In a move which may herald a shake-up in the retail advisory market, Norm Graham, the long-term managing director of Lonsec, quietly exited the business towards the end of last year.

Graham, who oversaw Lonsec’s managed fund research and stockbroking businesses for the past 12 years, announced his resignation in October 2010, confirmed Grant Kennaway, head of the business’ research division.

He was replaced by Craig Semmens, the operations and compliance manager of Lonsec’s stockbroking arm, which continued to be managed by Marcus Tuck, Kennaway said.

Semmens has big shoes to fill as Lonsec has picked up considerable market share among financial planners under Graham’s management, a lot of it at the expense of market leader van Eyk Research.

In addition to its research and stockbroking divisions, Semmens also oversaw the company’s sales and marketing efforts, led by Jeremy Pree.

Graham’s exit did not trigger any change in the ownership structure of Lonsec, which continues to be wholly owned by Zurich, as it had since 2000, Kennaway said.

Meantime, the business was recruiting for a credit analyst to join its listed securities research team in anticipation of increased corporate debt issuance, after observing companies such as Healthscope and Tabcorp offer debt to the market in 2010.