Assirtchief executive Krystyna Weston has announced her departure from the research house to take up the role of head of retail distribution with AMP Henderson Global Investors.
Weston will take on the role vacated by John Anderson who has moved to Madras in India to head up AMP Henderson’s recently launched life insurance joint venture, AMP Sanmar Life.
Weston has been with Assirt for 18 months and took on the role of chief executive when Brett Sanders moved up to become the chief executive of Wealthpoint, the parent company of Assirt.
AMP says it has not yet decided when Weston will begin working with the group. However, Assirt and Weston have both indicated that their relationship will be concluded this week to avoid any perceived conflict of interest ahead of Weston’s departure.
“Krystyna will finish with Assirt at the end of the week. It will be a cleaner break to do it sooner to avoid any conflicts of interest and is being done at her suggestion,” Sanders says.
Assirt has yet to name a replacement for Weston, according to Sanders, as Weston only indicated her intention to leave the research house last Wednesday.
“We will be considering a replacement strategy next week and at present are unsure where we will recruit from, as there is no natural place from which to recruit senior research house staff,” Sanders says.
However, he says there are potential candidates within the group and Assirt would consider those in the coming week.
Both Sanders and Weston have said the departure of Weston was not something that had been planned but was a response to an offer from the fund manager.
“I was not looking for this but was made an offer that was very compelling. I run businesses and came to Assirt to build a business, as I am not a researcher. In the new role, I will stay true to my skills in the areas of marketing and strategy,” Weston says.
Weston will report through to AMP Hendersons Asia/Pacific director of client services and marketing Stephen Dunne and will be responsible for working with low-end institutional groups, as well as the master trust, wrap and direct businesses.
Weston will also cover the key relationships with research houses and the dealer groups within AMP Financial Services.
