Incoming Colonial First State (Colonial) chief Brian Bissaker has vowed to keep up the “head of steam” created by his predecessor John Pearce.
Bissaker told Investor Daily that he had no plans to recruit additional staff to his executive team.
“I am happy to keep up the momentum created by Pearce. We will continue to build on the growth created by Colonial. It would be silly to change anything. We are performing very well. The only way is up,” Bissaker said.
He did, however, highlight that the government’s changes in superannuation will create opportunities for Colonial in product development.
“The changes in super have given us incentives to provide additional value,” he said.
Bissaker said the appointment was not expected but welcomed the decision.
“It is not a position that is owed to anyone. There were a number of good candidates in the running. It was not something I expected but I welcomed the decision,” he said.
Bissaker joined Colonial in 2002 and was previously the general manger, product and investment services.
“The deep pool of talent within our organisation ensures we can swiftly appoint well-qualified internal people to senior roles, as in this case,” Executive Wealth Management, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) Grahame Petersen said.
Pearce left Colonial in early November to take up a senior job in Hong Kong.
Colonial together with CBA manage in excess of $78 billion in retail funds under management.
