AXA appoints new Charter FP boss

AXA has moved quickly to appoint Paul Williams as its new national manager of Charter Financial Planning and Jigsaw Support Services.

Williams was previously Victorian state manager for the AXA Financial Advice Network, and replaces Bruce Birchall, who left in June for the LBA Group.

AXA Financial Advice Network general manger Andrew Waddell said it was good that the candidate for the position was an internal appointment.

“We like to create succession planning opportunities internally. In this case it was not the aim to replace internally, but we had a terrific candidate,” Waddell said.

“It was an easy decision to appoint Paul, and his experience working with the dealer groups has made him a good fit.”

Williams has been state manager for the past three years, and has a Diploma in Accounting and an MBA.

Replacing Williams as Victorian state manager is Brett Mennie, who was previously head of advice at Perpetual Private Clients.

Prior to this role, Mennie held various roles at Perpetual Investments.

Waddell said he would bring new skills and knowledge to the financial advice network at AXA.

“Brett will bring a lot of expertise from his work with private clients, and that is a good fit with our advice network,” he said.

AXA has also appointed Mark Fisher as the NSW state manager for the advice network.

Fisher was previously NSW state manager for National Australia Bank (NAB) Financial Planning.

He has held a number of positions with MLC and AMP in previous years, and holds a Bachelor of Business, Accounting, Banking and Finance from Griffith University.

“Mark has been heavily involved in practice management at NAB, and he brings those skills to AXA,” Waddell said.

All three take up their new positions on July 4.