Iress’ Walsh joins board of advice boutique
Boutique advice firm Profile Financial Services has appointed the former Iress chief executive as an independent non-executive director.
Andrew Walsh is founder of financial planning software Xplan, which was acquired by Iress in 2003, and he went on to work as Iress’ managing director and chief executive for 13 years, part of a 21-year career with the company.
At the time, he said he was departing Iress “to pursue new opportunities” and was replaced by Marcus Price, who had been appointed as non-executive director at Iress in July 2022, as part of a succession planning process.
Since leaving Iress in January 2023, he has taken up various board positions and is chair and non-executive director at wealth platform provider Mason Stevens.
NSW firm Profile is a boutique firm of financial planners which is 100 per cent owned by current or former employers and was set up in 1986 by Garry Ohlsen. It has offices in Parramatta, Sydney and Mudgee, and is led by Lena Ridley as chief executive and Kurt Ohlsen as head of advice.
It describes itself as “delivering custom goal-based financial advice solutions to suit our clients’ exact needs” across investments, superannuation, insurance, retirement, estate planning and aged care.
Profile chair Peter Coleman said: “The business will benefit from Andrew’s knowledge, experience, and insights as we pursue future growth and seek new and innovative ways to protect and build our clients’ wealth.”
Walsh commented: “I’ve admired Profile Financial Services’ commitment to excellence and personalised financial advice for over 25 years. I am looking forward to contributing my expertise and helping to shape the exciting growth plans ahead.”
Last week, national advice firm PictureWealth appointed John Bezich from Betashares in a newly created role as head of advice.
Commenting, chief executive Allan Maitland said: “The appointment is part of our broader strategy to enhance our advice leadership capabilities and accelerate our vision of bringing back more advice to more Australians.
“The role itself has been newly created and takes on expanded responsibilities that reflect our recent growth and acquisitions. John will be overseeing both our scaled and holistic advice offerings, and ensuring we continue to deliver high-quality financial advice to our clients.
“We’re thrilled to have him on board and believe his appointment will play a key role in shaping the future of PictureWealth as a leader in the advice space.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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