Otivo, Australia’s first comprehensive fully compliant online financial advice service, has announced Ian Knox will join the company board from December as Chairperson. Mr Knox will replace former Federal Member of Parliament and Chair of the Future of Financial Advice Enquiry, Bernie Ripoll who will remain as a nonexecutive director.
This announcement comes off the back of Otivo’s increased expansion into financial service firms, corporate employee wellbeing programs and individual consumers.
Founded by former private banker and financial planner Paul Feeney, Otivo is an online service that aims to make financial advice more accessible to more Australians and in so doing bridge the increasing unaffordability gap that has emerged post Royal Commission.
Otivo assesses an individual’s personal circumstances and is able to issue a personal financial advice document unique to their financial situation. It is unique in that it issues guidance to an individual’s personal financial circumstances but can also be tailored for use by members of Superannuation Funds or pre-advised clients for general or limited advice.
Mr Knox is a selective private equity investor in SME‘s and has a strong vision for Otivo. His corporate career includes being the CEO of Lendlease investment services, Deputy MD of Westpac Investment Management, and CEO of Sealcorp which housed Asgard Capital Management, Securitor and Assirt businesses. He is also the Founder, former MD and Chair of Paragem Pty Ltd, a financial advice network which was sold to the ASX listed HUB24.
Mr Knox has been a forthright spokesperson in the financial advising industry for over two decades supporting the professionalisation of advice and he is regularly engaged to provide strategic and lateral thinking to wealth management company boards and management teams. His underlying passion is small business ownership and consumer advocacy.
When talking of his new position with Otivo, Mr Knox said, “Australians are increasingly in need of quality financial advice that is accessible, affordable and not linked to product. This is a key to financial well-being and as we enter a period of rising interest rates with debt ballooning, personal guidance on the options will assist millions of Australians in need of everyday help.
Otivo is using proprietary technology that will assist all Australians by providing tools and information to make better informed financial decisions which will help them become better off. Otivo assists and enables the financial advice profession to handle a wider group of clients and Superannuation Trustees to meet the needs of their members in a scaleable manner.
“I’ve been following the Otivo journey since launch and I believe the company has social, ethical and consumer driven objectives. I’m really looking forward to working with the team as they expand in 2023,” continued Mr Knox.
Increasingly companies which include Latitude, Pacific Blue, Rio Tinto, Assure Programs, and Ernst & Young are using Otivo to offer financial wellbeing services to their workforce as a duty of care within employment.
Otivo is also working with some of Australia’s most prominent financial planning firms to bridge the financial advising industry challenge of unaffordable advice and orphaned clients.
Mr Feeney’s recruitment of Mr Knox as Chairman signals the company’s commitment to expansions in 2023, especially as Australians are looking down the barrel of increased mortgage stress, the real impact of interest rate bumps and inflation concerns that are impacting the cost of living for the average Australian.
Be the first to comment