Tony Winwood, the chief executive of JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services in Australia, and Graeme Arnott, the head of product and a former chief executive, both resigned last week.

Arnott is expected to start as chief operating officer at First State Super (FSS) later this month, although FSS chief executive Michael Dwyer said he could not comment at this stage. Meanwhile Winwood, a former funds manager, said he was looking for a change. Laurence Bailey, the regional head and a former country head, will be acting in the role until a replacement for Winwood is found. Bailey said from New York that he would be talking to prospective candidates when in Sydney next week, including some internal candidates. He recently strengthened the team with the appointment last October of Alberto Bambach as chief operating officer and the promotion of Bryan Gray, head of sales, to head up both sales and client service as of last week. Three additions to Gray’s team have also been made – Don Gandy, a 13-year JPMorgan veteran who will transfer from New York; Angus St. John, another US import who was previously at Wells Fargo, and Seamus Collins, previously at the ASX. At the same time, Nikki Smith becomes regional head of client service, based in Sydney. Both Gray and Smith report directly to Bailey. “I’d like to think that I can announce a successor for Tony (Winwood) within the next couple of months,” Bailey said. The resignation means that Australia’s two largest custodians and third-party investment administrators – the other being NAB Custody – are both looking for chief executives at the same time. NAB’s head of custody, Peter Kempster, resigned last year and his place is being temporarily filled by John Treloar.