Tasmanian Trustees is looking at boosting its funds management business through internal growth and its new joint-venture banking operation with Bendigo Bank, says new chief executive officer Mark Scanlon.
Tasmanian Trustees is looking at boosting its funds management business through internal growth and its new joint-venture banking operation with Bendigo Bank, says new chief executive officer Mark Scanlon.
“We are looking at exploiting our position as a fund manager to create growth,” Scanlon says.
The trustee company has about $450 million of funds under management and has recently introduced a balanced fund to its range of products. The management of the funds has been outsourced to managers such as Macquarie, Merrill Lynch and Colonial First State.
Scanlon says the manager-of-managers approach will continue and he expects further new products to come from this direction.
Apart from the traditional trustee business, the firm has a financial planning arm which Scanlon sees as a potential area for developing new business. The planning arm has its own dealer’s licence.
The banking joint venture will be opening five branches shortly and, again, Scanlon expects this to be a source of increased business for the funds management operations.
“The joint venture is branded both Tasmanian Trustees and Bendigo, but we will run the funds management side of the business,” he says.
Scanlon has also been appointed managing director of the joint venture. Before joining Tasmanian Trustees last week, he was previously chief executive of the Bass Building Society in Tasmania and prior to that general manager marketing at Australian Unity.
