NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chris Winans is joining Hill+Knowlton Strategies to be the new general manager of the global communications consultancy’s flagship New York office, bringing more than 30 years of unparalleled expertise in journalism, investment banking, financial services regulation and corporate and crisis communications. He begins Oct. 13.
Winans joins H+K from Promontory Financial Group, a leading regulatory adviser, where he served as chief of communications and marketing. Before Promontory, Winans’s career spanned roles at AXA US, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley, as well as a journalism career including 10 years at The Wall Street Journal, through deregulation, the dot.com bubble, the Great Recession and subsequent sweeping re-regulation.
“Experience and success like Chris has had in navigating unprecedented business upheavals of recent years is exactly the reason our clients look to us,” said Mike Coates, president and CEO of H+K Americas. “Any agency, in New York or beyond, would be lucky to have him – as a leader and as a seasoned advisor – and we are delighted he has decided to join us.”
Before Promontory, Chris was senior vice president, external affairs, at AXA US, and before that, vice president, media relations, at AIG, which he joined in February 2005. Through 2004, he was a vice president in Lehman Brothers’ Equity Research Division covering property/casualty insurers. Prior to joining Lehman in June 2003, Chris held a similar position briefly at Williams Capital following three years as an equity analyst on insurance stocks at Morgan Stanley, and before that at PaineWebber, now UBS. Chris previously was a national news editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he spent 10 years, following seven years as a journalist at various dailies and a wire service.
“I can't imagine a better time or place to draw on the full range of my experiences to serve clients,” Winans said. “What attracted me to Hill+Knowlton Strategies was the quality of the people as well as its robust, global platform and a broad network of services ideally suited for the modern era of communications.”
About Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Inc. is a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients. The firm is headquartered in New York, with 87 offices in 49 countries, as well as an extensive associate network. The agency is part of WPP, the world’s largest communications services group. For more information, please visit www.hkstrategies.com.
