Company veteran Andrew Yates new CEO of KPMG Australia
Current national audit head and company veteran Andrew Yates has been announced as the next CEO of KPMG Australia, with eight-year incumbent Gary Wingrove due to step aside.
Andrew Yates will take over the top role from the beginning of July, when Gary Wingrove retires from the Australia firm after an eight-year stint in charge. Yates currently serves as KPMG’s National Managing Partner for Audit, Assurance & Risk Consulting, having joined the firm in 1990 and been made partner in 2001.
“We are delighted to appoint Andrew to head the next chapter of growth for KPMG Australia,” said KPMG Australia National Chairman Alison Kitchen, who has headed the board since 2017. “Andrew is an outstanding leader with deep relationships and broad respect across corporate Australia. He is recognised across the firm for his strong values, integrity and ethics agenda.”
Yates joined KPMG as a graduate after gaining a Bachelor in Economics from Australia National University in 1989, and soon after spent three years as a Banking Senior Manager in the global accounting and consulting firm’s Hong Kong office. After returning to Australia for a period as a Financial Services Partner, Yates then took on a two-year assignment with KPMG in New York.
Since 2010, the CEO-in-waiting has been based out of Sydney, previously heading up the local financial services audit business before being tasked in 2017 with leading KPMG’s nation-wide Audit, Assurance & Risk Consulting practice – which was last year up by 9 percent on 2019 and continues, for now, to be the firm’s biggest money-spinner in what is its fastest growing region.
“Under his direction, the Audit, Assurance & Risk Consulting business – a mix of regulated and consulting practices – has transformed and thrived,” commented Kitchen. “Andrew has driven a very deliberate strategy focused on growth, disruption and bringing on new talent while also nurturing the core of our business and ensuring we provide confidence in the capital markets.”
Outgoing
Meanwhile, Wingrove will exit the firm after nearly 25 years, including the past two decades as a partner since originally relocating and then crossing from a rival in South Africa in 1997. He held national leadership positions in valuations and then financial services advisory and risk advisory prior to being named CEO in 2013, with the firm having almost doubled in size in the period since.
Along with revitalising the KPMG’s investment strategy, Kitchen credited Wingrove with overseeing significant cultural change at the firm. “He’s driven a step-change in the gender diversity of our leadership – and paved the way for us to broaden and expand our inclusion ambitions with the launch of a further gender diversity target and our first cultural diversity target,” she said.
Wingrove’s departure coincides with a notable period of leadership transition among the Big Four in Australia. Earlier this month, Deloitte boss Richard Deutsch abruptly announced his resignation, with consulting head Adam Powick since put forward for the role, while David Larocca will be the new head of EY Oceania in July. PwC’s chief Tom Seymour assumed the role less than one year ago.
On his own appointment, Yates said; “I have a deep passion for the success of the firm and our people. I’m humbled to be asked to lead the firm as we continue to expand our contribution to our clients, the capital markets and society. Going forward, I’m committed to fostering the culture of care and high performance developed under Gary’s leadership, and driving a vibrant and energetic firm.”
