Lonsec has announced that Bruce Hawkins has joined the business in the newly created role of chief operating officer, while it has appointed Naomi Christopher as head of marketing and PR across the Lonsec Group and Dr Steve Garth as Lonsec product investment oversight committee chair.
Mr Hawkins has more than 30 years’ experience in financial services, having held a number of senior positions across finance, operations, and strategic development with NAB Wealth, Aviva Australia, and Xplore Wealth. His most recent role was as group executive — Xplore Wealth at HUB24 where he led the Xplore business during its integration into the broader HUB24 business.
Ms Christopher was most recently national manager — marketing and communications at Implemented Portfolios (IPL) and joined Lonsec as part of the acquisition. She has spent 13 years in similar marketing and communications-related roles at other financial services businesses such as Midwinter Financial Services and SQM Research.
Lonsec chief executive and managing director of IPL, Mike Wright, said: “Over the past six months, both the Lonsec and IPL teams have worked tirelessly to understand each business and client groups. I am excited about the growth plans we have for the coming year and the integration of our services to all clients. Bruce has led this integration project and I am delighted that he is joining in a permanent capacity.
“I am equally delighted that Naomi is taking on the broader head of marketing and PR role across the group as she built IPL’s formidable marketing presence.”
Lonsec also said that key Lonsec portfolio managers have been appointed to the IPL asset allocation and investment committee as part of the integration process. Lukasz de Pourbaix joined following the acquisition in 2022 and will be joined by Nick Field, associate portfolio manager for Lonsec’s listed suite of portfolios.
The business has also established a group product investment oversight committee (PIOC). The PIOC is a sub-board committee to the Lonsec board and is “responsible for ensuring that the IPL and Lonsec portfolios have the necessary personnel, processes and risk management frameworks in place”.
Dr Garth has been named independent chair of the PIOC and brings two decades of experience in key financial services roles.
