A number of dealer groups have announced key appointments ahead of strategic changes to their businesses in the New Year.
RI Advice Group (Retire Invest) has secured former BT Financial Group head of licensee select, David Hunt, to the position of manager of the Northern Region.
Hunt will be tasked with leading a team supporting RI practices in NSW, ACT, Qld and NT and recruiting practices.
“We look forward to David making a significant impact to practices, particularly in driving business growth via the opportunities opened up for quality advisers by FoFA reforms” said RI’s chief executive, Paul Campbell.
Mercer has boosted its financial advice team in Western Australia, announcing the appointment of Michael Heffernan (right), who was until recently the head of advice with the Government Employees Superannuation Board’s (GESB’s) financial advice practice.
He joins Sam Clark and Gina Abuda who are former GESB financial advisers, positioning the team to be able to service and support GESB members.
“We have a deep and qualified team of salaried financial advisers in WA with a support team, who deliver the full range of services from strategic advice, through to education and advice in the workplace,” said Jo-Anne Bloch, Mercer’s head of Financial Advice.
“Our business model is very similar to GESB’s financial advice model, which was recently closed. We expect this to provide great comfort and confidence to GESB members when they turn to professionals to help them with their superannuation, retirement and financial advice needs.”
Heffernan joined Mercer on November 1 and will be based in the Perth office.
ING Direct has announced changes to its distribution model to better align with its third party partners.
A key change will be the appointment of Mark Woolnough to head of third party distribution, encompassing the sales and service support functions of the broker and financial planning teams. He had previously held the position of head of broker distribution.
Executive director of distribution, Lisa Claes, believes the move supports the bank’s overall approach to the advice industry.
“While there will always be room for specialisation, I have long been an advocate about the benefits of convergence, be it a co-branded, fully integrated or a referral business model, as well as the vertical integration of banking and wealth,” she said.
TAL Retail, a division of life insurance company TAL, has appointed Greg Johnson as head of product and marketing.
Johnson comes to TAL from the Aussie Group, where he was head of product and prior to Aussie worked at CBA in both group and retail banking functions.
TAL Retail CEO Brett Clark said the appointment would strengthen TAL Retail’s core values of customer service and innovation.
