Forbes Fava Saville Financial Planning has created a new general manager of operations role to bolster its position in the financial advice industry.
Earlier in May this year, two Victoria-based financial advice practices – Forbes Fava Financial Planning and Finanalyze Financial Planning – completed a merger and rebranded to Forbes Fava Saville Financial Planning (FFSFP).
Operating from two offices in the Geelong and Melbourne area, the firm is focused on recruiting more financial planners to gain additional scale and implementing training programs to continually upskill their advisers and staff.
Beyond organic growth, joint ventures and alliances with professional advisory businesses remain an area of interest for Forbes Fava Saville to boost its growth trajectory.
The advice business has since appointed Gustavo Smarrini to the newly created general manager of operations role. Smarrini joins from Insignia Financial, where he worked as a practice development manager for more than 15 years. He also held similar positions at MLC and ING Bank.
In the new role, Smarrini will be responsible for a range of operational duties, including strategic planning, business growth, client communication and engagement, M&A, recruitment of talent and compliance.
Cameron Forbes, chief executive and senior financial planner at Forbes Fava Saville, said the general manager of operations role was identified as a “crucial keystone link” between the provision of advice and the growth of the firm.
“Gus’ depth of financial services experience, understanding of advice businesses and hands-on ability to proactively support advisory practices to deliver the highest standards of client advice and operational excellence made him the obvious choice,” the CEO described.
Commenting on his own appointment, Smarrini said: “This is an exciting time to join FFSFP. Our commitment to managed growth and a personalised boutique approach to the provision of professional financial advice aligns perfectly with my own values.”
Moreover, Forbes recognised a certain issue many advice practices face: recruiting new entrants alongside mature practitioners but having a large experience gap in between.
“Our goal is to implement an internal framework that nurtures and encourages a team-based approach to tackle and address the issues of today and tomorrow – hence the importance of Gus’ appointment as GM operations.”
“One of Gus’ key undertakings has been to bring new entrants and seasoned veterans together and develop an FFSFP pathway that provides career opportunities for advisers and administrative staff to flourish – including opportunities for financial advisory business owners to consider an alliance or succession solution with our group,” the chief executive added.
