Former Professional Planner editor Simon Hoyle has returned to the masthead as editor-in-chief over the financial advice title as well as institutional investment focused sister publication Investment Magazine. 

Chris Dastoor has now been appointed editor after joining Professional Planner at the start of the year as senior journalist, while Sharon Klyne has joined as editor of Investment Magazine. 

Hoyle mostly recently headed market insight at CoreData where he was responsible for research design and execution, report writing, publishing and presenting the results of CoreData’s findings and managing client relationships. 

One of the first in the country to cover the financial advice industry, Hoyle was involved in the launch and establishment of Money Management in the late 1980s before spending 10 years at the Australian Financial Review as a financial services reporter and Smart Money editor.  

He was an investment writer for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian before his first stint at Conexus Financial, as editor of Professional Planner for the decade that encompassed the global financial crisis, the Future of Financial Advice reforms, and the industry’s first steps towards professionalising. 

“I’m absolutely stoked to be returning to Conexus,” Hoyle says. “The past five years or so at CoreData have been brilliant and I want to thank Andrew Inwood for that opportunity, which fulfilled a long-standing plan for us to work together.” 

Hoyle says, over the last five years, addressing the challenges facing service providers in financial advice and superannuation hasn’t become any easier. 

“The team at Conexus led by Fiona Reynolds is focused on creating content and events that help everyone understand what these challenges mean, how to implement meaningful change, and how to make sure those changes lead to the best results for advice clients and fund members. I’m looking forward to being part of all that again.” 

Additionally joining Conexus Financial is Ben Thomas as commercial director, responsible for the sales team with a focus on international sales. Thomas moves from Nine where he covered business, finance and tech.