Former Tower boss, Blair Turnbull, has emerged as the new chief executive for Milford Asset Management, replacing incumbent, Mark Ryland.
Turnbull resigned from Tower last November following a three-year stint with the insurer due to formally finish on February 12.
Meanwhile, Ryland will vacate the $22 billion plus boutique on March 12 after handing in his notice for the second time last September.
He was originally slated to exit Milford by March 31, 2024, but later agreed to stay beyond that date for an unspecified period before finalising his departure plans.
Anthony Quirk, Milford chair, said in a release: “As we welcome Blair to Milford, we extend our appreciation to Mark Ryland, who will step down as CEO on Blair’s commencement date. Mark has made an invaluable contribution to the business during his eleven-year tenure with the company, and we thank him for his ongoing support and commitment to a smooth transition of leadership”.
Ryland joined Milford as head of risk and compliance in 2014 from seminal NZ boutique, Brook Asset Management, where he served as managing director before the business folded.
In December 2018, Ryland took on the chief executive role, stepping in for ex-pat Australian, Troy Swann, who left after a two-year shift at the manager.
Since assuming the top job, Ryland has overseen rapid growth at Milford with assets under management quadrupling from about $6 billion in 2018 to more than $22 billion today.
Before his stint at Brook, he held several senior financial services industry roles including as head of the-then ASB bank-owned investment platform, Aegis (now part of the Apex NZ group).
Turnbull has a long history in the financial services sector both in NZ and the UK where he finished a six-year term as international and UK head of digital and retail for insurance giant, Aviva, in 2020.
Previously, he was ASB executive general manager wealth and insurance for almost two years to the end of 2013 following roles at AIA, Axa and ANZ among others.
Co-founded in 2003 as a high net worth investment firm by industry luminary, Brian Gaynor, Milford evolved into a retail fund powerhouse after the portfolio investment entity (PIE) regime emerged in 2007.
As well as launching a string of successful funds – notably the Active Growth strategy – Milford ventured into the KiwiSaver market in 2010 where it now reigns as fifth-largest provider.
Figures from Australian research house, Plan for Life, show Milford NZ retail funds under management hit about $22 billion as at the end of September last year. The manager also runs some wholesale money as well as about $1 billion in its Australian operation.