ASB is looking for a new general manager of wealth following the departure of long-time incumbent, Jonathan Beale.
Beale ended his eight-year stint at ASB last month to take up the managing director partnership role at Tower Insurance where a former colleague, Blair Turnbull, was appointed CEO last August.
Turnbull was ASB head of wealth and insurance for about two years ending December 2013. More recently he was based in the UK for six years as managing director retail and digital for financial services conglomerate, Aviva.
At the Commonwealth Bank of Australia-owned ASB, the UK-born Beale was “responsible for advice given and development of all wealth products such as KiwiSaver”, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Prior to ASB, worked at Westpac and AMP after moving to NZ in 2002.
The storied NZX-listed Tower now operates as a general insurer, simplifying a once-complex diversified financial services business that straddled life insurance and investments. Fisher Funds bought the Tower investment are in 2012, including the group’s KiwiSaver scheme.
In a note, Tower confirmed Beale started at the firm in December last year with Emily Davies, formerly with Airways NZ, also poised to board the insurer next month as head of corporate communications.
“Jonathan joins us from ASB and brings over 25 years of financial services and leadership experience across several high performing businesses in New Zealand,” the Tower note says.
Beale’s exit coincided with the departure of Chris Wilson from the ASB wealth team where he was investment strategy manager.
ASB is the second-largest retail fund manager in NZ with over $17 billion in assets under management, including $12.5 billion in its KiwiSaver fund (the largest single scheme). The ASB scheme is one of the nine current KiwiSaver default providers anxiously awaiting the government review process due to conclude by the end of this quarter. ASB was unable to comment.
Across the Tasman Platinum Asset Management portfolio manager, Joseph Lai, resigned last week. Lai was manager of the Asia ex Japan strategies for the Platinum Asia Fund, which has some following among NZ investors. Andrew Clifford, CIO and co-manager of Platinum’s global strategies, has assumed Lai’s investment duties as the firm finalises an internal replacement.
Meanwhile, long-time Milliman Australia consultant, Wade Matterson, has departed the risk management specialist firm. Matterson joined Milliman in 2004, taking on the practice lead role three years later.
Matterson has worked with some NZ groups including the flexible annuities provider, Lifetime Income Group, where he helped design its risk management overlay strategy.
In a LinkedIn post, Matterson said he would take time off before embarking on his next career move.
“Most of all, my thanks go to the Milliman staff – both past and present – that I have had the honour and privilege to work with and serve over many years,” he says.