Hibberd ends stint at AFA
John Hibberd has drawn the curtains on his three year tenure as president of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA).
Hibberd will stand down from the association's board at its annual conference at the end of October to be replaced by Brisbane adviser Joe Nowak, while Bernie Toohey from Victoria will take on the role of vice-president.
Nowak was president of the association in 1989 and Queensland state president in 1984 and is currently a serving director for Queensland. Toohey has also been involved at the board level in the past, representing both Victoria and Tasmania.
Hibberd headed up the AFA for three years, the first year as acting president, and says he is the longest serving president in more than a decade. He has also spent eight years on the board of the AFA and 10 years serving on committees.
Nowak is set to take over from Hibberd after voting at the AFA's annual general meeting which will be held at the conference for the first time.
Both Nowak and Toohey are single nominations and are expected to assume their board positions at the end of the year.
Hibberd says association members will also decide at the conference whether to restrict board members' terms to a single year. If passed, board members may stand again but will need to be renominated and elected each year.
Hibberd says he will maintain an active role in the industry after standing down but will .
"If anything at all it will be international work as I am involved in the Asia Pacific Life Insurance Council and the International Advisers Forum, which is the peak global body for groups like the AFA," Hibberd says.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
Recommended for you
A strong demand for core fixed income solutions has seen the Betashares Australian Composite Bond ETF surpass $1 billion in funds under management, driven by both advisers and investors.
As the end of the year approaches, two listed advice licensees have seen significant year-on-year improvement in their share price with only one firm reporting a loss since the start of 2025.
Having departed Magellan after more than 18 years, its former head of investment Gerald Stack has been appointed as chief executive of MFF Group.
With scalability becoming increasingly important for advice firms, a specialist consultant says organisational structure and strategic planning can be the biggest hurdles for those chasing growth.
