Latitude appoints CEO successor to Fahour; APRA on the hunt for a Chief Data Officer to serve under new Technology and Data division; and the FMA appoints new head of Strategy and Design.
Australia
– Latitude Group has appointed a new Managing Director and Chief Executive to succeed Ahmed Fahour after his four-and-half years in the role, with Bob Belan (pictured) promoted to the role.
Belan, who founded digital mortgage lender Symple Loans back in 2018, currently serves as Latitude’s Executive General Manager of its Money Division. Latitude acquired Symple back in November 2021.
Latitude confirmed the role was filled after “an extensive global search”.
Belan has more than two decades’ experience in leading consumer finance businesses across Australia, Asia and the USA, including co-founding Symple, as well as serving at senior levels in ANZ, JP Morgan Chase and American Express.
Latitude Chair Mike Tilley, commenting on the new CEO/MD’s appointment, said: “It is very pleasing that after embarking on a global search over many months, the best candidate to lead Latitude through the next phase of its life as a listed entity was already part of our team.
“Bob has made an outstanding contribution to Latitude since joining in 2021, not only in the integration of Symple and Latitude’s personal and auto lending activities but also in his role as a leader across all facets of our business. Bob’s vision for the future of Latitude is aligned with that of the Board.”
Belan added that Latitude was “well positioned to capitalise on the opportunities… pivoting our strategies to achieve market-leading receivables growth, leveraging our inherent strengths to unlock our full commercial potential and ensuring laser focus on generating positive outcomes for our customers, employees and shareholders alike”.
Mike Tilley also extended his praise to outgoing CEO and MD Fahour for steering the Group through the Covid crisis.
“Ahmed has led Latitude through some of its most important and most difficult times, including its listing in 2021 at the height of Covid lockdown restrictions and through the significant customer and operational challenges of Covid over almost 2.5 years.”
– RACQ has appointed James Borg as its Head of Digital Strategy, with Borg announcing the move in a recent LinkedIn post.
He most recently served as ANZ’s Head of Digital and Insights Marketing within its institutional banking division.
As part of his role at ANZ, Borg oversaw “end-to-end carriage of all non-authenticated website initiatives across ANZ’s Institutional businesses”, as well as brand, communications and digital enablement solutions across all digital marketing channels.
Prior to ANZ, where he served for four-and-a-half years, Borg led global strategy and development for digital experiences for multivitamin and supplement company Swisse as Head of Digital.
He also worked with financial well-being company Australian Unity, most recently as Group General Manager of Digital Enablement, and held digital leadership positions at Suncorp and AGL.
– The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is on the hunt for a new Chief Data Officer.
The role will sit directly under new Executive Director of Technology and Data, Bruce Young, who was appointed last month to lead the division.
According to the job advert posted by the regulator, the position will be “responsible for working with key stakeholders to establish and implement APRA’s data and information strategy”.
“This will ensure APRA has the appropriate data frameworks, people, processes and systems for collection, management, storage, protection, sharing and reporting of data, to be used by APRA for analysis and insights to support their core functions; and enable APRA to deliver on its secondary mandate as the data collection agency for the financial sector.”
As part of its strategic function, the role will “set the strategic direction and business plan of the data branch consistent with the technology and data plan and APRA corporate plan”.
Additionally, the new Chief Data Officer will “develop data procedures and policies, and work closely with various departments to collect, prepare, organise, protect, and analyse data assets while ensuring that APRA meets the required governance and privacy standards.”
– Bupa has announced the appointment Kelly Heintz as interim Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific (APAC).
Heintz has 30 years’ commercial experience across finance, strategy, transformation and operational roles.
She steps in for current CFO Nick Stone, who himself, from 1 April, steps up as Bupa APAC’s interim Chief Executive.
Heintz most recently served as Executive General Manager, Finance and Commercial at Toll Global Logistics.
She has also held senior roles in finance, strategy and transformation functions including General Manager, Parcels and Deputy CFO at Australia Post, General Manager Finance and Tax at Linfox and Senior Manager at EY.
