Astute announces management changes

Ms Govender was elected chairperson from 1 January last year, succeeding Peter Dempsey, Deputy CEO of ASISA. She has served as a non-executive Director of Astute since June 2010.

 

Ms Govender is a professional accountant and continues to run the financial planning practice started by her late father in 1962. She is chairperson of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI), having served the organisation as a director since 2004. In 2012, Ms Govender completed a three-year term on the board of the Financial Planning Standards Board - the international standards-setting body for financial planners around the globe, and owners of the CFP® mark.

 

She has served on various advisory committees of the Financial Services Board (FSB) and currently serves as a Trustee on the FSB’s Financial Services Consumer Education Foundation. Ms Govender is the chair of the South African Savings Institute, an organisation dedicated to encouraging a culture of savings.

 

Astute also announced the appointment of Willie Snyman as acting Managing Director following the departure of Biddie Biddulph who has left the company to pursue other opportunities. Both Astute and Mr Biddulph acknowledged their respective contributions over the term that Mr Biddulph served Astute.

 

Mr Snyman, who has been Astute’s Business Development Executive for the past seven years, will continue as acting Managing Director until a permanent appointment has been made.

 

He commented: "Astute has developed a reputation as a strong strategic partner in developing industry technology solutions. We operate a range of systems, including data exchange services for financial services companies and intermediaries.

 

"As the business enters this new phase in its development our aim is to build on our status as the leading independent interactive electronic information exchange portal for the financial services industry.”