Charles Benson

Charles, CEO of Merryck & Co Australia, is passionate about guiding senior executives to prosper in highly competitive environments. Throughout his varied career, he has been intimately involved with leadership development and the design and implementation of change programs intended to improve performance at the corporate, team and individual levels. Before joining Merryck & Co, Charles worked at Stephenson Mansell Group as an executive coach and mentor for senior executives across banking, property, insurance, and the food and travel industries. Early in his career, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG in London. After working 5 years in Sydney, he spent 6 years, the last 2-1/2 as CEO of the Thomas Cook Group in New York, a firm of 1000 employees and turnover of $75 million, where he orchestrated its successful sale to OAG. He was the CFO for 15 years at Deutsche Bank Global Asset Management in London also acting as confidant/adviser to the CEO on strategy and fixing issues/problems. There, he refocused Morgan Grenfell Australia, led the Asset Management team on the purchase of Bankers Trust, and oversaw the sale of their business in Australia.. At the Commonwealth Bank Sydney, Charles was CFO for 4 years and also Head of Risk in the Corporate and Investment Bank covering credit, market and operational risk. Charles is a Director of the St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation and coaches the CEO of a major not for profit. Charles married Pam (an Australian) before moving to New York. Charles and Pam love golf and entertaining both in Sydney and at their house in Palm Beach. When time permits, travel is high on the agenda bringing the family together with two living in Sydney and their eldest daughter pursuing a career in London.