Former head of ANZ wealth distribution, Nigel Scott, has joined the board of local private markets investment platform, Syndex.
Scott also served as head of advice and distribution for Macquarie Wealth NZ (now Hobson Wealth) for over four years after ending his 10-year career at ANZ in 2017.
He remains as non-executive director of Hobson as well as the robo-advice-led KiwiSaver scheme, Kōura. Hobson owns about 20 per cent of Kōura, which brought on a new strategic partner, Select Investment Services (a partnership between adviser aggregator firm NZ Financial Services Group – or NZFSG – and Crest Holdings) this May.
The specialist online investment service has also hired Stephen Ross as head of technology. Ross has accrued experience in senior technology roles for a string of high-profile financial firms in the US and UK including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (now owner of First Sentier), Barclays, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Lehman Brothers.
He brings a “unique set of skills to continue expanding the Syndex platform to meet significantly growing issuer and investor demand”, according to a release.
Established in 2015 to give investors to access proportionally owned commercial property, the platform has extended to a range of other private markets assets – such as forestry and horticulture – via wholesale and retail offers enabling “investing, divesting and capital raising”, Syndex says on its website.
Founded by Mike Jenkins, Desmond Scott and Mike Chatterley, Syndex also includes former ANZ agriculture general manager, Ross Verry, as CEO. The platform boasts about $4.4 billion in assets under administration across 260 schemes and 13,500 account-holders.
Elsewhere last week, Investment Services Group (ISG) and subsidiary Devon Funds have named June McCabe as independent director.
In a long career in finance and public service, McCabe served as a founding director on the NZ Venture Investment Fund (now known as NZ Growth Partners) as well as holding several executive roles with Westpac NZ.
She is currently chair of several firms including Avanti Finance, Te Waka Pupuri Putea and Bells Produce and director of the Taitokerau Investment Fund.
Devon founder and chair, Paul Glass, said in statement: “June obviously brings a wealth of experience in the financial services sector and has an impressive background in governance.”
Meanwhile, Bill Stromberg, T Rowe Price chief, announced his retirement last week after 35 years at the US-based growth investment firm.
Current T Rowe Price group chief investment officer, Rob Sharps, will step into the lead role as of January 1 next year.
Alan Wilson, T Rowe Price independent director, said in a release that Sharps’ appointment was “the culmination of a thoughtful and planned transition”.
The move was “a testament to the confidence we have in [Sharps] as a steward of our culture and the right leader to guide T. Rowe Price through its next chapter of growth”, Wilson said. “As we execute our strategic priorities amid a rapidly evolving business environment, Rob’s proven leadership abilities; investment track record; and commitment to our clients, our people, and our core values make him uniquely qualified to lead the firm.”
The Baltimore-headquartered T Rowe Price has about US$1.6 trillion under management including several NZ institutional clients and more than $260 million sourced via a portfolio investment global growth equities fund offered by Harbour Asset Management.
In a rare event, an Australian financial advisory industry association has hired a New Zealander to lead the organisation.
Former chief of the NZ Law Society, Helen Morgan-Banda, was slated to shift across the Tasman to assume the top job at the life insurance-weighted Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) this week, replacing Phil Kewin. Kewin resigned as AFA head earlier this year to take up the comparable job at the National Insurance Brokers Association.
Prior to her stint at the NZ Law Society, Morgan-Banda was Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners chief. She also has previous corporate affairs experience in NZ with AMP and ANZ.
AFA president, Michael Nowak, said in a release: “Over the course of her career, Helen has managed significant disruption, akin to that currently being experienced by financial advisers. She has demonstrated a deep understanding of the issues being faced by our members and the broader industry and we believe she is the right person to lead us into the future.”
Rival Australian advisory industry group, the Financial Planning Association (FPA), is also set to lose a long-time leader with chief, Dante De Gori, resigning last week after 12 years in the job. De Gori will end his marathon FPA effort at the end of this year.