Commenting on the appointment, Stone said: “Kelly is truly passionate about delivering high quality, commercial and timely financial advice to her stakeholders and customers and I know she will be a valuable member of the executive and wider Bupa team.”
The executive leadership changes follow current APAC Chief Executive Hisham El-Ansary’s decision to step down last year after 15 years at the company, including almost four years as CEO.
Bupa said it has commenced an international executive search for its Chief Executive, which includes both external and internal candidates. The health insurer is expected to name a permanent successor later this year.
Heintz will commence in the position on 6 March.
– Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA’s) institutional banking & Markets (IB&M) division has appointed Deborah Leerhsen as Executive General Manager Global Client Solutions and Sally Reid as Executive General Manager Capital Structuring.
Andrew Hinchliff, CBA’s Group Executive Institutional Banking & Markets, said the appointments were key to supporting CBA’s corporate and institutional clients.
“We are investing to take our capabilities to the next level in key areas such as capital structuring and ESG,” Hinchliff said.
“We recognise that in addition to the banking services they require to operate their businesses, many of our clients are focused on financing solutions that broaden their funding profile or looking for financial solutions that address specific business problems or market opportunities.”
Leerhsen joins CBA from Mizuho Bank where she was Deputy Head of Asia & Oceania Corporate Banking.
Reid will take on role of Executive General Manager Capital Structuring after three years leading CBA’s Global Client Solutions.
– Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has announced the creation of a new Chief of Retirement role, focused on the “execution of retirement strategy… strategic leadership and guidance in the provision of all elements of the retirement offer, including product, investments, service model and advice” for the superannuation fund.
Commenting on the changes, Chief Executive Bernard Reilly said: “As we approach our one-year anniversary as Australian Retirement Trust, the time was right to consider our executive structure, ensuring we’re best placed to manage our expected growth and deliver on our commitment to our 2.2 million members.
“We believe our operating model will ensure we are providing market-leading support for our members up to and through retirement.
“This is an important step as we strive to empower our members to retire well with confidence.”
– The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has appointed Darren Yip as its new Group Executive, Markets.
Managing Director and Chief Executive of the ASX Helen Lofthouse welcomed Yip “as a seasoned executive who can bring great customer insights and international best practice to join our leadership team”.
“Darren’s collaborative approach, deep markets knowledge, sound risk management skills and ability to galvanise change within industry regulations will add further depth to a highly capable Markets leadership team.”
Yip brings more than 20 years’ experience in global financial markets with a background in prime brokerage and equity markets.
He most recently served as Morgan Stanley’s Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Brokerage from 2013 to 2021, spending 12 years leading teams in the Asia Pacific from his base in Hong Kong.
Yip will commence in his role from 13 March 2023.
– Payments giant Visa has appointed Martyna Lazar as Head of Risk for Visa in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific (AuNZSP).
As part of the role, Lazar is responsible for “championing security in the industry, representing Visa with local government, banking and law enforcement agencies to maintain and enhance the integrity of the payments ecosystem”.
Lazar brings more than 10 years of risk and compliance experience to the credit card giant, having held leadership roles in payments, risk and fraud management, as well as network and regulatory compliance.
She most recently served as Adyen’s Head of Risk and Compliance for Asia Pacific, having built the function for the region.
Julian Potter, Group Country Manager of Visa in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, said: “Martyna’s appointment comes at a crucial time, with security top of mind for our banking and merchant partners and consumers alike.
“Her work in securing the merchant and payment ecosystem regionally, with a particular focus on e-commerce, will further enhance our security credentials and contribute to the overall integrity of the payments ecosystem.”
Based in Sydney, Lazard serves as a member of Visa’s Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific Leadership Team. She commenced the new role in February 2023
Departures
– Macquarie Capital has lost its Group Data Officer and Head of Data and Analytics Stuart Brown, with the data leader announcing his departure on LinkedIn.
Brown, who served more than four-and-half years at Macquarie Capital, noted his and his team’s role in establishing the business’s “first data and analytics function”.
