Mosaic Financial Services Infrastructure has added another principal to its growing senior leadership team as the specialist consultancy firm gears up for more regulation-led change.
Former ASB financial advice lead, Damian Lawrence, is the latest addition to the Mosaic principal list that now sits at 12 including four recent recruits from the banking sector.
Along with Lawrence, the financial technology consultant has hired principals Virginia Douglas and Dee Lodhia from TSB Bank in the last 12 months while Sarah Inglis joined from Westpac late in 2021.
Myles Allan, Mosaic founder, said the NZ financial services industry is undergoing extensive change as new legislation such as the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act (or COFI) and full adviser licensing rules bed down.
“Our new principals have deep experience in risk and compliance across the NZ banking and financial services sector,” Allan said. “Like all our consultants, they have a thorough understanding of the practical challenges of implementing change and can give advice grounded in lived experience rather than high level generic advice which, while being valid may not easily yield an operational outcome.”
Lawrence spent more than nine years in senior risk positions at ASB after a three-year stint with the bank’s now-sold insurance subsidiary, Sovereign, as senior manager government and industry relations.
Meanwhile, Douglas served about nine years at the Insurance Ombudsman before joining TSB as head of line 1 risk in 2020.
Lodhia held a short-term contract with TSB in 2022 following senior risk roles at Westpac and ASB – Inglis also worked in similar positions at the latter two banks after several years in Australia with Russell Investments and Colonial First State.
Founded in 2010, Mosaic has expanding rapidly in the last few years, adding a string of partners such as well-known NZ wealth management executive, Tracey Berry (who also arrived from TSB) and ex Guardian Trust chief, Mark Jephson, in addition to principal consultants and other staff.
Mosaic currently employs 84 staff including back-office support and contracted consultants.