ProfessionalInvestment Services(PIS) senior business development manager John Ntatsopoulos has been named to head up the fledgling New Zealand operations of the group.
Australia’s second largest financial planning network, is also close to expanding its international presence with the launch of new operations in Hong Kong and Japan.
Details of the expanded operations will be revealed over the coming weeks, says Queensland-based PIS chief executive Robbie Bennetts.
As for Ntatsopoulos, his role will now be two-fold as he becomes general manager for New Zealand while retaining his existing role as senior business development manager in Australia.
“John [Ntatsopoulos] will have a two pronged role. Partly he’s still looking after a number of our major accounts in Australia but he will also become general manager of New Zealand, spending one to two weeks over there a month,” PIS Sydney-based general manager Grahame Evans says.
“In our international operations it’s not only important to implement our business processes but also our culture into these businesses, because an important part of our overall business model is the PIS culture.”
PIS in New Zealand, which has been in operation for 18 months, has 40 accounting practice signatories, with 20 advisers servicing these practices.
“We needed somebody who had a full understanding of the culture and was willing to be away from home for a couple of weeks a month. John is a talented guy and well respected, and we thought he’d do a great job,” Evans says.
The New Zealand operation had been jointly managed to date by Bob Lissington and Allan Mearns, who will now report to Ntatsopoulos.
Lissington, who joined the New Zealand arm at its inception, previously worked for True North — a specialist accountancy advisory company that offers strategic management, business processing and mentoring services to practice firms.
Mearns was formerly with Sovereign, a Commonwealth Bank owned life company in New Zealand, and joined the group back in November 2002.
