Job Wrap: Shah Defects to Greenhill; Private Wealth Managers Hiring

Last week's big news was the exit of Dhiren Shah, Morgan Stanley's global head of technology banking, to Greenhill & Co, the investment banking boutique led by former Morgan Stanley banker Bob Greenhill. Shah, who spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley, will join Greenhill as a managing director.

In other senior banking moves, Bank Street, the Stamford, Connecticut-based investment bank, hired James L. Massey, formerly of Salomon Brothers, as its executive vice chairman. Massey spent 25 years at Salomons where he held positions such as general partner, vice chairman of the board, and member of the executive committee.

And Harris Nesbitt, the U.S. investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group Toronto, made several senior executive appointments. Geoff Belsher and Dominic Petito were appointed co-heads of investment and corporate banking, based in Chicago. Belsher was previously head of North American M&A for Harris Nesbitt. Petito was most recently executive managing director and deputy head of client coverage. In another move, Tom Wright, executive managing director and head of client coverage, was appointed vice-chair.

Asset Management, Private Wealth Management: Northern Trust Hires Seven

Private wealth managers were a hive of activity last week. Northern Trust announced the appointment of seven people to its new Minnesota private wealth office and Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown added four in Palm Beach.

At Northern Trust, Lloyd C. Nelson joined from U.S. Bank as vice president and senior private banking relationship manager on October 31. Jeffrey F. Lenihan joined from Merrill Lynch as vice president and wealth strategist. Frank E. Loomis joined from Anchor Bank and Trust as vice president and trust relationship manager. Dana R. Strong joined from U.S. Bank as vice president and portfolio manager. And Kathleen C. Strombeck, previously a private banking relationship manager at Northern Trust in Chicago from 1982 to 1992, rejoined the company in June as second vice president, private banking. Additional junior hires included Jeffrey J. Huybrecht, trust and investment associate, and Patricia M. Long, divisional assistant.

Palm Beach hires at DB Alex. Brown were Roy Apple, Howard Risick and Anthony Rizzo, who joined as directors and client advisors, and Jeremy Schneider, who joined as a vice president and client advisor. The team joins from rival Legg Mason Wood Walker.

Cleveland-based Fairport Asset Management hired Peter P. Devito from McCormack Advisors International as a senior advisor.

Seattle-based Rainier Investment Management hired Len Brennan from Russell Investment Group as chief operating officer and principal. Brennan will be responsible for sales and client service as well as for investment and business operations.

BKF Capital Group, a New York-based investment management firm, appointed Michael Rosen from ING Investment Management as a portfolio manager for its investment adviser subsidiary.

Markets: Bank of Ireland Taps Amex

Bank of Ireland poached two from American Express to grow its U.S. global markets division. Matt Porio and Darsh Mariyappa join as heads of Bank of Ireland global markets in the U.S., based in the Connecticut office. Porio was previously head of financial markets services at American Express. Mariyappa was global head of interest rate and emerging market products.

Legal and Regulatory: RBS Greenwich Capital Hires Elkowitz

RBS Greenwich Capital hired Robin Elkowitz from The Estee Lauder Companies as managing director and associate general counsel. Elkowitz previously held positions at CSFB and Salomon Smith Barney.

It emerged that Giovanni Prezioso, the Securities and Exchange Commission's general counsel who coordinated the implementation of the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley Act, will leave the commission early next year. Prezioso said he will return to the private sector. The SEC has yet to name his successor.

Private Equity: Baird Hires Skie

Baird Private Equity, the private equity arm of financial services firm Robert W Baird, named Scott Skie as chief administrative officer for Baird Capital Partners and Baird Venture Partners. He was previously chief financial officer for middle-market private equity firm LaSalle Capital Group.

Warburg Pincus, the New York-based buy-out and private equity firm, hired former JP Morgan Chase vice chairman David Coulter as managing director and senior adviser. Coulter resigned from JP Morgan Chase in July.

Technology: Randich Quits Nasdaq

Steve Randich, chief information officer and executive vice president of operations and technology at Nasdaq, is leaving for a similar post at Citigroup as the Nasdaq tries to complete its merger with Instinet, the electronic exchange.

Calypso Technology, a San Francisco-based developer of trading software, hired Ken Byrne as executive vice president of worldwide field operations. Byrne has been a sales and marketing consultant to technology firms for the past two years. He previously spent 13 years at Reuters.