Arrivals & Departures 2021

By Colin Kerr

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Happy new year! Welcome to the first CFO market update of 2021. We were all hoping we would start 2021 Covid free but suspect we will have to wait for a few more months. It certainly has an impact on decision making and my prediction of a fast start to 2021 has been tempered by the new Sydney outbreak. Once this is under control, I am confident the fast start will follow.

Activity in the last month of the year was high – we have some research that shows there are more resignations in the month of December than any other month during the year. I think this is due to people wanting to close a process before the end of the year and they can then move forward in the New Year with a new role and a new purpose.

Below is a summary of the recent resignations and appointments I found interesting:

Mirvac have appointed Courtenay Smith as their new CFO replacing Shane Gannon. Courtenay is coming from Lendlease and her appointment at Mirvac makes this one of the few female CEO / CFO combinations. Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz is the current CEO.

Cathy O’Connor’s appointment as CEO of oOh!media continues the run of female CEO / CFO combinations. Sheila Lines is the current CFO. Apart from the two mentioned here there are not many female CEO / CFO combinations that I know of.

Private equity owned SilverChef have a new CFO with Peter Forsberg joining just before the end of the year.

Following Emilio Grande’s move from UGL to become CFO at CIMIC (replacing Stefan Camphausen), Derek Kerr has been promoted internally to be the new CFO at UGL.

Following Brent Cubis departure from Cochlear, Stu Sayers has been appointed acting CFO. Stu has been with Cochlear since 2016. An announcement on the permanent CFO is expected around the middle of the year.

Nicholas Williams is moving from Pacific National to join Tellus Holdings, a company formed to clean up hazardous waste. Yvonne Martins is currently the interim CFO.

Paul Hodgkinson is the new CFO of Abbvie (biopharmaceutical company spun out of Abbott). Previously Paul was the CFO of The George Institute for Global Health.

Justin Ooi has replaced Paul Hodgkinson at The George Institute. Paul and Justin previously worked together at Astra Zeneca – the power of the network….

After 13 years Adrian Whiting will be stepping down from the TOGA Group CFO role at 30 June 2021. Adrian will continue his involvement with the Group as a Director. An executive search is currently being undertaken for his replacement.

Another big executive search underway is for the CFO role at Worley, following Tom Honan’s decision to retire.

Given the sale of MLC Wealth to IOOF, Andrew Morgan has been appointed acting Managing Director to assist with the transition. Alistair McLean is acting in Andrew’s previous CFO role.

Matthew Beale has been confirmed as the CFO at Comms Group. Matthew has been in an interim capacity since August 2019.

LawFinance (previously known as Just Kapital) have appointed Phil Smith as their CFO. Previous CFO, Craig Beatton, has moved internally.

Neil MacDonald follows his colleague from GFG Alliance and has become CFO of Moorebank Intermodal Company – a government business enterprise formed to develop a logistics park in Moorebank. Neil worked previously with the recently appointed CEO, James Baulderstone.

Andrew Condon has moved into the CFO world with his first CFO appointment coming at Mad Mex Fresh Mexican.

Sunny Jobson is the new CFO of Animal Logic, a great creative digital business responsible for fabulous animation in movies including Peter Rabbit and Captain Marvel.

I hope we do get a fast start to 2021. As always if there is anything, I can help you with from a recruitment point of view, please do not hesitate to give me a call and stay safe in the meantime.