Former Labor minister to head Board of major broker association
The Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) has announced Leo Gagic (pictured, right) as its new chief executive and Nick Sherry (pictured, left) as its new chair.
Sherry previously served as the assistant treasurer for the Labor Party from 2009. He earlier served as minister for superannuation and corporate law under former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
In 2010, Sherry was appointed minister for small business under former prime minister Julia Gillard.
“I am honoured to be appointed to the FBAA board and look forward to working with the board, new CEO Leo Gagic, and the members across Australia," said Sherry.
Gagic is an Australian businessman who served as the chief executive of Access Mercantile Services from 2019 until earlier this year. During that time, he oversaw the transformation and international expansion of the company.
Gagic has decades of financial services industry experience working for Westpac, NAB and Liberty Financial, as well as Telstra.
“I am thrilled to be joining FBAA as CEO, and look forward to working with members, partners, the board and the team to strengthen FBAA’s influence, increase member value and ensure it remains the leading voice for brokers across Australia," said Gagic.
Outgoing chief executive Peter White, who announced his resignation in February, will stay on for a transition period that could last up to a couple of months.
In honour of White's contributions to the FBAA, the FBAA Board said: "There are few in our industry who have been as passionate about our industry or have made such an impact as Peter, and his work has provided us with this opportunity to embark on the next stage of our journey and step into an environment of change and innovation."
On the new hires, the FBAA Board said: "Over recent months, the board has not only been conducting a search for a new CEO, but has been using this time of change to consider ways to increase our impact, build our industry to even greater heights, and provide even better support to our members.
"While we celebrate what has been an amazing journey for the FBAA to date and will always hold to the values that have brought us this far, we believe that what is ahead must eclipse the successes of the past. This is even more important as we enter a dramatically different business environment shaped by ever-evolving technology.
"This desire to embrace the new starts with our leaders, and it is with excitement that we announce two appointments that will help shape the future of our association.
"We look forward to working with Leo to lead the FBAA and our industry into greater levels of success and progress, with members' needs as the key focus."
