Browne leaves FinWis for new CFS role

Colonial First State has appointed key senior managers to four new roles within its Colonial First State Advice Business leadership team. The posts, which are effectively immediately, will see existing staff appointed to new positions following the restructuring of the firm.

Tim Browne, formerly general manager of Financial Wisdom, is now head of advice delivery. A permanent replacement is also being sought for Browne, who will continue to oversee the operations of Financial Wisdom during the transition period.

John Carnevale, previously head of distribution services, becomes head of advice academy and Matthew Brown has been appointed head of advice development. Brown was formerly head of distribution development.

In addition, Helen Blackford has been appointed head of advice business management in place of her former role as head of strategy at Commonwealth Financial Planning. Blackford will oversee business support, operations and communication.

The roles previously held by Carnevale, Brown and Blackford have been dissolved in the restructure and as such will not be refilled.

All senior managers will report directly to Paul Barrett, general manager at Colonial First State Advice Business, which was created following Colonial First State's restructuring of its financial planning businesses into a single entity in September. The reshuffle brought Colonial First State Financial Planning, BankWest, Financial Wisdom, Whittaker McNaught and Advice Essentials under one umbrella.

Barrett said the Advice Academy, to be led by Carnevale, was designed to improve the education of its existing adviser force, rather than as a recruitment strategy. Barrett hopes the education centre will lead to higher education levels both from an adviser and client perspective. He wants to see clients educated to a level where they can articulate the theory of their investment strategies to other lay people.

Barrett said Browne's objective in his advice delivery role would be to improve the group's processes across compliance and client communication, including Statements of Advice. Barrett said Browne would continue the work already undertaken to reduce the length of Statements of Advice and reduce turnaround times.