Management Team
James M. Hojnacki
James M. Hojnacki is President and CEO of Cleveland Private Trust Company where he also serves as a Director of the Board. He is responsible for relationship management and business development. Before assuming this role, Jim was Managing Director and COO. Jim has spent over 30 years in the Finance and Banking industry in and around the Northeast Ohio. Prior to joining Cleveland Private Trust Company, Mr. Hojnacki was Senior Vice President at Dollar Bank where he managed a team of private bankers, a portfolio manager and compliance and administrative staff. He began his career in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational audit, assurance and consulting firm.
Mr. Hojnacki has a number of civic and professional interests which include, Board Member and Treasurer of True North, Member of the Accountancy Board of Ohio, volunteer activities at the City Mission and Past President of the Cleveland State Business Alumni Association.
Jim graduated from Cleveland State University’s James Nance School of Business with a Bachelor of Arts degree and pursued graduate studies at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management with a focus on Finance and Marketing.
Andrew E. Randall
Andrew E. Randall is Managing Director of Cleveland Private Trust Company where he is responsible for senior relationship management and business development activities. Additionally, he serves as Managing Director of New York Private Finance, an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust. Andy formerly held the position of President and CEO of Cleveland Private Trust Company. Prior to joining NYPB&T, Mr. Randall was President of TriState Capital Bank’s Ohio operation, and before that, spent ten years as Executive Vice President & Chairman of U.S. Bank in Cleveland responsible for all business activities in Northern & Central Ohio. He is a former President of U.S. Bank’s Wisconsin operation that held $18 billion in total assets and was responsible for commercial banking activities including consumer and private banking, commercial real estate, asset and treasury management. Mr. Randall also spent 20 years with Bank of America, working in New York, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong and San Francisco. There he held various lending roles and also served as Senior Vice President and Director of Treasury Management responsible for generating annual revenues of $200 million.
Mr. Randall has a number of civic interests, which include Board Member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Past Board Chair of Cuyahoga Community College, Past President of the Board of Directors at Park Synagogue, Board Member of Menorah Park Foundation and Trustee of Cleveland Clinic. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Business Management from Bradley University.
Christopher P. Jakyma
Christopher P. Jakyma is Managing Director / Senior Trust Officer for Cleveland Private Trust Company. Chris helps our clients crystallize, prioritize, and address their financial and legacy goals. In concert with client counsel, he helps evaluate and implement appropriate structures aimed at achieving each client’s unique vision. Whether the estate plan is motivated by transfer tax concerns, family dynamic considerations, or philanthropic desires, his thirty years of trust experience afford a perspective that helps balance everything into a workable framework. When a plan matures at death or disability, he works closely with the heirs to ensure that the intent of the trust is fulfilled.
Chris has worked in the banking and finance industry since 1988. Most recently, Chris worked as Executive Vice President and Chief Wealth Management Officer at State Bank & Trust where he was responsible for leading the Wealth Management Team to provide clients with a secure financial future. Prior to joining State Bank, he was Vice President & National Trust Administration Practice Lead for The Private Trust Company.
Chris is a past President of the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland and a past Director of The National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC) where he served on the AEP Committee and Co-Chaired the Web/Tech Committee. Chris is a licensed attorney in Ohio and also a CTFA.
Chris graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration and received his Juris Doctor Degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
William M. Isaac
William M. Isaac headed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the banking crisis of the 1980s, serving under Presidents Carter and Reagan from 1978 through 1985. Mr. Isaac founded The Secura Group, a leading consulting firm, in 1986. Secura was acquired by FTI Consulting in 2011, where Mr. Isaac served as senior managing director through 2019 when Mr. Isaac partnered with Howard Milstein in the financial services business, serving on the boards of New York Private Bank & Trust and Emigrant Bank, as well as serving as non-executive Chairman of Sarasota Private Trust and Cleveland Private Trust. The Isaac-Milstein Group is their financial consulting arm.
Mr. Isaac is Member, Board of Directors of the Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, Florida; Member, Board of Directors, Total System Services (TSYS); Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fifth Third Bancorp; Chairman of the Isaac Family Property Companies; Life Member of the Board of Directors of The Ohio State University Foundation; Member of the Board of Directors of BankCap Investment Fund; and Member, of the Bretton Woods Committee.
Mr. Isaac received an honorary LLD from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, a JD, summa cum laude, from the College of Law at The Ohio State University and a BS in Business Administration and Economics from Miami University.
John R. Hart
Mr. Hart is President and CEO of Sarasota Private Trust Company and is Vice Chairman of New York Private Bank & Trust Company. He also serves as a Director of the Board of Cleveland Private Trust Company. Mr. Hart has over 40 years of experience in the banking sector, primarily in Investments and Private Wealth Management. He is responsible for the Private Banking Division and the Capital Markets Division of Emigrant Bank which oversees investments in private equity funds, hedge funds, common stocks, municipal and corporate bonds, and other fixed income instruments. Mr. Hart also oversees New York Private Finance which provides credit to finance strategic investments for private investors. Additionally, he oversees Aperture Media Partners, a specialty finance business in the film and television industry.
