Tyndall has resolved to keep expanding into the retail investment sector after last week appointing Brett Himbury, Asteron’s former head of distribution, as managing director.

The appointment followed a review of the Promina-owned, value-style retail and wholesale funds manager’s strategies, which produced “a confirmation of intent to continue to pursue retail funds under management,” Philip Galagher, Tyndall’s head of marketing and sales, said yesterday. Himbury succeeds Barry Sheehan, who headed up the review, which included external advice, in his eight-month term as managing director. Sheehan resigned after sustaining a sporting injury but will continue as a non-executive director of Tyndall. Before his appointment, Himbury worked in the retail investment sector but has never directly managed funds. He spent 16 months as chief operating officer of corporate and distribution with Tyndall’s sister company, Asteron. Prior to that, he was executive general manager of financial planning and advice at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and also worked as Westpac’s general manager of financial planning. “He’s not going to re-structure investment teams or play with investment schemes,” Galagher said. Following the Promina float in 2003, Tyndall planned to further expand in retail, Galagher said. These plans took effect in July 2004, when Tyndall managed about $508 million in retail investments. Since then, retail funds under management have grown to about $1.4 billion, however, institutional fund flows have proven much stronger. Currently, Tyndall manages a total of $9.25 billion, including internal, institutional and retail investments.