A shorter month, but chock-full of senior appointments and movers across professional services. As we approach the end of the financial year, big firms prepare for new budgets and implement changes that will see them through the new year.
Like always, Patrick Morgan brings you all the news you need.
People Moves
Bart Deckers joins EY-P in the Benelux as a Strategy & Transactions Partner. He will be focusing on actionable corporate, transaction and turnaround strategies in the interest of further growth. His sector focus will include Industrials, Consumer Goods, and Technology & Communications.
BCG makes a high-profile appointment in Europe, welcoming Axel Weber – the former UBS chairman and Deutsche Bundesbank president – to its Financial Services team. Weber will advise BCG’s clients in the financial services and particularly banking landscape, and advise the firm’s global Financial Services practice on key topics and offerings.
Souheil Moukaddem is Oliver Wyman’s new head of their global Cyber Risk platform. Souheil brings decades of experience in supporting private and public sector clients in the US and the Middle East, and has overseen the design, build, and implementation of large cybersecurity programs.
EY-Parthenon has announced the appointment of Mike Parr as its new Transaction Strategy & Execution (TS&E) Leader in the UK & Ireland. He takes on the role from Alex Gaunt who, after 25 years’ service with EY and seven years as TS&E Leader, retires from the business.
Oliver Wyman has appointed Cornelia Neumann as the new office leader of its Amsterdam team. In her new role, Neumann leads a team of 75 consultants and support staff who are supporting clients across sectors including financial services, retail and fast moving consumer goods.
EY strengthens its Tax partnership in the UAE with David Swaine, who brings more than 25 years of experience in advisory and industry to the role. Swaine has been appointed a Dubai-based partner in EY’s Business Tax Services practice.
Emmanuel Amiot has been appointed as the European Head of Communications, Media, and Technology at Oliver Wyman. After 20 years as Head of the industry for France and Belgium advising C-Suites market leaders, he will now expand his oversight of the industry strategy for the European region.
Florian Leschinsky joins Kearney in Munich as Partner and Managing Director. He brings more than 15 years of experience in advising global pharmaceutical groups, most recently as Partner and Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, where he was part of the European Healthcare & Life Sciences Leadership Team and led the Commercial Practice.
Alvarez & Marsal’s Global Transaction Advisory Group (TAG) welcomes Managing Director Scott Foster to lead the firm’s new Canadian practice. Scott bolsters Global TAG’s Canadian expansion with more than 20 years of M&A, industry, functional and operational expertise.
Alvarez & Marsal has expanded its Debt Advisory practice in Europe with two senior hires. Thibaud Parayre becomes a Managing Director and Tom Paterson arrives as a Senior Director; Thibaud brings specialty in the leveraged finance market, developing A&M’s private credit capabilities, and Tom advises corporate and PE clients on capital markets, leveraged and structured finance, real estate finance, ABL, and special situation refinancing.
Professional services firm Crowe has appointed a new Partner to its Risk and Assurance team. Technology risk expert Mustafa Iqbal joins, having spent the last two decades with a Big Four advisory firm.
Jennifer Walsh has been named EY US-East Tax Managing Partner. She joins the East Region Leadership Team with over 25 years of experience serving public and private global clients.
Mercer has named James Lewis as its new Chief Investment Officer in the UK. Lewis takes on the role, having joined the firm in 2010. With more than two decades of consulting experience, Lewis was previously a Consulting Actuary in pensions and investment with Buck.
The Carlyle Group has appointed former Goldman Sachs executive Harvey Schwartz as Chief Executive Officer. The Wall Street veteran will replace Co-Founder and interim CEO Bill Conway, who will remain Co-Chairman of the Board.
Aurélien Fougerard switches from an Associate Partner position at Bain to a Partner role at BCG, based in Paris and focusing on Aerospace and Defence, within strategic and operational topics.
Interpath Advisory has appointed Emma Baylis as a Managing Director in its Tax Advisory practice. Baylis will work to increase the firm’s presence across the tax advisory market.
Frances Ferguson joins Oliver Wyman as a Partner in the Corporate and Institutional Banking and Digital practices. Frances brings with her over 25 years of corporate leadership and management consulting experience in global business strategy, operations, and technology, with a focus on corporate strategy, operations innovation, and data analytics solutions.
FTI Consulting has appointed Frederik Vinten as Chief Operating Officer for its Europe, Middle East and Africa region. In his new role, Vinten oversees FTI Consulting’s full operational portfolio – including operational plans, processes, and infrastructure – across 24 offices in the region. He is based out of the Copenhagen and London offices, and reports to fellow Dane and EMEA Chairman Lars Faeste.
