Rantall to chair publicly-listed fintech

Former Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive, Mark Rantall, has been appointed as chairman of a publicly-listed financial services start-up.

The company, Intiger Asset Management, announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that Rantall had been will be appointed as the chairman with the position becoming formal after a reverse takeover transaction is completed with Star Striker Limited.

As part of the reverse takeover process, Star Striker will seek to raise a minimum of $2.4million in capital via a prospectus. The firm has not yet set a date, but said it will occur ‘in the near future'.

Incumbent chairman of Star Striker, Matthew Walker said, Rantall is one of the most experienced and respected leaders in the history of Australian financial planning. He not only has 40 years' of financial planning experience but spearheaded the campaign to raise professional standards and education across the industry.

"We are delighted to have secured the services of Mr Rantall going forward, whose reputation and network are unparrelled within the Australian financial planning community. The appointment of a Chairman with his experience is considered a glowing endorsement of the Intiger platform and product offering," Walker said.

Prior to Rantall joining the FPA, he was involved in creating National Australia Banks' learning and development centre, the NAB Academy and was managing director of financial advisory firm Godfrey Pembroke.

The Intiger board already includes, founder and managing director, Mark Fisher and non-executive director, Patrick Canion, who is a former FPA board member.

Walker said, the industry is under greater cost and compliance pressure than ever before, and Initiger has proven capacity to reduce operational costs of financial planning practices across Australia but up to 40 per cent, which is it's contractual guarantee.

He said, young firms with "industry first Fintech" are challenged by a shallow pool of leadership but have overwhelming demand. The appointment of Rantall immediately overcomes this hurdle, so Intiger can drive "the most positive change the industry has experienced since the deregulation". Intiger offers two "industry first Fintech solutions", including the "financial planning industry's first offshore processing solution in the Philippines and India", said Walker.