Ross Whitehill, the chief operating officer of Thomas Murray, the specialist international custody consultant and bank ratings firm which assisted the Future Fund custody search last year, has resigned.

Whitehill, an expatriate Australian who has been in London for about 20 years, led the Thomas Murray push in Australasia over the past few years, running NZ Super’s big tender for a master custodian prior to the Future Fund work. He set up a Melbourne office, under Karen Bignall, who was sent from London last year to expand the Australian client base. Whitehill said he had decided to leave the firm and look at “;some interesting things – some inside the industry and some outside”;, after transitioning from his current client-sensitive jobs.