New Finsia chief focuses on membership

New Finsia head Russell Thomas has identified a renewed focus on the organisation’s membership as a key priority as he starts his term as chief executive and managing director of the association.

Russell was appointed after a period as interim chief executive, and the capability he demonstrated there along with his insight into the professional membership landscape made him a compelling appointment, according to Finsia president Malcolm McComas.

Thomas said that this will be a period of execution and capitalising on the work the association has done in the past three years in terms of better understanding the changing dynamics of membership organisations, and starting to bed down the new credential and regulatory framework facing the industry.

The Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms bring a change in focus in professional expectations and expectations of financial professionals in the front line of the industry, he said.

“This has been where the reputation of the industry as a whole has been most at stake. Our credential program has been designed to fit into the FOFA reform framework and also provide that uplift in standards,” Thomas said.

The main focus will be to shift back to the essence of the two participant organisations that formed Finsia, the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance and the Securities Institute of Australia, and to focus on what makes a good membership association, he said.

The Australian financial service industry needs to make sure that it is fighting fit for positioning itself in the network of Asia Pacific economies and making sure the reputation it earned during the financial crisis can be turned into long-term success for the country, Thomas said.