Beacon Financial Services has replaced its head of compliance after the incumbent left to start an outsourced compliance service.
According to Beacon chief executive Peter Daly, Brendan Barratt has left the group and has been replaced by Jan Blanchette, a solicitor and former compliance manager for the Titanium Group. The Titanium Group merged with Financial Link in May last year and Barratt held the role of head of compliance with the latter.
The move is the second departure from the combined management teams that were drawn together at the time of the merger. The other departure was that of David Bertram, who headed up distribution at Titanium Group and was to take this role over into Beacon.
However Bertram did not join the group and in September last year declared himself bankrupt after facing a claim of $1.7 million for advice provided while he was an authorised representative of WealthSure.
Other senior staffers involved in the merger — including Andrew Blanchette, who was a Titanium Group director and took on the role of chief operating officer, and Financial Link managing director Martin Lowe who took on role of head of adviser services — remain with the group.
The merged entity has also dropped the Titanium Group brand and has moved all planners across to the Financial Link Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).
Daly said at the time of the merger between The Financial Link and Titanium Group there were plans to retain the two separate brands, but an internal planner board of advice recommended a single brand.
As a result the Titanium Group brand was dropped in favour of The Financial Link, which Daly said was a stronger brand in the financial services space.
Titanium's AFSL was returned to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in September last year.
Daly said Beacon was still searching for an accounting group to join the business and had yet to name a trustee and fund chair for a planner defence fund.