Jessica Marlborough joins JP Morgan Chase in London as Co-Head of the Transformation Office, Public Cloud Enablement and Adoption, moving over from Oliver Wyman. She and Steve Jansen (MD) are building a team in the Transformation Office for public cloud at the firm across the US and London.
Arthur Chabrol has joined Oliver Wyman’s Insurance and Asset Management team to develop the firm’s IAM practice in France. Arthur is an experienced consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the Insurance and Investment Management industries. He is an expert on business transformation projects and functions for clients in the insurance sector.
Accuracy has appointed new Partner Christy Howard in the London office. With over 20 years of M&A advisory experience, specialising in financial due diligence for M&A transactions, Christy has advised on over 200 transactions for a wide range of PE funds and corporates.
Analysys Mason has appointed John Alexander as Non-Executive Chair, based in the UK. As Chair of the Board, he will play a key role supporting the management team and investors as the company looks to continue its strong growth trajectory.
Roland Berger makes a few significant Partner appointments across its European region, including Vanessa Bähner and Uwe Weichenhain in Germany, Matthieu Daumas and Yaroslav Stetsenko in France, Andrea Bassanino in Italy, and Stephan Hartmann in Switzerland.
Simon-Kucher has named Hong-May Cheng the new Managing Partner for its office in Amsterdam. Since its start almost 15 years ago, Simon-Kucher’s Amsterdam office has grown into a 75-strong team, under the leadership of office founder Onno Oldeman alongside Hong-May Cheng.
KPMG has welcomed a new leader in its Advisory business: Paul Ridley relocates to Saudi Arabia to join the Defense & Security practice. After spending over 25 years in the Netherlands, Ridley now operates out of Riyadh, where he is a leader in KPMG’s Defense & Security practice, responsible for the firm’s Digital & Innovation offering across Saudi Arabia and Levant.
Catherine Brien joins AlixPartners as a Partner & Managing Director in the firm’s Digital practice, based out of London. Catherine’s depth of experience spans retailers and their digital growth and transformation from an operational sense.
Chris Lay, long-time Marsh leader, has been appointed Marsh McLennan UK CEO. He will lead a new collaborative effort in the region to deliver new solutions and greater client impact across Marsh, Mercer, Guy Carpenter, and Oliver Wyman.
FTI Consulting has appointed a new Senior Advisor for its Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Matthew Layton joins, bringing four decades of experience as a business leader to the firm, with a long-term background at Clifford Chance.
SAP elects Punit Renjen – the former global CEO of Deloitte – as the new Chairman of its Board. He is set to succeed business Co-Founder Hasso Plattner.
Ajay Chowdhury is the new leader of BCG X for the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. Ajay is an entrepreneur, tech expert and venture professional, and for over 25 years has built various digital businesses in consumer, retail, tech, media and telecommunications.
EY has appointed Carol (John) Davidson as a member of the EY Independent Audit Quality Committee (IAQC). The IAQC is composed of senior external leaders, advising EY US senior leadership, reinforcing audit quality standards.
Market Intelligence
Cognizant has announced it will acquire IoT software engineering service Mobica. The deal will conclude in the first quarter of 2023, and adds hundreds of engineers to Cognizant’s headcount in North America and Europe.
Bain has formed a services alliance with OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT and other AI solutions). In a press release, the firm said that “the alliance builds on Bain’s adoption of OpenAI technologies for its 18,000-strong multi-disciplinary team of knowledge workers.”
Accenture has bolstered its capabilities in Life Sciences with the acquisition of Bionest, a management consultancy with nearly 50 staff in Paris (where it was founded) and New York.
Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz, a locally based accounting and consulting firm, switches from Deloitte to Grant Thornton. This move sees the majority of Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (about 250 professionals) become part of Grant Thornton, led by long time leader and Managing Partner Kamel Saleh.
UK airline Flybe has fallen into administration for the second time in three years (first in 2020, during the height of the pandemic). Professionals from Interpath Advisory are overseeing the process.
Petronas has renewed its collaboration with Accenture, started in 2021 and focused on exploring the commercialisation of a successful in-house logistics and operations platform built by the consulting firm.
Justin Bieber has agreed to sell most of his catalog to Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC) in a nine-figure deal, signaling more and more investment in music by private funds.
McKinsey brings its QuantumBlack subsidiary to the Middle East, launching teams to develop its offering in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Deloitte launches CFO Advisory, including the CFO Programme and CFO Services, for a complete financial, transformational, and strategic advisory proposition to clients.
AlixPartners has entered into an agreement to acquire independent restructuring practice THM Partners LLP (THM). The proposed transaction will see THM’s 40 Partners and staff located in the UK, Germany, and Singapore joining AlixPartners’ Turnaround & Restructuring Services practice.
North East construction firm Tolent has fallen into administration amid difficult economic conditions. The sale of its assets will now be undertaken by a team from Interpath Advisory.