BT Financial Group (BT) announced a major restructure today which merges its bank distribution and insurance businesses into one division.
The new Bank Distribution and Insurance division will be headed up by Mark Smith, who will be responsible for the drive to earn more of Westpac customers’ superannuation, investment, advice and insurance business.
BT Chief Executive, Brad Cooper, said that given the pace of change in the wealth sector, flawless execution would be required from teams who are adept at not only responding to legislative change but also building innovative new offerings for customers.
“We are setting ourselves up to help our customers, advisers, dealer groups and the IFA market navigate the changes of unprecedented government reform and to help position them for the future.”
The group has also introduced a second new division, Business Transformation, which will be led by John Shuttleworth. The focus of this division will be on designing and building a new wealth platform.
David Lees will head the Superannuation and Investment business, which brings together BT Super for Life, Corporate Super, Advance Asset Management, Ascalon, BT Investment Management, and the BT Wrap and Asgard platforms.
The group advised there were no structural changes to the advice business, which includes Westpac, St George, BankSA, and Bank of Melbourne Financial Planning, and Securitor. Mark Spiers will continue to lead this division and is set to employ an additional 140 planners over the next three years.
