Fiona Trafford-Walker, a high-profile veteran of Australia's investment consulting industry, will retire from Frontier Advisors at the end of 2019 following a 25-year career at the Melbourne-based firm.
Ms. Trafford-Walker, a managing director of Frontier Advisors for a good part of her time there, will step down Dec. 6 from her current director role, having transitioned her responsibilities to other executives in recent years, a Frontier spokesman said.
She will not be replaced, he said.
In an interview, Ms. Trafford-Walker said she had confidence that Frontier's capital markets and consulting teams — roughly 70 professionals advising non-profit superannuation funds with combined retirement assets of A$380 billion ($255 billion) — can sustain the firm's status as a diverse group of people developing "great ideas for clients."
She called Frontier's decision not to join the growing ranks of investment consultants jumping on the outsourced CIO bandwagon a key to the firm's success — allowing clients to be "totally sure" there are "no conflicts, no confusion."
The value of independent advice becomes most evident in "tricky markets," and asset owners could well face unusually challenging conditions over the next 10 years, she said.
Ms. Trafford-Walker said she's looking to remain active — having taken on three board-related roles in recent years, including one on the board of Victorian Funds Management Corp. — but isn't seeking an executive role.
