Ms Tomecek reports jointly to Scott Epstein, Head of Global Fund Services (GFS) in San Francisco, and Fergus Healy, Regional Director of Sales for the Americas, and will be responsible for the growth of the division's hedge fund client base on the West Coast. GFS opened an office in San Francisco in January 2004 (see previous Hedgeweek article).

Commenting on the appointment, Epstein said: "Jackie brings with her many years' experience on the prime brokerage side of the hedge fund industry in both San Francisco and New York, and is an asset to our team. She will be responsible for growing our book of clients and gaining a bigger share of the hedge fund market on the West Coast."

Ms Tomecek previously worked for Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage in San Francisco and New York where she was responsible for developing a specialised team to service hedge funds, and managed a number of major client relationships across multiple strategies.
 
Background Note: Global Fund Services is a division of The Bank of Bermuda Limited , which became a member of the HSBC Group in February 2004.  HSBC Holdings plc is headquartered in the UK. The HSBC Group serves over 110 million customers worldwide from more than 9,500 offices in 79 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of USD 1,034 billion at 31 December 2003, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.