Former ClearView MD appointed Centrepoint Alliance chair



Former ClearView managing director, Simon Swanson, has been appointed as chair of Centrepoint Alliance.
Swanson joined the board of Centrepoint in October 2021 as a non-executive director, shortly before the firm completed the acquisition of ClearView’s advice arm in November 2021.
He was appointed as managing director of ClearView Wealth in 2010 but left after 12 years at the end of June this year, and was replaced by Nadine Gooderick as chief executive.
Swanson will now move up from his non-executive director position to become chair from 23 August, replacing Alan Fisher who departs after seven years.
A statement from Centrepoint Alliance said: “Alan’s leadership has been instrumental in guiding Centrepoint Alliance through significant industry change, including the transition to a fee-for-service business model and the successful acquisition of the ClearView Advice business which has positioned Centrepoint Alliance as the third-largest licensee in Australia.”
He will resign from the board on 30 September.
A third move is the departure of director Sandy Beard who will also step down on 30 September.
Beard joined the board in 2020 with the aim of improving the firm’s share price by repositioning the company to become a market leader in the financial advice market.
“Sandy’s contributions have been notable, particularly his involvement in the successful execution of the ClearView Advice acquisition in 2021,” the firm said.
In its FY23 results, Centrepoint Alliance announced the ClearView Advice acquisition generated $10 million in revenue in FY23, up from $6.8 million in FY22.
However, it was partly offset by reduced investment margin revenue as a result of the cessation of platform margin of $1.7 million derived in FY22 and the sale of Ventura Funds business to Russell Investment Management for $1.7 million.
Looking at the advice space, it has 511 ARs operating under its licence and 196 self-licensed practices supported by an estimated 797 advisers.
Funds under advice was $64 billion with $50 million on average per adviser.
This was helped by the stabilisation of adviser numbers post-FASEA and graduate advisers growing off a small base, as well as positive regulatory changes from the Quality of Advice Review.
Over 360 advisers are in discussions with the licensee, divided between 271 who are licensed ARs and 93 self-licensed firms.
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