IOOF appoints Independent Chair

IOOF has announced the appointment of Allan Griffiths as its independent chair, effective immediately.

Griffiths has served as acting chair since George Vernados stepped down from the role in December 2018. Vernados remains on leave from the board.

Griffiths joined the IOOF board in 2014 and previously served as chief executive officer of Aviva Australia and later managing director South Asia, Aviva Asia, based in Singapore. Prior to joining Aviva he held executive positions with Colonial Ltd and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Commenting on his appointment as chair, Griffiths said: "I thank my board colleagues for their confidence. I am entirely committed to restoring trust with all our stakeholders and accelerating the pace of change in respect of governance, and the resetting of relationships with stakeholders."

He also thanked outgoing managing director, Chris Kelahar, for his "vision and contribution" to IOOF.