RSM elects Robert Miano as its next Australian chief executive
The national partnership of accounting and consulting firm RSM has elected Robert Miano as its next Australian chief, with Miano due to take over from Jamie O’Rourke from the start of July.
The local firm’s first audit partner to take on the top role, Miano becomes Australia chief executive after more than two decades at RSM, including an earlier stint as managing partner of RSM Bird Cameron’s Melbourne office prior to the firm’s global rebranding in 2015.
Miano takes over from three-and-a-half decade company veteran Jamie O’Rourke, who was appointed as national chair in 2016 at a time when RSM’s local revenues sat at around the $175 million mark. In the nine years since, that figure has grown to more than $400 million.
“Jamie has been a fantastic leader for the firm,” Miano said in paying tribute to his predecessor. “During his tenure we have grown considerably to become more diverse, with a true national presence and many new service offerings. He has also invested strongly in our people, and I’m passionate about continuing this.”
Graduating RMIT with a business accounting degree in 1987, Miano joined RSM as a partner in 2003 via its purchase of HLB Mann Judd’s former Melbourne practice, and has been a member of the firm’s steady, five-person national executive since 2014 alongside O’Rourke, former Brisbane managing partner Andrew Graham, and now Asia Pacific chair James Komninos.
Recent growth
The stability at board level (its fifth current member, Jessica Olivier, took over from long-serving director Judy Snell last year), has also been reflected in the firm’s most senior rank, with Miano becoming just the eighth chief in RSM’s more than 100-year local history. O’Rourke’s predecessor, Kim Hutchinson, led the firm for sixteen years.
Having established a solid national platform during his tenure, Hutchinson handed over to O’Rourke at a time of significant disruption in the local accounting and consulting industry, marked by numerous breakaways and widespread consolidation. The same might be said again as the baton changes hands almost a decade on.
This time, however, the disruption is being brought about through technological innovations, evolving client demand due to enduring, post-pandemic economic headwinds, and a shift in the federal government’s procurement approach which has suddenly challenged the ascendancy of the Big Four in favour of their mid-tier cousins.
Recently becoming just the sixth firm of its kind to break the $10 billion global revenue barrier, RSM’s Australian branch has itself grown by double-digit figures in each year since the pandemic, and altogether by 150 percent over the past ten years, lifting it over that period from ninth into seventh place on the local revenue charts.
Future ambitions
Still, O’Rourke, who is retiring after 34 years with the firm, said the goal wasn’t to become the fifth member of a ‘Big Five’: “Our aim is to be the first-choice advisor for Australia’s middle market businesses. We are doing this by delivering innovative solutions, lasting value, and an exceptional experience for our clients by listening to their needs.”
Nevertheless, RSM has solid ambitions in Australia in line with the firm’s 2030 global strategy, with Miano now being tasked with driving the firm’s revenue beyond the $700 million mark by the end of the decade, alongside its ambitious goals to grow its partnership and director numbers by 50 percent and raise its overall headcount to 3,000 professionals.
“It’s a true privilege to take on this position and lead a firm that I care deeply about, one that is defined not only by its outstanding people and expertise, but also by its purpose, ambition and culture,” Miano stated. “With our 2030 strategy guiding us, I’m energised by what lies ahead and the opportunity to build on the strong foundations we’ve laid together.”
Grant Thornton, RSM’s closest mid-tier rival in revenue terms, also recently announced a national leadership handover after almost a decade, with Said Jahani likewise set to take over from Greg Keith from the middle of the year.
