The Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) has announced that Richard Gilbert is to become its CEO in August, replacing Lynn Ralph who is leaving to start her own corporate governance business.
Gilbert has acted as deputy CEO of IFSA since 1998 and was CEO of the Investment Funds Association, which merged into IFSA in 1998.
Ralph, meanwhile, is reluctant to give too much away until her new business venture is launched later this year. However, she says her departure is definitely not related to the pending merger between IFSA and the Australian Retirement Incomes Streams Association (ARISA).
“I have been developing this business idea for many months,” she says. “I’ve been [at IFSA] for four and a half years. It’s been a pretty good run and I think that I’ve made a pretty good contribution. But all good things must come to an end at some time… I’ve been wanting to do something on my own and if I don’t do it soon, I will be too old.”
Ralph adds that it has taken her a long time to make this decision, but she is ready for her next big challenge. Conveniently, she will be able to say goodbye to IFSA’s members, all at once, at the association’s annual conference in Brisbane at the end of July.
Meanwhile, IFSA has announced that it has appointed four new members to its board: ING Australia CEO John Wylie, Mercer Human Resource Consulting CEO Simon O’Regan, Deutsche Asset Management’s CEO for the Asia Pacific Region Brian Scullin and AM Corporation chairman David Smith.
