Pendal appoints new chair

Pendal Group has named Deborah Page as chair, succeeding James Evans, who retires after nine years of leading the board.

In an announcement to the ASX on Monday, Pendal said Evans decided to step down following the Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley deal.

Evans joined the board in 2010 and was appointed chairman in 2013. During this time, the company was successfully transformed from an

Australia-only manager with $34.3 billion of funds under management to a global asset management business with FUM of $135.7 billion.

"With the finalisation of the TSW purchase, the new CEO succession completed, and a new director appointed, it is time to retire from the board," he said, adding that Page has been on the board for eight years.

"Pendal Group is well-positioned for the future and I look forward to watching the company's continued growth.

Page sits on the boards of Brickworks, Growthpoint Properties Australia, and Service Stream.

She is a former partner at KPMG. Earlier executive roles included general manager of finance, technology operations, and property at Commonwealth Bank and head of administration and operations at Lend Lease.

The incoming chair acknowledged the valuable role that Evans had played in shifting Pendal from a newly-listed domestic company in Australia to an independent global business.

"The board and I look forward to continuing to work with the excellent management team at Pendal Group to deliver on our strategic growth initiatives. As flagged at the annual general meeting, a significant amount of work has already been undertaken to drive greater scale and diversification, reduce risk and more optimally position the business for growth."

Meanwhile, Ben Heap had been appointed as a non-executive director from March.

Currently, Heap is a director for Star Entertainment group and Redbubble.

He is also an independent non-executive director at Colonial First State Investments and chair of CBA subsidiary CBA New Digital Businesses.

Before that, he was a managing director at UBS Global Asset Management in Australia.