At U.S. Trust Branch, Carper Becomes Managing Director

R. Clifford Carper has been named managing director of the Costa Mesa office of U.S. Trust Co. He had been a senior vice president. Before joining the company, Carper worked for Kemper Securities from 1984 to 1995.

* Van Simmons has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president of sales for Bowers and Merena Galleries, a division of Collectors Universe in Newport Beach. He is a founder and director of the company. Simmons was previously president and co-founder of David Hall’s North American Trading, a privately held rare-coin retailer.