New platform head for Perpetual
Perpetual Investments has found a new head for its young platform offering, four weeks after losing its inaugural head, Mark Papendieck, to Skandia.
The WealthFocus platform, which surprised many with its release last year into what was already an overcrowded platform market, is now being headed-up by the former head of Credit Suisse Asset Management’s (CSAM) MasterWrap, Barry Porter.
According to Perpetual, WealthFocus had $5.5 billion in funds under management at the end of September and has 30 financial planning dealer groups, including Count Financial, using its wares.
Perpetual also announced that will add a suite of new funds to the existing 55 in WealthFocus by December, including funds managed by Ausbil Dexia, IOOF/Perennial, Merrill Lynch and Challenger.
Before he was at CSAM, Porter was platform manager at financial planning dealer group Associated Planners, since renamed Genesys Wealth Advisers.
In other news, Mariner Financial Group has appointed former Record Investments head Mark Phillips as its new managing director. Existing managing director and company founder Bill Ireland takes on the role of executive chairman.
Shares in Mariner lifted close to 17 per cent yesterday, after the company announced at its annual general meeting that it was planning to double its annual revenue next financial year without increasing operating expenses.
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