Evercore Partners, the US investment banking firm, has appointed Brett Pickett and Lowell Strug as senior managing directors and co-heads of the consumer and retail group in its investment banking business. Based in New York, they will provide advice to companies in the sectors. Pickett was previously a managing director and co-head of consumer and retail investment banking at JP Morgan, while Strug was a managing director in JP Morgan's mergers and acquisitions group with a focus on the consumer and retail sectors.