Investment and wealth management consulting firm KONU has announced the appointment of Brett Jollie as partner.
Notably, Mr Jollie spent more than 23 years at abrdn, the last 14 of which he served as CEO of the firm’s Australian business.
Previous roles with abrdn included head of distribution, chief operating officer, head of marketing UK, product manager, and head of investment operations.
During this time, Mr Jollie also served on the board of the Financial Services Council for more than six years and sat on a number of the council’s committees.
KONU was founded four years ago by Paul Toepfer, former State Street Australia chief operating officer, and Greig Nicholson, former senior State Street lead.
According to KONU, it seeks to provide investment and wealth managers with access to industry practitioners with first-hand experience of transforming the performance of their businesses.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Toepfer welcomed Mr Jollie to the team.
“All the partners are delighted to have Brett on the team and look forward to him strengthening our collective expertise as well as expand our capabilities in corporate, product and distribution advisory,” Mr Toepfer said.
“Brett has deep experience in the development, execution, and oversight of business strategies with hands-on experience across the full spectrum of funds management.”
According to Mr Toepfer, Mr Jollie is a good fit for the culture that KONU is trying to build.
“Brett has a genuine commitment to improving client outcomes and is very focused on the development of people.”
Moreover, Mr Jollie said that it was the calibre of the KONU team that attracted him to the firm.
“I am joining a team of industry practitioners with extensive real experience and a consultancy that is very well placed to provide specialist practical support to our clients as they seek to optimise their growth of opportunities at a time of rapid change.
“I’m excited at what lies ahead and am looking forward to contributing,” he concluded.
Mr Jollie first announced his departure from abrdn in July. At the time, he told InvestorDaily that this was a planned exit and a goal he had been pursuing since December of last year, when abrdn revealed its plans to restructure its Australian operations.
“I have led this restructure and now it has been executed, the final stage is for me to depart,” Mr Jollie said.
He added at the time that following the successful completion of the restructure, abrdn retains its commitment to Australia and the strong growth opportunity the Australian market presents.
