Allco's Clarke to run Investec

Investec Bank Australia chairman David Gonski yesterday announced that former Allco Finance Group chief executive David Clarke would take over as CEO.

Clarke replaces Brian Schwartz, who is standing down in May.

Investec runs investment banking, private banking and commercial finance operations in Australia. It reported a profit of $76.5 million in 2007/08, an increase of 14 per cent over the previous year.

Clarke, who has held senior positions at Westpac and MLC, was brought in to take charge at Allco when problems had already emerged and executive chairman David Coe was forced to loosen the reins.

Clarke is a non-executive director of AMP and will continue to hold that position.