Company non-executive chairman David 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, citing an anonymous letter.

The names included Centric senior risk manager Brian Zanker, implementation manager Chris Cutter, mergers and acquisitions manager John Hart, marketing manager Jon Slack and client experience and HR manager Judith Fiander.  

Those who had resigned from the company included head of investments Peter Dobriveck and director of portfolio construction Ashley Owen, the letter said.



Shein told the publication in response to the letter claiming 10 support staff had also left the group, that number appeared quite high.
"It sounds a lot. I can't think of 10 support staff leaving to be honest,” he said.

He said the possible reason behind the departures could be linked to former company chief executive John McMurdo. In July, McMurdo quit the company suddenly after a reported shareholder disagreement. He was joined by Centric chief financial officer Geoff Scott and company chairman Phil Kelly. Shein replaced McMurdo on an interim basis. 

But Shein insisted that it is business as usual, although he admitted some clients had left as a result of the departures. When asked by InvestorDaily whether the changes had led to the departure of any clients, he said: “Yes, but no different to anyone else in the industry and no different to what it was 12 months ago. We think our planners have done a phenomenal job. If we have lost business it would be industry related, not Centric related. Not one of our key advisers has left."



As well as the departures, Centric has made around seven hires, it said. Centric remained on track to select its new chief executive in the new year, Shein told the publication.  

Centric Wealth manages around $6 billion for Australian ultra wealthy investors.