PwC announces new partner and six director promotions

Thursday 28 July 2022

PwC Channel Islands has added to its senior leadership team through the promotion of one partner and a further six directors.

The firm says that newly admitted partner, Alex Burne, will play a vital role in shaping PwC’s strategic direction, with a particular focus on driving innovation and using technology to work smarter as he leads the technology transformation of the firm.

Upon graduation from Bournemouth University, Mr Burne relocated to Guernsey to take up a trainee role at PwC, qualifying as an auditor with the Guernsey office in 2003. He then completed a secondment to PwC in Sydney, where he was part of the Australian firm's fast growing Financial Services audit team.

Those recently promoted to director are David Clare, Raymó Frewen, Abigail McDermott and Lawrence Musikavanhu based in the Jersey office, and Natalie Boes and Bruce Otto in Guernsey.

External Audit Director, David Clare, studied chemistry at the University of Warwick before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at PwC in Jersey, having joined the firm upon graduation in 2011. He currently leads audits in the listed closed-ended fund industry and specialises in providing assurance services to clients engaging in the digital asset space.

External Audit Director, Raymó Frewen, studied accounting at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa graduating in 2010, and completed her training contract in Stellenbosch from where she relocated to Jersey in 2014. She specialises in the asset and wealth management arena, with her main focus on the private equity investment sector.

Marketing and Communications Director, Abigail McDermott, relocated from Dublin to Jersey in 2000 upon completion of her master's degree in international marketing and languages. She acquired extensive international marketing experience working in the US, Germany, South Africa and Kenya, before joining PwC in 2013.

Abigail's key responsibilities at PwC are to lead on external market profile and to drive the firm's CSR programme.

External Audit Director, Lawrence Musikavanhu, studied Accounting and Finance at the University of Zimbabwe, before taking up a graduate trainee role at PwC in Zimbabwe in 2010. He relocated to the Jersey office in 2013 where he built up experience in various client sectors, mainly in banking and asset and wealth management. He is currently responsible for the management of the firm's risk and independence procedures.

Advisory Director, Natalie Boes, originally qualified as an Accountant in 2009 with PwC Channel Islands, having joined the firm's Guernsey office from school in 2005. She firstly gained extensive experience working in audit, before moving into an advisory role, and now leads the Guernsey Advisory business.

Capital Markets Director, Bruce Otto, who relocated to Guernsey in 2017, originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC South Africa. He has spent time working in South Africa, the US and the UK across a wide range of services including external and internal audit, non-audit assurance, financial due diligence, accounting advisory services and London Stock Exchange capital market transactions. He now leads the PwC Channel Islands' Capital Markets team, servicing investment fund IPO and follow-on capital raise transactions.

Jersey Managing Partner Karl Hairon said: "Each of these accomplished individuals brings a wealth of experience of both the PwC network and the international marketplace to their roles across the key disciplines in the business and I know the partnership is proud also of the diversity evident in these range of appointments from a cultural, gender and career experience perspective."

Pictured top - left to right: Abigail McDermott, Lawrence Musikavanhu, Karl Hairon (Managing Partner), Raymó Frewen, David Clare.