Fiona Trafford-Walker to depart Frontier

Frontier Advisors has announced the departure of Fiona Trafford-Walker, effective 6 December 2019, following almost twenty-five years with the firm.

Trafford-Walker joined Industry Fund Services in 1994, and in 1997 took responsibility for the management of the the firm's asset advisory business. When it separated from its parent in 2000, Trafford-Walker became Frontier Advisors' inaugural managing director.

In 2011, she handed the leadership reins to Damian Moloney before moving into the role of director of consulting. Six years later she moved into the role of investment director.

Frontier Advisors chair, Gabriel Szondy said of her tenure: "It would be impossible to over-state the impact Fiona has had not just on the Frontier business, but also on the clients of Frontier over a period of twenty-five years."

He added: "There will be many legacies of Fiona's time at Frontier but perhaps the one that will live longest will be the development of other industry professionals, who have moved through and remain at Frontier. The importance of professional ethics and an ethos of fighting for your clients and their ultimate beneficiaries is something Fiona has instilled in the many people she has led at Frontier and this will continue to have impact for many years to come."

Frontier said that Szondy and Trafford-Walker have been speaking closely for a number of years on how best for her to transition into non-executive roles. She has since accepted three board roles, starting with the Link Group in 2015 and later the Prospa Group and Victorian Funds Management Corporation, both in 2018. At the same time, she has progressively wound back her hours and responsibilities with Frontier.

Reflecting on her time with the firm, Trafford-Walker said: "My 25 years at Frontier have been the most incredibly rewarding professionally and I was privileged to work with some wonderful people, who made me better at my job and who collectively made Frontier a great place to work ... I will always be very proud of our ability to develop practical ideas for clients that helped them achieve their goals and of the contribution we made to the retirement and investment outcomes of many everyday Australians."

Following her departure, Trafford-Walker intends to focus fully on her non-executive roles.