St George Banking Group has announced three key appointments within the advice area, and Zurich and Asteron have bolstered their regional teams.
The St George Banking Group, which represents St George Financial Planning, Bank SA Financial Planning and Bank of Melbourne Financial Planning, has added three new roles designed to position the group for growth.
The role of Head of Distribution, St George Financial Planning has been filled by Jason Dunn, while Annie Wong joins the team as Head of Business Operations. Both roles have responsibility for all three of the St George Banking Group advice brands.
Ian Knight will take on the role of Head of Financial Planning for Bank of Melbourne, where he will look to increase the number of planners to 50 within the next three years.
Head of Advice at St George Banking Group, Sean Allen, said: “The roles are new and the line-up impressive. This is an injection of intellect and energy into the business that will build our advice offer, grow our planner numbers and drive quality outcomes for customers.
“This is an exciting time in our financial planning businesses and, working in partnership with our banking colleagues, we look forward to delivering on our commitment to exceed our customers’ expectations,” he added.
In other appointment news, Zurich and Asteron have announced new appointments in their regional teams.
Zurich has appointed local underwriter Karl Bird to its Queensland team.
Mr Bird joins Zurich from AXA, where he worked as an underwriter for the past five years.
General Manager Sales and Marketing at Zurich, Philip Kewin, said he believed Mr Bird’s appointment would strengthen the Brisbane-based team.
“Zurich has experienced exceptional growth over the last two years, and we’ve been vigilant in ensuring our support capabilities keep pace with this growth.
“Having Karl aboard gives us the capacity to further grow our business whilst still providing high levels of localised support to advisers,” Mr Kewin said.
Asteron has also boosted its regional support with the appointment of Andrew Brigland as Sales Manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Brigland has more than 30 years industry experience, including 10 years running his own financial planning practice.
In his new role, Mr Brigland will be responsible for coaching advisers and key licensees on sales strategies, helping them to grow their risk revenue and maximise the support of Asteron’s local underwriting team.
Speaking about the appointment Stuart James, State Manager for South Australia, said: “Andrew has a strong reputation for assisting advisers to increase new business production and business valuations. His decade of financial planning experience will also be invaluable when working with his clients, as this gives him a deep understanding of their business. I’m confident he will increase Asteron’s continued success and presence in South Australia.”