He added that the team’s “data transformation agenda” took it “from governing regulatory data feeds to transforming senior management reporting, building out analytics and performance reporting for our middle offices, leveraging group investments to create our data asset, and enabling our bankers with market monitoring analytics that help anticipate meaningful dialogue with our clients”.
“I feel like my work here is done and the team is in strong standing for the next chapter,” he wrote.
An experienced data and information head, Brown previously served at Sydney Water as Information Strategy & Standards Manager, and prior to this as telco Optus’ Data Quality Lead.
– Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has announced Teifi Whatley, Chief Strategy Officer, will retire at the end of March after more than two decades in the super industry.
Whatley previously served at Sunsuper in roles spanning brand, marketing, technology and strategy.
ART’s Chief Member Officer Karin Muller will also step down to “pursue opportunities outside of the fund”. She will remain with ART until the end of March.
Karin joined QSuper in 2015 and has held roles across information technology, transformation and member services.
“Teifi and Karin played a significant role in delivering our merger and our first year as ART. Their hard work, commitment and unwavering dedication to our members will leave a lasting legacy”, said ART Chief Executive Bernard Reilly.
A search is currently underway to fill the two vacant roles of Chief of Retirement and Chief Member Officer.
New Zealand
– The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has appointed Daniel Trinder as Executive Director – Strategy and Design.
In the role, Trinder will lead the design and execution of strategy for the regulator, including responsibility for functional teams comprising economic-based analytics, research and insights, strategy and planning, policy, and external relations and communications.
Trinder joins the NZ fin services regulator from his most recent role with Binance, and prior to this in senior global roles at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.
The FMA acknowledged Trinder’s more than 25 years’ experience in strategy, policy and regulatory affairs, including senior roles at HM Treasury in the UK, the IMF, international investment banking firms, as an advisor to central banks and international organisations, and as a consultant on strategy, policy, and governance to several firms and institutions.
Samantha Barrass, FMA’s Chief Executive, praised Trinder as “an exceptional appointment for the FMA, bringing world-class talent and experience to our enterprise leadership team”.
“Daniel has extensive global experience of financial services, international regulators, and stakeholder management – across both commercial and government sectors.”
“In setting the design for our strategic direction, Daniel’s leadership experience will ensure the FMA brings an enhanced focus to our use of economic insights, data and intelligence, policy expertise, and the successful communication of our purpose to all our stakeholders.”
Trinder is expected to join the FMA in June.
– NZ Super Fund has appointed Paul Shucksmith as a Senior Data Scientist.
The appointment sees the expansion of NZ Super’s five-person data analytics team.
Shucksmith reports to Kathryn Kerner, who heads up the NZ Super’s Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, working with the team that was recently set up inside the sovereign wealth fund’s larger investment team.
Shucksmith previously worked as a research scientist before joining Kiwiwealth in 2016 as a Python developer.
He recently served as lead quantitative developer at Kiwiwealth, supporting code and data operation of a large quantitative global equity portfolio.
“Paul has strong predictive modelling experience to support Investment decision-making and joins the team to lead data analytics projects, to build analytical solutions, and to support Guardians in data science,” said Kerner.
“With Paul’s appointment, we are a five-person team.”
Board
– Westpac has appointed Tim Burroughs and Michael Ullmer AO to its board as Independent Non-Executive Directors.
The appointments replace former directors Steven Harker and Peter Marriott.
Westpac Chair John McFarlane said: “We are delighted to welcome Tim and Michael to the board as we continue the process of board renewal. Westpac will benefit greatly from their respective extensive experience in the financial services industry, including management experience in regulated entities in Australia and internationally.”
Burroughs brings more than 40 years’ experience in finance, international banking and M&A. He was formerly Chair of Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs Australia, where he served for 11 years.
Ullmer has more than 40 years’ experience in international banking, finance and professional services. Ullmer is Chair of Lendlease Corporation and was formerly Non-Executive Director of Woolworths Limited.
Notably, he was Deputy Group Chief Executive of National Australia Bank (NAB) from 2007 to 2011.
– MLC Life Insurance has appointed Craig Dunn as Independent Non-Executive Director.
Dunn will also serve as Chair of MLC’s Board People, Remuneration and Culture Committee and as a member of the Board Risk Committee and Board Audit Committee.