In civic and philanthropic activities, Mr. Hart is a Board Member of Opportunity International, a past Chairman of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, the Christian Heritage School and Hope Church. He is also currently a National Advisor to Rev. Tim Keller, an American theologian, author and pastor.
Mr. Hart holds an MBA in Finance from Saint Joseph’s University and a B.A. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.
George Dickson, Jr.
George J. Dickson, Jr. is Senior Executive Vice President, Co-head of Capital Markets and Chief Investment Officer for New York Private Bank and Trust and Emigrant Bank. Mr. Dickson has been an executive officer of Emigrant Bank since 1988. He is a founding member of the Bank’s Asset/Liability Committee, managing and advising nearly $5 billion of mortgage-backed securities, corporate bonds, preferred stocks, U.S. Government Securities, and municipal bonds. Mr. Dickson also advises separately managed accounts for New York Private Bank & Trust clients and reviews alternative investment allocations for suitability.
For more than 30 years, he has been integrally involved with all of the Bank’s Capital Markets initiatives, ranging from operating the wholesale money market desk to the highly successful U.S. Treasury, GNMA MBS, and municipal bond trading programs. He created and managed the NYPB&T Municipal Liquidity Fund (MF-1 LP), a special purpose hedge fund designed to capitalize on unique opportunities that arose during the financial crisis. Prior to joining Emigrant Bank, he was an Investment Strategist at Meritor (PSFS) Bank in Philadelphia.
Mr. Dickson holds a B.S. degree from Drexel University, with a dual major in Finance and Economics, and an M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Eric Kaplan
Eric Kaplan has, since 2003, been a senior financial consultant with Bristol Consultants, LLC and with predecessor companies since 1985. Mr. Kaplan provides consulting services to high net worth investors and has particular expertise in real estate development and operation. Prior to joining Bristol’s predecessor companies, Mr. Kaplan worked for International Financial Group between 1983 and 1995 and later worked as a manager in the tax consulting services division of Arthur Young & Company (a predecessor of Ernst & Young) during 1980 through 1983. Mr. Kaplan is a CPA and is a member of the New York, Florida and New Jersey bars. He graduated with honors from Bernard M. Baruch College in 1978 where he received a B.B.A. He also graduated from New York Law School where he earned a J.D. in 1983 and later earned his LLM in tax in 2013.
Eric Kaplan serves on the board of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota. In addition he is Vice Chair of the Jewish Family & Children’s’ Service (“JFCS”) of the Suncoast which is based in Sarasota, Florida. Mr. Kaplan also serves on the Board of Directors as the representative of the Louis and Gloria Milstein Flanzer Trusts.
Carole F. Hoover
Carole F. Hoover is Senior Advisor to Cleveland Private Trust Company. Since the year 2000, she has been President and Chief Executive Officer of HooverMilstein, a partnership with New York businessman and philanthropist Howard P. Milstein. The company’s primary focus is commercial real estate and financial services. HooverMilstein finds, nurtures and builds business enterprises in Ohio as well as throughout the United States.
Business affiliations included serving as Chairman of Host of Cleveland, a joint venture partnership between HWH, LLC and HMS Host. She served on the Boards of both Weston Solutions and Shoney’s, Inc. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Ms. Hoover has been the recipient of numerous awards including the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) “Humanitarian Award” (2005), the Prevent Blindness Ohio “People of Vision Award” (2002), Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame inductee (1999), the “In Tribute to the Public Service Award” presented by the Levin College of Urban Studies of Cleveland State University (1996), the “YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award” in (1980) and “Black Professional of the Year” presented by Cleveland’s Black Professionals Association (1986). She was the recipient of the “YWCA’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award,” the “2017 Cleveland Heritage Medal” as well as the “Who’s Who in Black Cleveland 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Gail Fagan
Gail Fagan serves as Chief Fiduciary Officer for Sarasota Private Trust Company and its affiliates, New York Private Bank & Trust Company and Cleveland Private Trust Company. Ms. Fagan has over 20 years of experience as a trust and estates lawyer as well as extensive experience in fiduciary administration and risk management. She previously served as Senior Trust Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank and at The Northern Trust Company.
Prior to working in the financial services industry, Gail was a practicing attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.
Ms. Fagan is a member of The Florida Bar, the State Bar of Texas, the North Carolina State Bar and the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Counsel. Gail is active in the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar and has served on its Executive Council for many years. Gail has been active in the community as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Family YMCA and as a custody advocate for the Children’s Law Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.