Evelyn Partners has announced Bahador Mahvelati will join the firm in March as chief operations officer and a member of its Group Executive Committee.

The appointment, which is subject to regulatory approval, will see Mahvelati join Evelyn Partners from PwC UK, where he is a strategy and operations partner and leads the financial services value creation practice. His experience prior to PwC includes hands-on operational roles at UBS Investment Bank and Natwest Group, as well as working for strategic consultancy firms. At Evelyn Partners he will lead cross-functional change programmes, client journey changes, tech, data, security, operations, M&A, strategy, and central services. The appointment is a part of a planned transition following the decision by Evelyn Partners group chief operations officer, Mayank Prakash, to step down.

Asset management firm KBI Global Investors, part of the Amundi Group, has appointed Geoff Blake as chief executive officer (CEO).

The appointment, which is effective from the end of March, will see Blake step up from his role as deputy CEO, which he was appointed to in February 2024. Blake is currently deputy CEO and global head of business development and client services, having joined the Dublin-based firm in 1994. He worked in various sales and client servicing roles before being appointed as head of business development in 2006, and was based in KBI Global Investors’ US office from 2007 to 2014. Blake was appointed to the firm’s North America board in April 2008 and the Irish parent company board in 2015.

Octopus Investments has named Alison Radley and Kristy Barr as co-heads of retail investments.

Barr joined Octopus as distribution director in September 2021, bringing experience in sales and client management within the asset management industry. She will continue to lead the customer & sales team. Radley also joined Octopus in 2021, following a 10-year career in the banking industry. She was most recently chief of staff, responsible for several key business functions such as strategy, transformation, marketing and communications, acting as a strategic adviser and as a deputy to the CEO on key business decisions and initiatives. Both will report to Octopus Group CEO and co-founder, Simon Rogerson, and will have a key focus on driving growth into the retail business and improving customer service and outcomes.

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