U.S. Trust Names Exec for Expanded Regional Role

A U.S. Trust executive has taken on an expanded regional role for the elite Bank of America unit.

Mark Benson, currently head of U.S. Trust’s West Division, which includes California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Colorado, has been named to also oversee the Central South Division, a spokeswoman said. The division focuses on the Texas market, where Benson has lived and worked for several years, the spokeswoman said.

Benson entered the industry when he joined Paine Webber in 1987, according to U.S. Trust. His career includes a stint at Morgan Stanley, where he had previously been a branch manager in Houston. He joined Bank of America in 2001 and went on to head Merrill Lynch's Financial Solutions Advisors and Practice Management Development programs. He has been with U.S. Trust since 2010.

U.S. Trust also has named Benson to oversee a new art banking initiative led by a new recruit, Evan Beard. Beard joined the firm this month from Deloitte as an art executive and is responsible for attracting new clients by leveraging U.S. Trust’s art lending and planning capabilities. He will establish relationships with auction houses, museums and art collectors.

Beard previously was U.S. art and finance leader for Deloitte, as well as strategy consultant in the Private Banking Group at Deloitte Consulting, according to U.S. Trust.

The firm last month recruited Terry Hill, a former Hirtle Callaghan representative in the Midwest. Hill will serve in the newly-created position of nonprofit institutional sales director and help the firm grow its nonprofit client-base, according to the firm.

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