Leading accountant-based financial planning group Count Financial Limited (Count) has today announced the appointment of Lee Tonitto to the role of Senior Executive – Business Development, Marketing & Events.
Reporting to Count CEO Andrew Gale, Ms Tonitto will be responsible for the development of innovative strategies to accelerate growth of Count and of Count franchisees’ businesses. She will also oversee the rollout of a new Practice Management program for Count advisers.
“Lee will develop and implement growth strategies for the Count network and individual advisory businesses at an important time in the company’s development. She will also drive marketing initiatives to enhance Count’s brand and market positioning and to attract new clients in targeted areas,” Mr Gale said.
Ms Tonitto has extensive experience in wealth management marketing, distribution, and licensee network growth. She comes to Count after 15 years with the AMP group, where she was most recently General Manager, Strategy and Direct, and three years at AMP wealth management firm Hillross Financial Services.
At Hillross, Ms Tonitto held National Manager roles covering strategy, practice management and business operations. In this capacity she developed a cohesive practice management strategy and an online practice management hub. She also assisted 115 Hillross advisers with client segmentation and a comprehensive change management program in transitioning to Fee for Service.
At AMP, Ms Tonitto focused on developing and implementing distribution and marketing programs for financial planning services. This included a leading role in growing planner numbers through the creation of the AMP Horizons Financial Planning Academy, establishing a Customer Value Offer Development function and developing new brand architecture and advertising programs.
Chair of leading industry body the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI), Ms Tonitto’s experience is backed by an Executive MBA from the University of NSW’s Australian Graduate School of Management and a Diploma of Financial Planning.
Count provides its network of 350 accounting firms Australia-wide with high quality research, technical, business development and professional training support.
“The appointment of Ms Tonitto also demonstrates our dedication to existing Count franchisees, where we aim to help them grow their accounting and financial planning businesses to their fullest potential,” Mr Gale said.