Perpetual’s Mead takes top job at Aust Unity

Australian Unityhas snared formerPerpetualexecutive Rohan Mead as its new group managing director with incumbent Ian Ferres staying in the job until the end of this financial year, gradually handing over the reins to Mead.

Australian Unity chairman Alan Castleman toldMoney Managementthat Mead had been part of a targeted search for a new managing director.

Ferres was appointed for the short-term in July last year after the sudden departure of the previous long-serving managing director Mark Sibree.

“The board appointed Ian until we could find the right person for the job at the right time. The opportunity to secure the right person arose recently when Mead became available,” Castleman says.

Ferres will remain on the Australian Unity board after he steps down from the managing director role next year. He has been a director of the friendly society since 1999.

“The board is very grateful to Ian Ferres for the manner in which he stepped into the role when asked to do so in July last year,” Castleman says.

“We have implemented an operational structure which will enable each of our businesses to sustain profit growth in coming years, with the aim to more than double group profit in three years’ time.”

Mead was previously group executive — personal financial services at Perpetual and worked at the Sydney financial services company for seven and a half years before resigning in mid October. He will be moving to Melbourne to take up the new position in mid-December.

Castleman says Mead is younger than previous group managing directors, but he “is a high-quality executive who is confident about the role”.

“However, he will not be a new broom coming in to change everything. He will make some changes but in an evolving way,” Castleman says.

Australian Unity has more than $1.8 billion of funds under management and a client base of about 350,000 customers. It has a staff of 900.