Following a period of rapid growth the Auckland-headquartered fund administration firm MMC has created two new top executive roles focusing on transformation and human resources.
Under the changes, current chief operating officer (COO), Chris Watson, has assumed the role of chief transformation officer (CTO).
As CTO, Watson is charged with heading the Transformation Management Office (TMO), established to “manage both internal and client driven change as well as any future client transitions”, MMC chief, Vedran Babic, said in a statement last week.
“Chris’ expertise and experience in helping scale MMC’s operations in the last decade, along with overseeing numerous successful client transitions, makes him the perfect candidate for this role,” Babic said.
MMC is currently recruiting (via Hobson Leavy) for both a replacement COO as well as the newly created position of Chief People and Capability Officer (CPCO).
The company, now occupying three floors in a lower Queen St Auckland office building, has grown to about 150 staff after absorbing the formerly ASB-owned Aegis platform (rebranded as MMC Wealth Administration) this year.
“As we grow we need to ensure that we are relentlessly investing in best practice people too, as they are at the very heart of what we do,” Babic said. “We are continuing to prioritise our people and foster a culture in which they can learn, grow and succeed and a CPCO will play a critical role in helping us to achieve this.”
As part of the executive alterations, Nicola Tait, takes on the new job title of chief client officer (formerly, chief relationship officer), heading the renamed Client Success team, previously known as Relationship & Communications.
In August this year, MMC hired Jacky Hollingsworth to the newly established chief financial officer position, joining Babic, Watson, Tait, Craig Richardson (chief information officer) and chief risk officer, Leigh Ryland in the C-suite.
Including MMC Fund and Wealth Administration, the firm holds about $90 billion of assets on behalf of more than 100 clients across funds management, financial advisers and other product providers.