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Catherine Grum joins family business of KPMG in UK

29 October 2015 Consultancy.uk

KPMG has strengthened its family business offering with Catherine Grum as Head of Family Office. Grum will bring in her expertise and knowledge to develop the firm’s dedicated Family Office service, which is set up as part of its £40 million strategic investment ‘Enterprise initiative’.

Catherine Grum makes the move to KPMG from Salamanca Group, where she has fulfilled the role of Managing Director and Head of the Private Office since 2014. At the firm, she was responsible for developing and managing a new business model designed to help families with complex needs. Before joining Salamanca Group, Grum acted as Head of Wealth Advisory (EMEA) for Barclays Wealth & Investment Management from 2008 to 2013. In this capacity, she led the delivery of wealth structuring, succession planning and relocation solutions to the bank’s UHNW client base. Grum started her career in 2003 as an Associate at Allen & Overy.

Grum holds a Master in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford.

Catherine Grum, Gary Deans - KPMG

At KPMG, Grum takes on the role of Head of Family Office and will be charged with the development of a dedicated Family Office service within KPMG. The Family Office forms part of KPMG’s Enterprise initiative, set up to expand the firm’s service offerings to privately-owned businesses across the UK. “KPMG already delivers a range of services to many Family Offices and has an excellent reputation with clients and the wider market,” explains Grum. “We have identified a gap in the market for one independent firm to offer the breadth of services needed by Family Offices and we want to develop a dedicated practice which will tailor the offering to each client’s specific needs and deliver a market-leading service for them.”

According to Gary Deans, KPMG’s Head of Family Business, the combination of Grum’s track record, extensive contacts and knowledge of the family office sector will be a great asset for KPMG: “She is an extremely valuable addition to the firm’s offering to family businesses and we are delighted that she has joined us for the benefit of our clients.”

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Rapid growth sees Quantum Advisory promote trio of partners

18 April 2019 Consultancy.uk

Three senior level consultants have been boosted to the rank of Partner at Quantum Advisory, as the firm works to meet heightened levels of client demand. Aled Edwards, Amanda Burdge and Chris Heirene become Partners as long-time Quantum member Rob Davies retires in May after 15 years as a Partner at the firm.

Founded in 2000, Quantum Advisory provides pension and employee benefits services to employers, scheme trustees and members, with five offices across the UK. The firm has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years, following a number of major client wins and booming demand for its services. It opened a new office in Bristol in 2016 to service the South West and in 2017 relocated its Cardiff office to a larger site within the Welsh capital to house the increased workforce. More recently, Quantum relocated its Amersham, Birmingham and London offices to more spacious premises in the centre of both cities to cope with demand.

The financial services consultancy, which employs 115 people across the UK, has promoted three senior team members to Partner, as part of its wider growth plans. The firm has moved Aled Edwards from Principal Consultant & Actuary, while Amanda Burdge has ascended from Principal Investment Consultant. Chris Heirene, former IT Manager, has also joined the ten current Partners at Quantum.

Aled Edwards most recently managed the actuarial team within Quantum’s Cardiff office as well as providing technical training for all staff. He boasts more than 17 years of pensions experience. He started his career as an Actuary at Jardine Lloyd Thompson’s Bristol wing, before joining Quantum in 2011. Edwards is also the President of the Welsh Actuarial Society (WAS), which supports actuaries and actuarial students living or working in Wales.

Rapid growth sees Quantum Advisory promote trio of Partners

Amanda Burdge joined Quantum’s team in 2001, as one of the fledgling firm’s first employees. Most recently she was a Principal Investment Consultant with the firm, and with more than a quarter of a century’s experience in the sector, she is responsible for providing investment advice to many of Quantum’s key clients with both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes. Prior to her time with Quantum, Burdge spent two years as a consultant with SBJ Benefit Consultants (now Capita), and three years with Tesco Pension Trustees. She currently sits on the Regulation Committee for the Pensions Management Institute.

Chris Heirene initially worked with Quantum as an IT Consultant with Teamwork Technology Services and then UES for over five years, before finally joining the firm itself in 2011. He is now responsible for Quantum’s IT systems across all of its offices, including the network and core server infrastructure which supports the business. Heirene is heavily involved in utilising IT to improve and build upon the processes in place throughout Quantum.

David Deidun, Partner at Quantum Advisory, said of the promotions, “This is a very exciting time for Quantum. The recent round of promotions fully recognise the hard work and dedication shown by the three, all of whom go above and beyond for the company. I’ve no doubt that Aled, Amanda and Chris will settle into their new roles with ease and look forward to working together to grow Quantum even further.”

The news comes as Rob Davies retires in May, after spending fifteen years as a Partner at Quantum. A qualified actuary, Davies was instrumental in setting up Quantum’s Investment Division, specialising in aiding clients with their investment strategies. He will remain with the company on a part-time consultancy basis, while working with several clients in the Fiduciary Manager area.