According to an ASX statement by Sequoia on 27 May, Ryan has tendered his resigned from the board, effective 16 June.
Sequoia stated that Ryan’s resignation “reflects the expansion of his other current board responsibilities, which impact upon the time available for his continuing role on the Sequoia board in the future”.
Ryan is also a chairman at Cann Group, a non-executive director at PM Capital, Energy One Limited and LiteracyPlanet, as well as an advisory board member at Centerstone Capital. He has been chairman of Sequoia’s board since August 2024.
Sequoia said he will remain available to the board to assist with “an orderly transition and handover”.
Expressing their appreciation, Sequoia said it will provide further information regarding succession in due course.
Sequoia, which is the parent company of InterPrac Financial Planning, has dominated headlines lately following the attempted sale of InterPrac – which has since been blocked by ASIC – as it deals with the fallout of its entanglement in the Shield and First Guardian debacle.
InterPrac has subsequently also filed a lawsuit again the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), with Sequioa chief executive Garry Crolle telling ifa at the time it was “with respect to fairness and [AFCA] breaching their own rules”.
“We’re of the belief that members will be best served if all parties can be part of the solution, rather than what AFCA is attempting to do, and that is put everything against the adviser and nothing against any other party, which basically sends everything to the CSLR and is bad for the industry,” Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole told ifa at the time.
This was swiftly followed by InterPrac naming Melinda Kee, a former client of the firm, as second defendant in its lawsuit against the complaints authority.
Sequoia has also experienced a large exodus of its advisers in the wake of this saga, as of 18 May being down to 176 advisers from a previous 282 less than five months ago.
Platforms, including HUB24 , North, Panorama and CFS have also cut ties with InterPrac.
As a whole, the Shield and First Guardian situation has shaken the industry, with AFCA stating that as of February of 2026, they were undertaking 500 simultaneous investigations into the funds’ collapse.
“AFCA has now received 843 complaints, including 167 complaints which are about both Shield and First Guardian,” lead ombudsman for investments and advice Shail Singh said at the time.
“Based on ASICs information, we know around 5,800 investors were invested in the fund, so we expect that number to continue to grow. The First Guardian Master Fund shows a very similar pattern at an even larger scale.”
