Challenger creates advice services division
Annuity provider Challenger has tripled the size of its technical services team and expanded it to form a larger Advice Services Division, which will have a focus on education.
The division will be run by former head of Colonial First Sates's Institute of Advice, John Carnevale.
According to Challenger's chief executive of distribution, product and marketing, Paul Rogan, the launch of the new Advice Services Division was a response to the market's acceptance that investing in retirement is different.
"Retirement brings new risks which annuities are uniquely positioned to manage, which explains why in the last six months we've received double the number of queries from financial advisers about our lifetime products," Rogan said.
Challenger is also expanding its education offerings, which will include a university-level educational initiative focussed on the next-generation of financial advisers, Rogan added.
In creating the new division, the company had also made a number of key hires, including technical services manager Andrew Biviano from Fiducian and analysts Minh Ly and Esabel Thinnakone.
The company has also promoted Challenger's Natalie Bouquet to head of technical services, while Sean Howard has been appointed to the role of senior technical services manager.
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