Ignition chief executive resigns

The chief executive of Ignition Advice for the Asia Pacific is stepping down two years after his appointment.

Craig Keary announced he will pursue an advisory and non-executive career but will remain with Ignition in accepting a senior adviser role for APAC.

Ignition Advice confirmed that the chief executive role will not be replaced.

Keary took over from Manish Prasad, who also left after about two years in the role.

After nearly nine years, Keary left AMP Capital as managing director for Asia Pacific in late 2020 to join the technology firm in Sydney, and was previously based in Tokyo.

Prior to AMP Capital, he was executive director, head of distribution and sales, equities and retail markets at Westpac, and worked at Commonwealth Bank and HSBC.

Keary said during his time as chief executive he "helped build a strong digital advice brand and prospect pipeline in Australia and securing a strategic investor. With this role helping bridge the advice gap to enable more individuals to receive affordable and accessible advice has been something that is personally important to me."

On his resignation, he commented: "I look forward to my next chapter in Australia, Asia and Japan, where I can contribute to the asset management, pensions, wealth management, financial advice and digital transformation areas specifically and help provide broad leadership and governance capability from my leadership and board experience across the Asia Pacific."