Mark D. Thompson, chief executive officer and president of Boston Private Bank & Trust, will also serve as chief executive officer of the Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc.’s private banking group.

James D. Dawson has been named managing director of the company’s West Coast private banking.

Thompson will be responsible for the overall performance of the company’s private banks, a segment that includes Boston Private Bank & Trust in Boston, First Private Bank & Trust in Los Angeles, Borel Private Bank & Trust Co. in San Francisco and Charter Private Bank in Seattle.

The banks represent $5.8 billion of assets and $3.6 billion of client assets under management. Thompson will also become a member of BPFH’s senior policy group and will retain his current role as chief executive officer and president of Boston Private Bank & Trust. Thompson has been with Boston Private Bank & Trust since 1994.

Dawson will establish his office in San Francisco and will be directly responsible for the activities of the company’s three West Coast private banks. He will also continue to serve as a member of BPFH’s senior policy group and will maintain his position as a senior executive within the company. Dawson began his career with the company in 1996 at Boston Private Bank where he was president and chief operating officer and he joined the holding company in 2008.

"Private banking is core to our strategy and critical to our long term performance as a company. Accelerating the adoption of our ideal private bank model across all of our markets is key to achieving our growth and return objectives," said Clayton G. Deutsch, BPFH’s chief executive officer. "Mark and Jim are two of our strongest private bankers and executives, and these moves allow us to truly capitalize on their deep leadership experience as we look to better share and utilize talent across the organization."