Ryan Piper departs Pitcher Partners in Melbourne as Morison CEO
It’s fair to say former Melbourne-based Pitcher Partners corporate finance strategist Ryan Piper has had a busy couple months, packing his bags for London as Morison’s new global CEO.
Formed in 2016 through the merger of Morison and KS International, Morison Global is one of the world’s largest accounting and consulting associations, with more than 150 members spread across 70-plus countries worldwide.
Since being appointed as global CEO in June, Piper has engaged with more than a third of those members already, which is somewhat of a lifestyle upheaval after spending the past two years in the Melbourne office of Pitcher Partners.
Piper isn’t however unfamiliar with the international stage, having previously spent a decade with Grant Thornton in the United Kingdom, Bermuda and Singapore – the latter where he served as head of corporate development and finance – before going on to join Baker Tilly for five years in the city-state as international strategy director ahead of his stint with Pitcher Partners in Melbourne.
“I’m looking forward to working with the extended Morison family as we take the association forward,” Piper said upon his appointment. “It is a privilege to work with a global association of such standing, and as we identify our new bottom-up strategy to build on our relevance in the profession, I’m energised by the opportunity to hear and amplify our collective voice and client and people innovations.”
Morison Global members last year brought in combined revenues of close to $1 billion, landing the association a top ten spot in the International Accounting Bulletin’s (IAB) annual global rankings. Two of those members are based in Australia, the Leebridge Group in Melbourne and Sydney’s Hayes Knight, which have both been in business for more than 40 years.
Piper has taken over from former Deloitte partner Kenny Young (based in Singapore), who was appointed to the CEO role in 2021 after a period of turbulence following the departure of inaugural CEO Liza Robbins for Kreston Global. Her successor, industry outsider Amanda Long, lasted less than nine months, before Memoria Lewis took over for a two-year stint and oversaw a brand refresh.
The association has also since rebadged from Morison KSi, and is now seeking to gain further momentum and ground on the likes of Praxity, Allinial and PrimeGlobal, the world’s three largest organisations of their kind. Global chair Paul Wan cited Piper’s expertise in firm strategy, commerciality, and sustainable growth as key to guiding Morison through its next chapter.
