The global company cuts back on its retail distribution business.
Mercer's retail sales manager Bronwyn Speed has departed the firm after a restructure of its retail distribution business.
Speed joined Mercer in 2004 at a time when the firm was looking to boost its advice business. She had previously worked at Bridgeport and has served on the board of the FPA.
The firm, however, has beefed up its investment consulting business on the back of demand from its institutional client base by appointing economist Simon Calder as principal.
Calder will work in Mercer's dynamic asset allocation (DAA) team.
Calder previously worked as an international economist with the National Australia Bank and has also worked at JB Were as a chief economist.
Mercer refused to comment on the changes.
"Our DAA service bridges the gap between long-term strategic asset allocation and the shorter-term horizons over which active investment managers generally operate," Mercer's investment consulting business head Simon Eagleton said
He said the service is experiencing strong demand.
In Part 2 of our exclusive series, we ask leading names to nominate their best investments, the most effective industry group and the importance of platforms.
Last month's FPA National Conference offered Australia's financial planning community a chance to hear about past and future changes to the industry. ... read more »
