Service providers

Accordion Partners has hired Hal Polley as a director. Previously, Polley was head of finance for MDx Medical. Based in New York, Accordion Partners is a private equity consulting firm.

AFAM Capital has hired Daniel P. Driscoll as vice president and Northeast regional sales director. Driscoll previously worked at Congress Asset Management where he most recently served as a vice president and regional director in charge of business and client service in the New York area. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, AFAM is an asset management firm.

Capstone Financial Group has hired Hal Johnson as its CFO. Previously, Johnson worked at Chase Investment Services. Based in Irvine, California, Capstone Financial Group is an investment and merchant banking firm.

Houston-based investment firm CAZ Investments has named Marc J. Sharpe as executive vice president to be responsible for leading the firm’s private equity initiatives. Previously, Sharpe worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co and Wasserstein Perella & Co.

Dynasty Financial Partners has named Tom Petrone as director of capital markets. Petrone will be based in New York City and report to Dynasty Chairman Todd Thomson. Prior to joining Dynasty, Petrone worked at Citigroup where he served as head of capital markets. Dynasty Financial provides wealth management products and services to independent financial advisers.

Electra Partners has named Owen Wilson as investment director. Wilson previously worked at Palamon Capital. Based in London, Electra Partners is a private equity fund manager.

The accounting firm Elliott Davis has expanded its banking and financial services practice by adding three new shareholders as well as additional managers and staff in tax, consulting, and IT risk management. William Bossong, George Noonan and Beverly Seier were recently admitted as Elliott Davis shareholders.

Global private placement agent and investment firm First Avenue has hired Chris Leach as a partner. Leach, who will be based in the company’s London office, will serve with David Hunter as co-head of international sales. Previously, Leach worked at Park Hill Group, where he served as a managing principal.

Focus Financial Partners has expanded its team with several new hires. Pradeep Jayaraman has been named a vice president while Robert Freedman is now a senior manager. Also, Anita Venkiteswaran joins as a vice president, Michael McGowan is now assistant general counsel and Ilse Hamblin has been tapped as manager of information sharing. Based in New York City, Focus Financial Partners is an independent wealth management firm.

Boutique investment bank FT Partners has hired former Goldman Sachs banker Jeff Haughton as managing director, based in San Francisco, Reuters reported.

Investment bank Imperial Capital has hired Mitch Pinheiro as a senior equity research analyst covering the consumer sector. Prior to joining Imperial Capital, Pinheiro worked at Janney Montgomery Scott. Imperial Capital also has opened an office in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Investec Specialist Bank has expanded its growth and acquisition finance team with the appointment of Joanna Turney. She will report to Ed Cottrell, head of the growth and acquisition finance team. Turney previously worked at Royal Bank of Scotland, most recently as an associate director in the leveraged finance team.

Manulife Asset Management has named Richard J. Bonzagni to its global consultant relations team. Bonzagni, a managing director based in Boston, reports to Brian E. Torrisi, senior managing director and global head of consultant relations. Previously, Bonzagni worked at Cadence Capital Management. Based in Toronto, Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management unit of Manulife Financial.

Oyster Consulting has appointed Harriet Britt as a senior consultant and chief compliance officer. Previously, Britt worked at Robertson Stevens, where she served as a deputy director of compliance. She also worked at THINKEQUITY as a chief compliance officer. Based in Glen Allen, Virginia, Oyster Consulting is a financial services consulting firm.

The law firm Patton Boggs has hired Gina Betts, partner and the former chair of the private equity practice in the Dallas office of Locke Lord. She is joined by Brad Hogan, a former associate in the Dallas office of Baker & McKenzie, where he worked in M&A, securities and corporate governance.

Financial services firm Perella Weinberg Partners has named Cem Koray as a managing director in its advisory business. Koray, who is based in New York, most recently served as an executive director in JPMorgan’s consumer and retail investment banking group.

REORIENT Group has named David Goldman as managing director and head of Americas. Prior to joining REORIENT, Goldman worked at Macrostrategy and prior to that, was global head of debt research at Bank of America. Headquartered in Hong Kong, REORIENT Group is a financial services firm.

RiverNorth Capital Management has expanded its team with three new hires. David Gifford has been named an investment analyst while Chris Lakumb is now a portfolio specialist. Paul Raskin has been hired as a software developer. Gifford formerly worked as a senior trader on the equity desk at Wolverine Trading LLC. Lakumb rejoined RiverNorth after relocating to California to work for EverBank as a wealth management specialist. Raskin most recently wrote futures and options trading applications as a software developer for R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC. Based in Chicago, RiverNorth is an investment management firm specializing in opportunistic investment strategies including the trading of closed-end funds.

Business development professional Tony Martorano has been hired by Riveron Consulting’s Chicago office as a director of business development to help expand the company’s presence in the Midwest. Martorano joins Riveron from Grant Thornton International LLC in Chicago. Riveron is a financial consulting firm serving private equity funds, firms growing through strategic acquisitions, and companies seeking to maximize the value of business transactions. The firm has offices in Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Scarborough Capital Management has new ownership and will retain its name even with this change. Previously owned by founder and former President/CEO Mike Scarborough, the company is now owned by five long-time employees. Based in Annapolis, Maryland, Scarborough Capital Management is a financial planning and investment firm.

Societe Generale Private Banking has appointed Vincent Combes as global market manager for Africa, replacing Jean-Paul Rame. Based in London, Combes oversees all the private bank’s activities for African clients and is responsible for defining the global marketing approach and associated action plans for this client segment.

Vladimir Kolychev has joined VTB Capital as chief economist for the Russian region. Previously, Kolychev was chief economist, head of research, at ROSBANK. VTB Capital has hired Jason Fung as head of Asia financing structuring. Fung served as head of the north Asia and emerging markets financing group at Credit Suisse. In his new role Fung will be responsible for VTB Capital’s regional development of structured finance business. VTB Capital is a Russian investment banking group.