Craigs Investment Partners has appointed Simon Tong as the firms new chief executive, and is betting his digital and technology expertise will help improve its services.
Tong will take up the role in October. He is currently ASB Banks executive general manager of digital, data and brand and was previously chief executive of eftpos firm Paymark and of media company Fairfax NZ, which is now Stuff. He has also had senior executive roles at Compaq Computer and Hewlett-Packard.
Craigs is one of New Zealands largest full-service investment firms with about 600 staff, 173 investment advisers across 19 branches, and about $25 billion of client funds under management. It has faced increased competition from online services like Sharesies and Hatch which have stoked interest in equity markets from a wider group of investors.
We see the requirement to significantly up our game in the area of digital capability, said Craigs chairman Sir Ralph Norris.
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We are looking at all of our digital offerings that need upgrading, and we see that theres great potential for increased growth as we see generational change taking place amongst investors who want to have a more hands-on control approach to investments and wanting access through digital channels.
Carmen Hertzig has taken control of her own investment portfolio with Sharesies.
Thats an area where we see that we need to improve our offering, and we think it provides growth opportunities going forward.
As well as Tongs tech experience, he had a great reputation as a very good leader and builder of teams, Norris said.
Thats something else that we see as being a vital ingredient in the chief executive mix of skills, he said.
Craigs wanted to make sure that it had a range of investment offerings that met the needs of the market, Norris said.
We will be looking at offering more investment opportunities within the product range that we currently carry to provide more diversification of portfolios, he said.
The investment firms previous chief executive Frank Aldridge stepped down in March after 16 years, and its then chairman Neil Craig has temporarily stepped into the role while the firm searched for a replacement.