Gary Cox retrenched as BT restructures super

BT Financial Group’s head of super solutions, Gary Cox, has become the most high profile casualty of a restructure putting superannuation on a more ‘enterprise-wide’ footing at its Westpac parent.

Cox’s last day at BT was March 28, after he agreed to a six-week transition period working with John Shuttleworth, who has moved from a role developing and implementing BT’s Super For Life personal product to the newly created position of head of super and integrated marketing. It is understood about 10 marketing, product and product development roles were also made redundant as the old super solutions division was disbanded, as part of a restructure which saw Jason Yetton depart earlier this year and his responsibilities divided between super (under John Shuttleworth) and wrap (under David Lees). Shuttleworth will have three new positions reporting to him – head of corporate super (Michaela McGlinn), head of personal super (Melanie Evans) and head of retirement (Patrick Clarke). A BT spokesperson said the restructure would make super a bigger part of Westpac’s brand – it is also aimed at increasing the penetration of BT products into the bank’s retail customer base. Cox, who spent 20 months at BT after a stint as manging director of Citistreet, said he planned to take three months off before re-entering the industry. He said he was particularly interested in the increasing role annuities might play. “;We’ve seen these transition to retirement products launched with great success, and I think baby boomers generally are going to demand a different kind of product as they progress through the decumulation phase,”; Cox said. Patrick Clarke will be responsible for annuities under the new BT structure.