ING names new RetireInvest head

INGhas ended months of industry speculation in relation to management of itsRetireInvestdealer group with the appointment of formerSnowball Groupgeneral manager distribution, George Haramis.

Haramis will assume his new role on November 17, and fills the position left vacant since early August by the then general manger, David Phelan.

Haramis, who has 20 years industry experience, will assume the same title as Phelan and joins the group after a brief spell as principal withMercer HR Consulting, prior to which he spent three and a half years with Snowball.

ING executive director equity distribution Tony Hartley says Haramis’ appointment is partly based on his solid track record in the areas of distribution, sales and marketing.

“Haramis’ skills in building strong relationships among proprietors of small businesses and his experience in implementing organisational change make him ideally suited to lead RetireInvest through its next stage of growth,” Hartley says.

Hartley had taken on responsibility of Haramis’ role since August, while many of his duties were divided among other ING dealer group executives, with national manager strategy Steve Thomson, national manager corporate business Vicki Ampoulos, national risk and compliance manager Steve Quine, operations manager Jeffrey Lehner and the state manager team all chipping in to take on some of the work.

Haramis will also be responsible for bolstering and growing RetireInvest’s franchise model.

Chairman of RetireInvest’s internal adviser forum, the Proprietor’s Advisory Council (PAC), Vince Vozzo, says “PAC is pleased to have Haramis on board, because of his background and understanding at the grass-roots level of the problems and issues faced by franchise owners and advisers”.