Griffin steps back from Gunther Doyle Griffin

The formerchairman of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Ray Griffin, has decided to leave the high profile Gunther Doyle Griffin planning group.

The move, which comes less than two years after Griffin merged his practice with that of Greg Gunther and Geoff Doyle to form Gunther Doyle Griffin, was made largely on personal grounds.

Griffin says he made a “lifestyle choice” to step back from a group with ambitious growth plans while he was recovering from an emergency back operation over the past few months.

“Gunter Doyle Griffin has long-term growth plans which would have required a big commitment to travel and that was something that I wanted to remove myself from,” Griffin says.

Griffin will now concentrate on managing his own Tamworth-based planning business, Griffin Financial Planning.

Griffin’s departure comes just one week after the Toowoomba headquartered Gunther Doyle Griffin opened its first practice in Brisbane.

Gunther Doyle Griffin chief executive and current FPA director Greg Gunther says the Brisbane office is part of the group’s push to establish a greater presence in larger metropolitan centres.

However, Gunther says the group is unlikely to seek a new partner to fill the gap left by Griffin.

“The reasons why we got together with Ray in the first place were about Ray himself,” Gunther says.

“From our perspective there is disappointment [in Griffin’s departure] but you have to face the reality that this is what Ray is feeling.”

Griffin will formally de-merge his practice from Gunther Doyle Griffin over the next few months.

He will continue in his role as the chairman of the International Certified Financial Planner (CFP) council, a position he was elected to in April.