Kleinwort Benson hires Schroders duo and buys family firm

Kleinwort Benson private bank’s new chief executive Sally Tennant is continuing her expansion plans by hiring two senior bankers from Schroders and acquiring family office Karrig Strategic Capital.

Karrig’s six investment managers will form a new unit within the bank, the Kleinwort Benson Private Investment Office, which will be headed by current Karrig team head Paul Kearney, former chief executive officer of Cardinal Asset Management.

‘Clients with complex personal and business interests have a need for high quality impartial advice, bespoke investment solutions and timely information including consolidated reporting, performance analysis and risk management,’ Kearney said.

Having worked with Tennant, a former cover star, at Schroders, where Tennant led the private banking business, former Schroders Private Banking head of private client advisory Jeremy Brown and former client director Stephen Campbell will move across to Kleinwort Benson.

Both Kearney and Brown will sit on Kleinwort Benson’s executive committee, which sets strategic direction for the bank.

Brown, who was previously vice president of JP Morgan Private Bank, ends an eight year career at Schroders. Campbell, also formerly employed by JP Morgan Private Bank, where he worked as a senior investor for ultra high net worth clients, joined Schroders in 2005, according to the FSA register.

‘Our capacity to service existing clients and handle inflows is unaffected following the hiring of nine senior private bankers in 2010 and the addition of £2.5 billion of asset under management over the last 15 months,’ said Rupert Robinson, chief executive officer of Schroders Private Banking.

Tennant joined Kleinwort Benson from Lombard Odier in October 2010, and has since introduced a host of changes to the firm, moving the London headquarters to one of the city’s most expensive rentals on St. George St, purchasing the Channel Islands-focused Close Offshore Group for £26.4 million in March and closing down Kleinwort Benson’s Manchester presence earlier this year.

‘Kleinwort Benson’s distinctive wealth management platform, which ranges from credit and wealth management to corporate advisory and co-investment opportunities, is strengthened by Karrig’s alternative asset management capabilities,’ said Tennant.

Wealth Manager understands that fees on managed portfolios at the company are a further area of change, with clients recently notified that charges on managed funds under £750,000 would rise from 1% to 1.25% from June onwards.