Insignia looks to asset manager for board hire
Former Russell Investments head of APAC, Jodie Hampshire, has joined the board of Insignia Financial.
Hampshire is expected to join the board from 1 May as an independent non-executive director, pending shareholder approval at its annual general meeting.
In her 20-year career in financial services, Hampshire spent 10 years at Russell Investments including two years as head of APAC and eight years as managing director for Australia and New Zealand. She previously worked at the firm between 2000 and 2006 in business and product development.
In between, she spent four years working in Dubai, two years at Mercer Investments, and began her career at Commonwealth Bank.
Hampshire left the global asset manager in September 2023, writing on LinkedIn that she was looking to “shift gears” in her career and start a portfolio career of board roles and writing.
Insignia chair, Allan Griffiths, said: “Jodie brings significant and practical C-suite experience to the board following an extensive career in the financial services sector. We are delighted to have Jodie join the board and look forward to her contribution.”
As well as Hampshire and Griffiths, the Insignia board consists of chief executive Scott Hartley, independent non-executive directors Andrew Bloore, Elizabeth Flynn, Gai McGrath, John Selak and Michelle Somerville.
The firm is currently in a transition phase following the exit of former chief executive Renato Mota earlier this year, who was replaced by Hartley. It described how it is focused on the four pillars of improving clients’ financial wellbeing, deepening partnerships with advisers and employers, simplifying the business, and building a safe and trusted business.
In its first half results, the firm reported an NPAT loss of $49 million and a 3.8 per cent increase in revenue in its advice division from $103.7 million to $107.6 million.
Speaking on a results webinar for shareholders, chief financial officer David Chalmers said: “It won’t be as strong in H2 as in the first half as there’s still a lot of work going through restructuring. For example, the exit of Godfrey Pembroke, and there will be losses of revenue associated with that divestment and another one-off costs, which will hit our profit and loss in the second half.
In February 2024, it executed a sale agreement with Practice Development Group to return ownership of Godfrey Pembroke to advisers under an existing arrangement from when Insignia acquired the business. Godfrey Pembroke was picked up by the firm as part of its acquisition of MLC Wealth. It also sold Millennium3 to WT Financial in December 2023.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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