Acting CEO departs Praemium
Praemium has announced the departure of acting chief executive officer, Robert De Luca, effective immediately, and the re-appointment of former CEO Michael Ohanessian.
De Luca joined Praemium on 6 March 2017 following a board decision the previous month to remove Ohanessian. At the time De Luca was viewed as a "strong candidate for the permanent role" according to then-chair Greg Camm.
Ohanessian's re-appointment follows a May 12 shareholder decision to remove Camm and directors Andrew Carstens, Peter Mahler and Robert Edgley, and to replace them with new chair Barry Lewin and directors Stuart Robertson and Daniel Lipshut.
Commenting on De Luca's departure, the new Praemium board said: "[We] would like to thank Mr De Luca for his contribution, in particular for providing stability and support to management, staff and external stakeholders over the last 2 months."
De Luca has spent 20 years working in the financial services sector, most recently as the managing director at Bankwest, a role he left in December 2016. He started his career in 1997 at National Australia Bank and joined the Commonwealth bank in 2000, where he held various executive roles before joining Bankwest in 2012.
