ST. LOUIS — FleishmanHillard has hired Kirsten Plonner to lead the firm’s financial and professional services practice as global managing director.

In the newly created role, Plonner will support the growth of the practice, working closely with regional leaders across the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.  The practice has more than 500 financial and professional services clients, the agency said.

Plonner is a former FleishmanHillard VP who most recently served as president of FiComm Partners, a financial services communications firm. Before FiComm she was director of strategic media and communications for Fidelity Investments. Plonner worked at FleishmanHillard from 2006 to 2009.

“Kirsten’s extensive experience in multiple segments of the financial services industry, combined with her work with media and as a strategist have equipped her with the skills needed to help our financial and professional services clients navigate the complexities of this moment,” said global COO and Americas president J.J. Carter.

“We expect that leaders in every industry will continue to face new risks, volatile market conditions and changing business requirements inside and outside of their organizations. Certainly, these conditions will characterize the environment for the global financial services and professional services industries. Kirsten and our client leaders are poised to help clients communicate authentically and effectively, when they need to move quickly with confidence to respond to threats and capture opportunities,” he said.