Ray Miles

Australian Financial Services Licensee, Fortnum Private Wealth has announced that the group’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Ray Miles, will step down from executive duties at the end of the year, capping off a stellar 51 year career in financial services.

Miles, who will continue serving as Non-Executive Chairman, established Fortnum Private Wealth in 2010 to support professional financial advisers seeking an alternative to the large institutionally-owned dealer groups that dominated the landscape at the time.

Prior to that, he co-founded Associated Planners in 1989, after starting his career in life insurance with MLC and later Aetna Life & Casualty.

At Associated Planners, he led the group’s incredible growth from 13 advisers to 450 advisers nationally and over $18 billion in funds under management and advice. In 2004, he orchestrated the sale of Associated Planners to Challenger Financial Services Group for $99.9 million and its merger with Challenger’s Garrisons Financial Planning to form Genesys Wealth Advisers, serving as the group’s inaugural Chief Executive.

Commenting on Ray’s contribution to Fortnum and the broader financial services industry, Neil Younger, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Fortnum Private Wealth said: “Ray is a pioneer of the advice industry. He built two exceptional businesses, effectively from scratch, and has championed the value of professional advice for five decades”.

“Ray has never shied away from expressing his opinions on key issues including the separation of product and advice, vertical integration and volume rebates. He has been a vocal supporter of higher education and training standards, and regulation that strengthens consumer protections.”

“As Non-executive chair, he will continue providing counsel to the Fortnum Board and leadership team, monitoring the group’s management and performance, and serving the interests of shareholders, all of whom are Fortnum advisers and staff.”

Miles said: “The industry has changed a lot in the past 50 years. After decades of regulation, which has been tough, the model has been reconfigured to put the client at the centre. The people at Fortnum live out that client-first philosophy day in and day out, and I am proud of what we have achieved so far and will continue to build”.

“I would like to thank and acknowledge Neil for his vision, commitment and support these past five years. When looking for a successor, you look for someone younger, smarter and capable of taking the business to the next level. Most importantly, you look for someone who will care for staff, advisers and clients as much as you do. You can’t tell that from day one and we’ve all seen someone come into a business and take a lot of money out but add zero value or destroy value.

“I didn’t want what happened at Genesys after I exited to repeat itself, which is why I stayed on as executive chair for the past five years. I am now more than confident to step down.”

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