Russell Investments’ Australasia CEO Chris Corneil is departing the business after 15 years as the group announces a significant restructure of its Asia-Pacific strategy.
Long-serving Asia-Pacific CEO Alan Schoenheimer will take charge of the Australian and New Zealand businesses, absorbing the Australasia CEO duties, with the firm announcing it will be targeting growth in the region.
The role of Australasia CEO will be removed as part of the restructure, meaning Mr Corneil will leave the organisation after four years in that role and 15 years at the firm in total.
Mr Schoenheimer is based in Sydney and brings 22 years’ experience working in the Australasian region, as well as across a range of global markets, according to Russell.
Russell president and chief executive Len Brennan thanked Mr Corneil for his dedication and contribution to the business over 15 years.
Australia is one of the biggest opportunities for Russell’s global asset management business, according to Mr Brennan.
“We believe the next wave of assets in this region will be channeled into outcomes-based multi-asset solutions – with a strong market opportunity specifically in retirement incomes. Our challenge is to capture this growth while controlling costs in this competitive environment,” Mr Brennan said in a statement.
“We’ve recognised a strong global move towards active, multi-asset solutions -an approach that requires a specialist toolkit of investment capabilities, including customised asset exposures, adaptive asset allocation, holistic portfolio construction and tax-aware portfolio management.”
Mr Schoenheimer said that Australia, like many other developed countries, faced a retirement incomes dilemma as people live longer and want to maintain their standard of living.
“Ultimately, our focus will be to ensure baby boomers convert their savings into a reliable stream of income and protect their income against the uncertainties of retirement. There is a clear need for innovative market offerings in the retirement incomes space. My role is to ensure Russell realises the full potential of this market opportunity,” he said.
