RSM appoints new partners in cyber, sustainability and tax teams

A new recruit and two promotions have bolstered RSM’s nationwide partnership, with Catherine Bell and Riaan Bronkhorst added in Perth and Peter Xi elevated in Sydney.

Accounting and consulting network RSM has recruited Catherine Bell as a partner in its Climate Change & Sustainability Services practice out of Perth, while office colleague and Cybersecurity and Privacy Risk leader Riaan Bronkhorst was also promoted to partner.

Peter Xi, a member of RSM’s specialist R&D tax team in Sydney, was likewise elevated, taking the firm’s nation-wide partnership tally to above 130.

Catherine Bell joins RSM after the past five and a half years at BDO between Australia and Singapore, the latter where she served as global sustainability business development lead and supported members worldwide in establishing their respective practices. A varied career has also seen Bell work in Scandinavia and Bangkok, and for organisations including the Australian Trade Commission, NAB, IDC, The Economist and Mercer.

“It is no longer business as usual,” Bell said of the creative thinking required to address climate change and the energy transition. “These megatrends are ensuing generational and transformational changes to the way we do business, the way we live and the way we work. The opportunities the new green economy offers is enormous, particularly as we accelerate the re-design of the economy towards sustainable production and consumption.”

Also a former member of BDO in Perth, Riaan Bronkhorst joined RSM as a senior manager in 2018, bringing almost two decades worth of IT and audit experience in South Africa and Australia. Bronkhorst first served as a senior internal auditor with BankWest upon his arrival to Perth, before then joining William Buck. He later spent nearly five years as an IT governance manager with WA’s Disability Services Commission.

Peter Xi joined RSM in 2016 from PwC, where he spent four and a half years as a senior consultant while completing his tax-focused law masters with the University of Sydney. Fluent in Mandarin, Xi provides both national and Chinese clients in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Auckland with expertise in tax innovation and incentives compliance, and has previously made submissions on R&D Tax policy matters before the Australian senate.

RSM’s national chairman Jamie O’Rourke said the firm’s latest partnership appointments reflect an evolving business landscape; “Whether it’s multinational tax reform at the ASX-listed company, meeting enhanced cyber security obligations, or implementing improved systems to protect customer data, no business can operate successfully today without the support of technical business specialists – the risk of not doing so is too great.”