FT makes U.S. editorial hires

The Financial Times announced Tuesday four new appointments to its U.S. editorial team, strengthening its coverage areas of business, finance and markets.

Joining the U.S. finance and business team and reporting to Francesco Guerrera, U.S. finance and business editor, are:

Mara Der Hovanesian will join as the U.S. fund management correspondent, covering U.S. hedge funds, mutual funds and pension funds, with a particular focus on the hedge fund industry. Der Hovanesian comes to the FT after nearly a decade at BusinessWeek, where she served in a number of senior editorial roles, including markets and investments editor and banking and finance editor. Â

Suzanne Kapner has been appointed banking and insurance correspondent. In her new role, Kapner will cover the U.S. regional banks, insurers and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She will focus on the retail businesses of large banks, especially on developments in the credit card and mortgage markets in the wake of the financial crisis. Most recently at Fortune magazine, Kapner also covered the retail industry for the New York Post, and worked for three years as a London-based business reporter for The New York Times.

Jeremy Lemer has been named U.S. business correspondent, covering U.S. airlines and industrial companies, and he will also write about broader trends in corporate America. He was previously a FT reporter based in London, covering UK defense companies. Â

Justin Baer, U.S. business correspondent, previously covering U.S. airlines and industrial companies, has been named Wall Street correspondent covering investment banks and large banks. Baer replaces Greg Farrell, who will become U.S. consumer industries correspondent.

Telis Demos joins the FT as web editor, with a special focus on FT.com’s markets coverage. He will report to Darren Dodd, deputy U.S. news editor. Demos has worked at a variety of U.S. publications, most recently as a features and news writer for Fortune.

“Each of these journalists will bring new perspective and insight, further enhancing the quality and depth of our award-winning editorial coverage,” said Chrystia Freeland, U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times, in a statement. “These appointments underscore the FT’s commitment to producing the most competitive and sophisticated coverage of business, finance and markets, in print and online.”