People Moves

Ex-Rugby Star Scores CEO Role At Australian Wealth Advisor

Tara Loader Wilkinson Asia Editor 21 November 2011

Ex-Rugby Star Scores CEO Role At Australian Wealth Advisor

Phil Kearns, former captain of Australia’s national rugby union team, has been named CEO of Centric Wealth, helping to plug the gap left by a raft of senior departures in the summer.

Phil Kearns, the former captain of Australia’s national rugby union team, has been named chief executive officer of Centric Wealth, helping to plug the gap left by several senior departures in the summer.

Kearns played for the Wallabies from 1989 to 1999 and captained the team on ten occasions. He is one of Australia’s most capped and well-respected rugby figures. 

He will take the reins at the Australian wealth advisor from 12 December.

Phil Kearns joins Centric from South Africa's Investec, where he was corporate finance managing director. Here, he helped build the private bank's client base and introduced investors to innovative investment products, including aircraft and wind farm investment funds, said Centric chairman, David Shein, in a statement.

Before Investec he worked on a number of corporate transactions in wealth advisory and other industries and was a managing director of a human capital firm.

“The board and management are thrilled that Phil will be joining Centric as CEO.  The board evaluated a number of outstanding candidates for the role, and ultimately decided that Phil is best suited to lead the company,” Shein said.

Centric also announced that chief financial officer, Chris Powell, will take on the additional role of chief operating officer. Powell, who joined Centric in July, was formerly the regional CFO of Zurich Financial Services Australia and New Zealand, spanning the life, investments and general insurance businesses.

Shein said that with Powell’s and Kearn’s appointment, the senior management team is now complete. The Australian wealth manager suffered a number of defections from its senior ranks during the summer, following a reported shareholder dispute.

Former chief executive John McMurdo left the company suddenly in July, and was quickly followed by CFO Geoff Scott and company chairman Phil Kelly. Shein replaced McMurdo on an interim basis.

In total more than 10 executive and support staff are believed to have left the Australian wealth manager since McMurdo's departure, according to local media.

Last month Shein confirmed seven employees out of a list of 14 possible names as those who had left the company in recent months, according to a report in Australian trade publication InvestorDaily and reported here.

The Sydney-headquartered firm has $4.9 billion in assets under advice and $1.4 billion in loans under advice and other debt instruments.

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