchange Commission.