Fisher Funds has confirmed a management clean-out for Kiwi Wealth with chief executive, Rhiannon McKinnon, and three other senior executives to exit over the next few months.
As well as McKinnon, other senior Kiwi Wealth leaders set to leave include: chief investment officer, Steffan Berridge; chief customer officer, Morne Redgard; and, chief technology officer, Craig Ward.
Bruce McLachlan, Fisher Funds chief, will take over as head of the combined business while chief investment officer for the Takapuna-based manager, Ashley Gardyne, also assumes the same role across the Kiwi Wealth assets.
The new management line-up also includes other existing Fisher and a handful of Kiwi Wealth executives in addition to new chief financial officer, Andrew Donaldson.
Donaldson joined Fisher in January this year, replacing Jody Kaye who shifts to a full-time Kiwi Wealth integration under the ‘Project Tahi’ codename. Fisher distribution head, Sharon McKay, will also work with Kaye on Project Tahi.
Fisher bought Kiwi Wealth last November for $310 million, flagging plans to integrate the formerly government-owned investment and KiwiSaver provider into its existing operations.
“We’ve now started the process to integrate the Kiwi Wealth and Fisher Funds businesses, starting with changes to the Kiwi Wealth leadership team,” the Fisher note says.
Despite the widely expected top-level cuts announced this week, McLachlan said Fisher would keep many of the Kiwi Wealth employees and retain a “significant presence” in Wellington.
He said Fisher would likely replace the Kiwi Wealth brand by year-end but most of the products – notably the KiwiSaver scheme – would stay, albeit with some integration of underlying investments.
“We also see opportunities to modernise the infrastructure of the [Kiwi Wealth] private portfolio service and expand what it offers – including for Fisher clients,” McLachlan said.