Asteron, the financial services arm of listed insurer Promina, has restructured its Australasian senior ranks, resulting in a number of new appointments across the group.
Ex-IOOF adviser services national manager Paul Forbes joins as head of financial planning groups, while ex-Sagitta institutional business and adviser development manager Patricia Curtin signs-up as head of sales.
The group has also promoted the head of life risk business in Australia, Sean Carroll, to managing director of Asteron in New Zealand.
Forbes, who is due to start with Asteron next week, will take on the role of national dealer manager covering the Guardian FP and Cameron Walshe dealer groups, which have 160 advisers between the two groups.
Forbes left IOOF in February after a decision to restructure and consolidate the group’s executive sales role, effectively combining a number of roles into a single position. This restructure also saw the departure of head of retail distribution Mark Knight to Ausbil Dexia.
Curtin will take on the role of national sales manager, returning to financial services after concluding her role as joint head of integration of the Sagitta business into the BT Financial Group under Westpac.
In moving to New Zealand, Carroll will be tasked with lifting the return of the business, which has $250 million of in-force premiums, from 4 to 12 per cent. His position and possible replacement in Australia will be reviewed.
The national sales team will report through to Curtin, while manager of the Guardian and Cameron Walshe groups, Steve Browning, will report to Forbes, with both he and Curtin reporting through to head of sales and distribution Doug Kirkman.
Despite the additions, Asteron sales and marketing general manager Peter Jowett says the group is not restructuring further, having only moved Kirkman and Browning into their roles in November last year.
Guardian was originally set up in 2001 as a group designed to attract risk writers before the start of the Financial Services Reform Act, but Jowett says it has expanded its focus to cover the wider advice market.
As part of this expansion, the two groups were merged under one corporate structure in February this year and operate under one Australian Financial Services Licence, with Guardian aiming at risk insurance clients and wealth accumulators, while Cameron Walshe focuses on retirees.
