RI Advice Group has made two senior appointments to help prepare for industry reforms and drive the dealer group's growth.
The company hired Jason Coggins as national manager of investment research.
Coggins will be in charge of maintaining RI Advice's in-house research capabilities. He was previously with investment consulting services provider CPG as manager of research.
His appointment follows RI Advice's decision in late 2010 to transition its investment research team, headed by Dinyar Irani, to a separate company to run the dealer group's model portfolios.
By transitioning the team, RI Advice would maintain the absolute independence of its internal research capability so clients and advisers could be assured there was no research bias, perceived or otherwise, RI Advice chief executive Paul Campbell said.
"Jason has strong experience in fund manager research and asset consultancy, which made him an ideal fit for our business," Campbell said.
"He is also committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with the existing research team so that the integrity of our model portfolios remains assured, a key issue which we know is important to our advisers and their clients.
"He will also continue to utilise the expertise of our three external research houses."
RI Advice also appointed Deepthi Ravi Kumar to the role of national manager of professional standards. She was previously a senior compliance manager.
"Deepthi has been with the group since 2007 and brings with her a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for this challenging role," Campbell said.
Both roles will report to head of advice Guyon Cates, who oversees the investment research, professional standards, research, technical services and risk insurance divisions following a restructure last year to further prepare the group for industry reforms and significant growth.
"These new appointments show our ongoing commitment to the end advice process, which is designed to make sure our advisers are in the best position possible ahead of industry changes," Campbell said.
RI Advice is owned by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
