Grant Thornton has appointed Michael Patanella as leader of its national asset management sector.

“Michael’s expertise and vast knowledge of asset management will be key as we continue to drive growth in this area of our financial services practice,” says Jack Katz, Grant Thornton’s Northeast region managing partner, New York Cluster managing partner and national financial services managing partner.

Patanella (pictured) has more than 15 years of public accounting experience, serving a wide range of financial services companies. His former and current clients include hedge funds, private equity firms, clearing and introducing brokers, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. He authors thought leadership articles for Grant Thornton’s Asset ManagementAdviser and has authored papers that have appeared in several hedge fund journals. Patanella also leads the firm’s training on the intricacies of hedge funds and related accounting, reporting and regulatory updates.

Patanella currently serves as a board member of the New York State Society of CPAs Investment Management Committee and is the founding chair of the NYSSCPA’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Fund Committee. In addition, he is a member of Financial Management Division of Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.