Mr Taggart brings more than a decade of senior leadership experience across distribution, strategy and adviser engagement. Most recently as General Manager of Distribution and Marketing at Resolution Life, Mr Taggart has built a reputation for leading high performing teams and collaborating with advisers to grow their businesses and support their clients.

Prior to this, Mr Taggart spent more than ten years at Zurich and OnePath, where he led large state-based sales teams, strategic accounts and national distribution functions through periods of growth, integration and transformation.

HUB24 Executive General Manager, Platform Growth Matt Willis said: “I’m excited to welcome Nathan to the HUB24 team. He will play an important role in continuing to build and maintain our strong relationships with advisers to enable them to deliver better client outcomes.”

HUB24 has consistently been recognised by both advisers and the industry for customer service excellence and a recent Investment Trends 2025 Adviser Technology Needs Report found service and support remain top drivers of platform satisfaction, with nearly half of advisers citing poor service as the reason they leave a platform.¹

Mr Taggart said he is excited to join the team at HUB24: “HUB24 has built a strong reputation for service, innovation and collaboration with advisers. I’m looking forward to working closely with advisers to build on the strong access and engagement advisers already have, ensuring they continue to deliver outstanding client outcomes.”

HUB24 continues to invest in delivering outstanding service and support for advisers and their clients, including combining AI‑enabled solutions with a people‑first customer service model, and providing dedicated adviser training with team members in each state.

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In this newly created role, and reporting to HUB24’s Chief Operating Officer, Craig Lawrenson, Mr Willis will lead the platform growth team, which includes retail distribution, key account management, private wealth and broker, strategic sales, and sales enablement. He will also work alongside product, operations, and marketing teams to continue to deliver innovative products and solutions that enable financial professionals to provide accessible advice to more Australians.

Mr Willis was previously at Vanguard Australia and Aware Super where he held several leadership positions including Head of Institutional Sales, Head of Business Development and most recently National Sales Manager, Financial Adviser Services for Vanguard Investments.

HUB24 Chief Operating Officer Craig Lawrenson said: “I’m pleased to welcome Matt to the HUB24 team where he will help to drive growth and further strengthen our relationships with our customers.

“Matt is well known in the industry for his energy, commercial acumen and talent for building high-performing teams, bringing a leadership style that closely aligns with our strategy and culture.”

Mr Willis said: “I’m excited to be joining HUB24 and look forward to contributing to the next phase of growth and continuing to deliver exceptional outcomes for advisers and licensees.”

Mr Willis will start as HUB24 Executive General Manager, Platform Growth on 2nd September 2025.

Mr Willis’s appointment follows several recent internal HUB24 Group promotions including Paul Voges who was promoted to the newly created role of Head of Investment Growth and Partnerships, reporting to Matt Willis. Paul is responsible for leveraging HUB24 Group’s relationships with asset managers, driving continued adoption of managed portfolios across HUB24’s Platform solutions.

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Vanguard Australia Head of Distribution, Matthew Lumsden, said that the revised structure for the company’s distribution leadership team comprises divisional heads for Institutional, Intermediary, Client Service & Administration, and Sales Excellence & Planning.

“These changes are driven by our commitment to provide the best quality client experience across all segments of the Australian market,” Mr Lumsden said.

Existing Vanguard leaders have been appointed to three of the four roles, with a recruitment process underway to fill the Head of Sales Excellence & Planning position.

Matt Willis has been appointed Head of Institutional and leads the team responsible for the management of Institutional client relationships in Australia. Matt previously held the role of National Sales Manager, Adviser Sales at Vanguard Australia.

Rebecca Pope has been appointed Head of Intermediary and leads the team responsible for the distribution of Vanguard’s managed funds and exchange traded funds through intermediary channels. Rebecca’s career at Vanguard Australia includes leadership roles in Sales Excellence & Planning, as well as Intermediary & Retail Marketing.

Colleen Campbell has been appointed Head of Client Service & Administration and leads the client services teams serving the retail and institutional channels. Prior to this appointment Colleen was Vanguard Australia’s Senior Product Manager, Client Engagement.

“Each individual brings substantial and diverse expertise to the team. We believe this further strengthens our organisation and ultimately delivers better outcomes for our clients,” said Mr Lumsden.

These appointments come as Vanguard Australia surpasses $115 billion in assets under management and introduces its global active funds management expertise to Australia via a range of low-cost active equity products.

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Matt Willis

Despite grappling with global challenges like moving to a transparent fee-for-service model and greater regulation, financial advisers across the globe told a recent Vanguard study they were largely optimistic about the future of their businesses.

Vanguard’s 2016 Global Adviser Trends Survey drew on insights from financial advisers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the UK and US, finding that although advisers in these regions shared many of the same concerns and challenges, there was also a common sense of optimism when it came to growing client assets.

A key finding from the survey was that advisers in all regions were finding their professional environment more difficult, citing regulation and subsequent compliance as a key challenge in operating their businesses.

Australian advisers reported feeling the most challenged in this way, compared to advisers in other regions. In the Australian cohort, only one in six advisers said their professional environment had improved, with the remainder saying the profession had become more difficult. The Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms were cited as a particular pain point, with 61 per cent of advisers saying it had a negative influence on their businesses.

Keeping up with regulatory changes was the issue of highest concern for Australian advisers, and featured in the top three issues named by advisers in the other regions. Australian advisers also said acquiring new clients and greater fiduciary responsibilities were among their greatest challenges.

Advisers in other parts of the globe cited similar frustration with recent regulatory changes, including the Retail Distribution Review in the UK, Canada’s Client Relationship Model and new fiduciary standards in the US. Like FOFA, these changes all signify a move away from commission-based revenue to transparent fee-for-service advice models focused on holistic financial advice, rather than investment selection.
Vanguard Australia National Sales Manager – Adviser, Matt Willis, said the research not only reflected conversations with advisers about challenges their business face, it also highlighted emerging opportunities as the advice environment evolved.

“When we talk to advisers, there is an acute difference between those who have successfully transitioned to a business model based on broad financial planning services, and those who primarily base their value on selecting investments for their clients,” Mr Willis said.

“The report clearly shows that where advisers had moved to fee-for-service model, they saw their clients better understand what value proposition they presented. In this context, it’s positive to see increased transparency helping advisers showcase the full breadth and depth of their value to clients.

“As Vanguard is a strong believer in the value of advice, it’s also positive to see that more advisers across the globe are confident about increasing their advised assets.” According to the survey, 83 per cent of Australian advisers said they expected the amount of advised assets to increase, while 68 per cent expected their number of clients to increase. By comparison, 77 per cent of Hong Kong advisers expected to grow their number of clients, while 92 per cent of both UK and US advisers expected to grow their amount of advised assets.

In aggregate, Australian advisers said 31 per cent of their book of business would comprise of new clients in the coming year, compared to 21 per cent in Canada, 26 per cent in the US and the UK and 37 per cent in Hong Kong.

“There’s no question that attracting new clients in an already competitive environment is a tough task, not just in Australia, but globally. We hear from advisers that there are concerns about having to spend more time serving their existing client base as they age, as well as the perceived threat of emerging advice models and technology,” Mr Willis said.

“Although technology is boosting competition in the advice sector, we see it as also being a great benefit for existing advisers. Where technology can streamline client administration and asset allocation, advisers are able to spend more time attracting new clients and providing the ‘human face’ that will continue to be an essential part of high-quality financial advice.”

Click here to see a full copy of the Vanguard’s 2016 Global Adviser Trends report.

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