Perpetual has announced the appointment of Craig Squires to the role of chief operating officer (COO).
Mr Squires, who currently serves as deputy COO, joined Perpetual as chief technology officer in March 2022 and has been attending its executive committee since January.
He has over 30 years of experience in IT development, project management, support and information security in the financial services industry, and previously held senior roles at a number of firms including Challenger, Barclays Global Investors, MLC, and Westpac.
Perpetual indicated that, in his new position of COO, Mr Squires will take on an expanded role overseeing the integration of Pendal Group.
“Craig has extensive experience managing large-scale operational projects, focused on IT development, financial services infrastructure platforms, and information security. He has a deep understanding of the financial services industry and asset management,” commented Perpetual chief executive officer and managing director Rob Adams.
“We are well placed with Craig’s continued oversight of both the operational and technology functions of our business and including the integration program as we drive it forward to deliver our promised synergies by 2025.”
Mr Squires replaces Amanda Gazal, who joined Perpetual as COO in April 2020 and was appointed chief integration officer following the firm’s acquisition of Pendal in January.
Perpetual said that Ms Gazal will depart the firm following a transition period to take on a “new external opportunity”, namely as the new COO of First Sentier Investors.
“Amanda has been an integral member of the executive committee for close to four years as chief operating officer and more recently as chief integration officer, overseeing a significant year for Perpetual as we integrate Pendal into our business, which remains on track to deliver our promised synergies,” said Mr Adams.
“On behalf of everyone at Perpetual, I would like to thank her for her contribution and leadership over a critical period for the group.”
The COO appointment comes after Perpetual announced the establishment of a global asset management leadership team and changes to its executive committee in August.
“As we approach the midpoint of our two-year integration program, moving the integration oversight to the responsibility of our chief operating officer is an important milestone and will continue to enable long-term operational decisions to deliver the full synergy target of $80 million by January 2025, recognising that a number of the key integration initiatives have now been executed or have a clear execution path defined,” Mr Adams added.
