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An industry leader has been appointed to the role of CEO of PLAN Australia and Advantedge Financial Solutions.
The move follows the recently proposed integration of the two businesses and marks the leading aggregator’s next phase of growth.
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In a statement this morning, PLAN named Ms Anja Pannek as the group's new chief executive. Currently the chairperson of PLAN Australia and a director of BLSSA, Ms Pannek has been with NAB since 2009, most recently as CFO for NAB’s personal bank division. She also played an integral role, as part of the Challenger management team, during the original acquisition of PLAN Australia.
Commenting on the appointment, NAB EGM of Broker Partnerships, Anthony Waldron said Ms Pannek’s industry experience and appreciation of PLAN Australia provided a strong foundation to build and deliver the business’ next wave of growth.
“We are delighted to welcome Anja to the role of CEO PLAN Australia. Anja has been a member of the PLAN Australia and Advantedge family for over a decade and has already played a key role in our evolution," he said.
“She is keen to hit the ground running, to help us embark on our next phase of growth and to empower brokers for long-term success. I am also pleased that Anja’s appointment marks an important milestone, with Anja being PLAN Australia’s first female CEO.”
In early September 2016, PLAN Australia announced its proposed integration with Advantedge Financial Solutions (AFS). Mr Waldron said the move would allow brokers to work more closely with their wealth counterparts and would enable PLAN Australia brokers to continue to evolve and diversify.
“Through experience we believe debt is at the core of many wealth strategies. The integration represents our focus on providing a holistic debt and wealth advice service for those brokers who have ambition and interest in diversifying their offering and income streams. We’ve had a long standing relationship with AFS for a number of years and our strategic partnership with the firm, as a business that works with financial advisers to meet the needs of customers, is a natural fit.”
Mr Waldron added that since PLAN Australia’s inception 17 years ago, the aggregator’s vision of an integrated broking offer to promote business growth had evolved.
“Our next phase of growth is to strengthen and enhance our technology and training to further help our brokers through continued investment. We will also continue to provide individual support and advice to all brokers, including those running integrated broking and planning businesses,” he said.
[Related: CEO steps down as aggregators integrate]
