Allianz Retire+ has appointed Robert Coulter, former head of clients at Ignition Advice Asia-Pacific (APAC), as national platform and relationship manager.
Mr Coulter took to LinkedIn to announce his retirement from the fintech firm last month and said that the recent departure of Ignition’s APAC chief executive officer, Craig Keary, inspired his transition.
“Many of you read the post from Craig Keary, announcing he was stepping down as CEO APAC to pursue a non-executive and advisory career. I have also reflected that now is the time for a change for me,” he said.
“I’m proud of the impact I’ve had on digital advice, progressing it from a concept to a credible and valuable way forward.”
Commenting on the appointment, Adrian Stewart, Allianz Australia Life Insurance chief executive officer said: “Robert has a deep understanding of the advice industry and has a robust network to support Allianz Retire+’s mission to deliver certainty and flexibility to Australian retirees.
“We are building our deep sector expertise within the business and are well positioned to support advisers, trustees and superfunds deliver retirement solutions to their clients and members,” Mr Stewart added.
“This new appointment builds on the recent appointments within our wealth team as we continue to deliver AGILE to market.”
Specifically, the firm announced earlier this year that its new retirement income product, Allianz Guaranteed Income for Life (AGILE), will be available from March.
According to Allianz Retire+, AGILE is a “next-generation retirement solution” that provides full advice platform integration and can be embedded within super funds and account-based pensions.
“[Mr Coulter’s] decades of experience will support in delivering AGILE and future solutions to the market and will continue to bolster our expertise and elevate our support for advisers in delivering retirement income solutions to their clients,” contributed Andrew Stewart, head of distribution wealth management.
In announcing his new role, Mr Coulter reasoned that the government’s Quality of Advice Review (QAR) response released on Tuesday also demonstrates that there will be a “significant focus on smart, next-generation retirement solutions,” looking towards the future.
Namely, stream two of the government’s legislative response — dubbed the “expanding access to retirement income advice” stream — will see superannuation funds expand their provision of advice, with Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones vowing to remove restrictions on collective charging of members for advice.
“I am looking forward to working with the team to progress this conversation with our industry colleagues,” Mr Coulter concluded.
