Tower names new financial officer
Tower Australiahas appointed John de Zwart as its new chief financial officer, reporting to chief executive Jim Minto and the Tower Group’s chief financial officer, William Giesbers.
A chartered accountant with 15 years in the financial industry working within life insurance markets, de Zwart has previously held a number of senior management roles with Credit Suisse First Boston andAMP.
De Zwart will be responsible for the implementation of the group’s financial processes, with Tower Limited aiming to standardise financial reporting across all Tower companies.
On the appointment, Minto says, “John’s experience in the industry and his involvement in change practices will be highly advantageous to Tower Australia as we focus and grow our operation.”
This appointment is the latest supporting the group’s strategy of refocusing Tower Australia’s business primarily on the risk market and related investments.
Tower recently signed on formerMLCwealth protection manager Jordan Hawke as national sales manager for the risk and investment business, and ex-Comminsure distribution head Michael Downey as national manager for the risk and alliance business.
Tower is also in the process of redefining its wealth management strategy, including the roles of dealer groupsBridgesand Pivotal, with former Royal & SunAlliance general manager sales and marketing Ken Brewer just appointed to head up the latter.
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.
