Wealth Management Appointments: Millenium, Utmost and Neuberger

Ray Soudah, chairman and founder of Millenium Associates, has joined the Ittikar Strategic Advisory Board effective immediately. The collaboration aims to integrate Millenium’s quarter-century of transaction experience with Ittikar’s platform, which serves over 500 family offices globally. By utilizing proprietary Capital DNA technology, the firms plan to facilitate direct investment opportunities, bypassing public market broadcasting for more discreet, matched deals across Europe and the Middle East.

In the insurance sector, Utmost has named Rikard Havander as head of sales for Sweden. Havander, a veteran who joined the business following the 2024 acquisition of Lombard International, brings over two decades of experience from his time at SEB. His mandate focuses on deepening the firm’s commercial footprint within the Swedish private banking and corporate sectors.

Meanwhile, Neuberger Berman has appointed Michael Bech to lead its institutional client group in the Nordic region. Based in Copenhagen, Bech joins the employee-owned manager from BNP Paribas, where he previously oversaw private debt solutions. His background includes significant tenures at Danske Bank Asset Management and PFA Asset Management, positioning him to drive Neuberger’s institutional distribution strategy across the Nordics.