Skandia will split its Australian business operation in two following the departure of its chief executive Ross Laidlaw.
Laidlaw announced on Friday that he will leave the company’s Australian office to return to Sweden to take up a post as chief investment and marketing officer with Skandia Europe.
His departure prompted the company to restructure its Australian operations, Skandia chief executive of retail business Andrew Black told InvestorDaily.
“The business has been effectively split into two. There will be two chief executives. So therefore John Gethin-Jones has been put in as a chief executive of the asset management business Intech and I’ve been put in charge as a chief executive of what is the retail platform business,” Black said.
In his new role Black will be responsible for the company’s corporate service, human resources and product marketing and strategy.
These responsibilities are in addition to his existing duties overseeing the company’s distribution and operations divisions.
In terms of further structural changes, Black said until revised business and strategy plans are finalised it is too early to comment.
“We will continue to run the business for some time until we’ve worked out the best structure going forward,” he said.
“For me it’s about getting the focus on client service and administration and getting that productivity up.
“John’s focus will be very much around the performance capability around the asset management component, so what’s really happened is that [the new structure] has really allowed the two of us to really focus on those two areas.”
Both Black and Gethin-Jones will report to Old Mutual regional head of Asia Pacific Steffen Gilbert who is based in Hong Kong.
Laidlaw set up Skandia’s Australian operation in 1999. During his time with Skandia he spent three years based in the company’s Swedish head office working in a global funds management role.
