AFS Group is narrowing down candidates for its new chief executive as it looks to make an announcement by the end of the month.
"We're actively recruiting a chief executive officer and we are getting down to a short list of candidates," AFS acting chief executive Phil Burke told InvestorDaily.
"We can expect to have an appointment made hopefully by the end of July, which will probably mean a late August or September start."
The independent dealer group was currently not looking to implement any dramatic changes as that responsibility would rest with the new CEO, Burke said, adding that there would be minor internal process changes.
He said AFS was not expecting to lose any advisers off the back of ex-chief Peter Daly's invitation to join him at Yellow Brick Road, particularly as the group was pushing ahead with succession planning support.
Over the weekend, Danielle Nugent was appointed as regional manager for Victoria and Tasmania as the role had been vacant for some time. It will initially involve Nugent becoming acquainted with AFS practices.
"After that, her role will be the same as our other regional managers, which will be to recruit and build practices [as] we're aiming at organic growth but not looking to buy out groups," Burke said.
A number of AFS Group practices were requesting assistance in growing businesses together with succession planning, he said.
"While our average [adviser] age is dropping, we're getting a lot of younger people coming through, but there are a lot of people who will exit in the next five years," he said.
"A lot of them want to see their business continue and are happy to sell it to someone else. If it is a sale situation, we try to negotiate [so it can be sold] to someone within the group or someone who wants to join the group."
