Smartshares has shaken up its back-office team following the departure of chief operating officer, Helen McDowall, to a newly created role at the Medical Assurance Society (MAS).
Hugh Stevens, Smartshares chief, said the NZX-owned funds business had “disestablished” the COO position as part of a refocus of the operations function from transactional to client support services in line with the manager’s new default KiwiSaver obligations for the SuperLife scheme.
Under the restructure, the group has named James Page as head of operations with a brief to transform the typically impersonal back-office service into one targeting “the next generation of customer financial journeys”, Stevens said.
Page previously served in a customer services operational role for Environment Canterbury.
As a newly appointed default KiwiSaver provider, SuperLife must communicate with those members at key ‘life’ moments such as making a first-home withdrawal, nearing retirement and when reaching age 65.
Stevens said the operations team would now apply the same client engagement strategy across the entire NZX funds range.
“We will be able to keep better track of client financial needs over the long term and be more proactive in engaging with them,” he said.
Smartshares plans to make another senior customer-focused appointment soon.
The NZX reported about $7.8 billion in total funds under management as at the end of May (down from $8 billion plus in April) including $1.7 billion in the SuperLife KiwiSaver scheme.
Smartshares also manages $2.2 billion of externally sourced exchange-traded fund investments and more than $3 billion in employer superannuation after purchasing the $1.8 billion ASB master trust last year. The NZX will eventually integrate the ASB money with the SuperLife platform in a process expected to take 18 months or so.
Meanwhile, McDowall – who joined Smartshares in 2019 from AMP – will take up the head of investments and client development role at MAS. Focused primarily on providing financial services to the medical and associated professions, MAS opened up its previously restricted $1 billion plus KiwiSaver scheme to the wider retail market last year.