Newnham departs BT

BT institution Steve Newnham is leaving the group after 13 years to head up distribution at Zurch Financial Services.

BT institution Steve Newnham is leaving the group after 13 years to head up distribution at Zurch Financial Services.

Newnham was in charge of the group’s national retail distribution business, as well as being a member of BT Australia’s funds management operations committee.

He says his new role at Zurich will allow him to “move into a more broader product range” which includes life and risk insurance products on top of the superannuation and general investment products he was responsible for at BTFM.

“It’s really very much a change in career direction,” he says of the move.

It is now about seven months since BT Funds Management was bought up by US-based managers The Principal Group. In the months preceding the sale and shortly afterwards, inflows into BT products fell as a result of several hold recommendations being placed on the group by research houses, such as Assirt.

Newnham says BTFM has since recovered, posting record flows in January.

“The timing was right (for the move). We went through the sale process and then faced six months of rebuilding.”

Zurich chief executive officer Malcolm Jones says the appointment of Newnham puts in place the basic management structure for his group to complete its transformation from an insurance-based organisation into a full financial services provider.

“Steve is one of Australia’s leading experts in the field of financial services distribution and has excellent credentials to fulfil this challenging role,” Jones says.

“This appointment means we now have in place the heads of our three key business areas, with Lester Doecke as head of market development and John Butler as head of production.

“With these three positions now filled, Zurich is well placed to execute our amibitious new business strategy.”