KPMG adds five partners to its strategy consulting group
KPMG Strategy, the Big Four’s division that leads its portfolio of strategy consulting services, has added five new leaders to its partnership in KPMG's latest financial year.
Jane Cohen joined KPMG’s strategy consulting arm in April this year from Australia Post, where she spent six years, holding leadership roles in the company’s consumer business and serving as general manager of the strategy unit. Previously, she worked two years at Hanes, a retailer that owns well-known Australasia brands such as Bonds, Sheridan and Berlei, and for twelve years at strategic consultancy Bain & Company. At KPMG Strategy, Cohen focuses on clients in the consumer products, services and retail industries.
Prior to joining KPMG late last year, Karina Collins served as the leader of BDO’s countrywide Consulting practice. Prior to her twelve year spell at the mid-tier accounting and consulting firm, Collins also worked in the consulting arms of Deloitte and EY, after starting her career in IT consulting. At KPMG, she works with clients to develop strategies and solutions for complex business challenges, with a focus on engagements in innovation, technology and transformation. Collins is KPMG Strategy’s lead for the Queensland region.
Following the acquisition of PPB Advisory by PwC in 2018, Adrian Renouf – who has a partner and leader of PPB’s National and NSW Government practice – decided to abandon the deal and join KPMG instead. Renouf brought three decades of experience to KPMG, having worked the health, justice, emergency services, human services, education, transport and government sectors. He specialises in strategy, corporate governance, service and operating model redesign, financial turnaround, procurement, public service commissioning and programme evaluation. Renouf is a partner in KPMG Strategy’s public sector practice.
After serving KPMG for a decade in London and Melbourne, in 2010 Mike Sum made the switch to rival PwC, where he was a partner in its Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) arm. Eight years down the line, Sum has returned to his roots, and now is KPMG’s national leader for its M&A and Integration & Separation practice. He specialises in helping clients to deliver value from M&A integrations, carve-outs & divestments, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and boats a track record of over 180 completed deals.
The fifth experienced consultant that joined KPMG Strategy as a partner is Vanessa Wolfe-Coote. She joined in March this year after spending two years establishing and growing her own business, Valu Health. Previously she worked six years for BCG Digital Ventures, the digital incubation arm of strategy giant Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Wolfe-Coote was part of the S&C team that was acquired by BCG to kick-start its BCG Digital Ventures footprint in Asia, and latterly, she was a Vice President. Before relocating to Australia in 2010, Wolfe-Coote gained ten years of working experience in Europe.
KPMG's Strategy group
KPMG Strategy helps clients with four main propositions: growth strategy, deal strategy, operating strategy & cost and enterprise-wide transformation. The arm, which in Australia is led by Margaret Cowle, formerly KPMG’s Asia Pacific Head of Management Consulting based out of Tokyo, is KPMG’s equivalent to the strategy groups of Deloitte (Monitor Deloitte, formed after Deloitte acquired Monitor Group), EY (EY-Parthenon, established after EY acquired The Parthenon Group) and PwC (Strategy&, formed following PwC’s acquisition of Booz & Company).
