Questions linger over FPA chief appointment process

Financial Planning Association (FPA) chair Julie Berry has acknowledged the appointment of incoming FPA chief Mark Rantall was conducted by a three-person sub committee of the board and was not a decision taken by the board as a whole.

Questions were raised about the process employed by the FPA in appointing its new chief executive earlier this week following the resignation from the board of Matrix Planning Solutions director Rob Pederson. Among his complaints, which were made to the press rather than the FPA board, Pederson said he was not involved in the recruitment process for recently appointed FPA chief executive Mark Rantall.

Pederson said he was never made aware of the identities of the final three candidates for the FPA’s top job, and while the outcome is now known, Pederson “to this day” does not know the names of the other candidates.

FPA chair Julie Berry defended the board protocols and refuted Pederson’s statement that he was not involved in the recruitment of Rantall. However, Berry also confirmed that Rantall’s appointment was made by a three-member sub committee of the board, and was not a decision taken by the board as a whole.

Instead, the remaining four board members were informed of Rantall’s appointment after his job offer had been made and received, and only one day before the media was informed.

The sub committee is called the remuneration and succession planning committee and this year consists of FPA chair Julie Berry and board members Matthew Rowe and Bruce Foy. Berry and Rowe said the process had been agreed to and approved by the board at the outset, and was the same process the FPA had employed for many years.