MLC recognised Dunn’s more than 25 years of experience in financial services, including as Chief Executive of AMP Limited between 2008-2013.
He is currently a Director of Telstra Group Limited and Chair of the Telstra Board Audit Committee and Board Risk Committee.
Dunn was previously a member of the Financial Services Advisory Committee, the Australian Financial Centre Forum, the Consumer and Financial Literacy Taskforce and a Panel member of the Australian Government’s Financial System Inquiry.
He is also a former Chair of the Investment and Financial Services Association (now the Financial Services Council), the Australian Government’s Fintech Advisory Group and Australia’s leading fintech innovation hub, Stone & Chalk.
– The ASX has announced Rob Woods will resign from its board, effective 14 March 2023.
Woods has been a Non-Executive Director of ASX Limited since January 2020 and has served on the boards of ASX’s clearing and settlement companies since 2015. He is a past Chair of ASX Clear Pty Limited and ASX Settlement Pty Limited.
Current ASX Chair Damian Roche said the “ASX has benefitted from seven years of Rob’s service across the various positions he has held, and the Board and I want to express our appreciation for his deep and considered contribution, as well as his wise counsel over the time we’ve worked together”.
“Rob has been a highly valued member of our Board and while we’re all disappointed to see him leave. [We] wish him all the best.”
To facilitate succession planning, Peter Marriott has agreed to extend his tenure on the ASX Limited board until the conclusion of the Board meeting scheduled in August.
– New Zealand’s Co-Operative Bank has announced two directors are retiring “by rotation”: Helen van Orton (who is also a director of Co‑operative Life Limited) and Brett Sutton (Deputy Chair and Chair of the Audit Committee).
Both have confirmed they are willing to stand for re-election and the Board strongly endorses their nominations and re-appointment.
Nominations open on Monday 13 March 2023.
– HESTA has announced that Investment Committee Chair and Independent Director Mark Burgess will leave the Board at the end of his term in June 2023, with Burgess to assume a new board role at Australian Retirement Trust (ART).
HESTA Chief Executive Debby Blakey recognised Burgess’s role in a “period of significant growth at [HESTA], including the building of an internal team initially to manage Australian Equities and now fixed interest and cash”.
“When Mark joined us, we were appointing a new CIO and were embarking on a bold and exciting vision for the future of investments at HESTA,” Blakey said.
“Mark has been a much-valued source of insight and guidance over many years that’s supported us to keep building the capacity of our investment team to deliver strong, long-term investment performance for our more than one million members in the years ahead.”
HESTA said it is finalising Burgess’s replacement, who is due to start on 1 July 2023.
– Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has appointed three new members to its board of directors and Investment Committee.
The three new appointments bring “vast experience from leadership positions in global financial services, investments and governance roles”, ART said.
- Mark Burgess – Currently a board member and Investment Committee Chair of HESTA, Burgess will join ART as a Director of the ART Board and a Member of the Investment Committee in mid-2023. Burgess is a former Managing Director of the Future Fund. He has held roles as both Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer for major investors and financial institutions internationally and in Australia.
- Linda Apelt – Apelt joins as a Director of the ART Board. Apelt was formerly Agent-General for Queensland in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Trade and Investment Commissioner for Queensland in Europe and Sub-Sahara Africa.
- Guy Debelle – Dr Debelle joins as an external Adviser to the ART Investment Committee. Debelle served at the Reserve Bank of Australia for 25 years, including as Deputy Governor for six years. He also recently held a role as Chief Financial Officer and he is a director at global green energy company Fortescue Future Industries. Dr Debelle previously chaired the climate change working group of the Australian Council of Financial Regulators.
Commenting on the appointments, ART Chair Andrew Fraser said: “All three of our new appointees are exceptional leaders in their own right and we’re proud to have them join Australian Retirement Trust.”
The Director appointments replace vacancies that arose on the Board in late 2022.
Apelt’s appointment was effective from 27 January 2023, with Dr Debelle’s from 25 February 2023. Burgess will join the Board in mid-2023.