Leading financial services journalist and commentator Aleks Vickovich will join Conexus Financial as editor-in-chief on July 1, 2023.
Vickovich is currently wealth editor at the Australian Financial Review and is editorial lead for the newspaper’s Super & Wealth Summit. At Conexus, Vickovich will work closely with the editors of Professional Planner and Investment Magazine and with group publisher Simon Hoyle to further develop each publication’s industry-leading position.
Vickovich will also work with the Conexus events team to develop the range of in-person events, including the Investment Magazine Fiduciary Investors Symposium, Group Insurance Dialogue and Chair Forum; and the Professional Planner Licensee Summit, Advice Practitioner Summit and Researcher Forum.
He will also work on the Retirement Conference, co-hosted by Conexus Financial and its not-for-profit superannuation and retirement policy think-tank, the Conexus Institute.
Before joining the AFR, Vickovich was managing editor of the wealth division at Momentum Media, overseeing IFA and InvestorDaily. He’s a former intern to a US Congressman and PR adviser to fintech start-ups and venture capital investors in California and Texas.
Vickovich was columnist of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards 2017 for a series of opinion articles advocating for quality financial advice and calling for a royal commission into banking sector misconduct. His first book, USA G’DAY, was published in 2017.
Vickovich says it has been “an honour to take my knowledge of and passion for wealth management to Australia’s best newspaper, covering the exit of the major banks from the sector and helping to put regulation of financial advice on the national news agenda”.
“But my heart lies in the industry – not just writing about it, but advocating and agitating within it,” he says.
“So I’m thrilled to be joining Conexus, a business I have long admired, and hope to build on the good work done by current and previous editors of Professional Planner and Investment Magazine.”
Vickovich says the institutional investment and financial advice worlds are converging as the government considers its response to the Quality of Advice Review and millions of Baby Boomers are set to retire.
“I look forward to catching up with old and new friends, sources and acquaintances at one of Conexus’ market-leading events soon,” Vickovich says.
Conexus founder and managing director Colin Tate says the company is deeply committed to providing high-quality, in-depth editorial coverage of the institutional investment and financial advice sectors and delivering industry-leading events.
“Securing the services of an accomplished and high-profile individual like Aleks further underlines this commitment and signals to the readers of Conexus’s publications and the delegates at our events that we’re deadly serious about being the best in market,” Tate says.
Tate, who received the Order of Australia AM award in 2022 for his philanthropic and advocacy work which included campaigning for a royal commission into financial services, said the appointment further shows the commitment Conexus has towards driving professionalism in financial advice.
“This clear and fiercely independent content-led strategy ensures Conexus continues to lead the way,” Tate says.
The executive appointment of Vickovich makes it possible for Tate, Hoyle and director of institutional content Amanda White to focus more attention on the growth of global pension fund publication Top1000funds.com.
