Insignia announces new heads of insurance and product

Insignia Financial has announced two new appointments who both started at the company this month.

Kenneth Ghi has joined Insignia as its new head of insurance, master trust and insurance, bringing over 16 years of industry experience.

Mr Ghi previously spent four years at KPMG where he was responsible for developing and executing insurance engagements for superannuation and insurer clients.

Meanwhile, Gideon Lipman also commenced his new role of head of product, master trust and insurance last week.

Mr Lipman has worked in the wealth management industry for almost two decades, most recently working as head of strategy for Colonial First State where he led the group’s strategic direction.

He also spent a number of years in product management and development roles at CFS and was heavily involved in its FirstChoice platform.

“We are delighted to welcome Gideon and Kenny to the team,” Insignia’s general manager master trust and insurance products, Sam Wall, said.

“We look forward to utilising their skills and expertise as we simplify and modernise our product and platform offers to improve client engagement and outcomes.”

The appointment news comes after Insignia released its FY22 results late last month when it reported an underlying net profit after tax (UNPAT) of $234.5 million; a 59 per cent increase on FY21.

Insignia also confirmed a 102.8 per cent gross margin increase of $1.48 billion which it attributed to its acquisition of MLC last year — and its integration with Bridges — and a growth in funds under management and administration (FUMA), as well as $36.8 million NPAT and a $3.1 billion improvement to platform flows.

In its advisory segment, Insignia has $104 billion of superannuation and investment funds across 480,000 clients, while its Evolve wrap suite (which includes eXpand, Essential and Shadforth Portfolio Service) reached $2.8 billion of net inflows.

As previously anticipated, the ex-ANZ aligned licensees achieved target break-even in 2H22, after Insignia reported a reduction in the number of advisers last month to 1,600. That figure is made up of 798 self-employed advisers across 427 practices, 546 self-licensed advisers across 107 practices, and 256 salaried advisers.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.