• by Larissa Faw , Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 7, 2018

GroupM has appointed Sebastian Rennie Chief Investment Officer in its Canadian Market. Based in Toronto, Rennie will oversee all aspects of GroupM’s media investment, including trading and partnerships, on behalf of its agencies Mindshare, MediaCom, Wavemaker and m/SIX. 

Starting in July, Rennie will join the GroupM Canada Executive Committee, reporting to Stuart Garvie, CEO, GroupM Canada -- who was named to his role last September. 

Rennie most recently served as Chief Investment Officer of GroupM Australia. His 11-year tenure with GroupM Australia included leadership roles with MediaCom and MEC. 

Separately m/SIX, which backed by GroupM and The&Partnership, is appointing Ray Romero as its first-ever chief digital officer, North America to lead digital efforts and technology investment. Clients including BNY Mellon, Manulife / John Hancock, AstraZeneca and Chico’s. 

This added role coincides with the agency's growth from 40 to 80 people in the last year, as well as some major client wins that sparked the need for the role. Previously Romero served in a similar role at MetaVision and previously worked at Horizon Media, DDB and OMD.

Meanwhile, Valtech, which helps clients with their digital transformation efforts has tapped agency veteran Jonathan Goldmacher to lead its flagship office as managing director. He’ll become a member of the agency’s North American management team, which is headed by executive vice president Joacim Jeppesen.

Goldmacher joins Valtech from MullenLowe Group where he also served as MD. Previously he served as Managing Director for 360i New York. Before that he spent several years as vice president, head of client services for R/GA, working with clients including Volvo, E*TRADE, Jet.com and AARP. Earlier he senior vice president, group director and global brand “champion” at McCann Erickson, where he oversaw global integrated consumer marketing for Johnson & Johnson’s Acuvue brand. He also held roles at Arnold Worldwide and with Saatchi & Saatchi.