New Canstar CEO Mark Gracey
Long-serving Canstar chief executive Andrew Spicer is retiring after running the financial comparison site for 16 years.
Spicer will be replaced by Mark Gracey, the former chair of UK mortgage comparison platform Podium Solutions.
Gracey has also worked as an executive team member at another UK comparison site MoneySuperMarket.com Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. He was responsible for several acquisitions and led the development of mobile apps for two of its brands.
He joins Canstar at a time when it is developing a new mortgage broker certification business.
In November, Canstar announced the launch of a pilot program, Certified Mortgage Broker, which will endorse brokers who meet performance standards, pass a certification test and submit to a risk and integrity assessment.
Canstar said in a statement that the program was designed to help borrowers find brokers who “act with integrity and put the customer first”.
Under Spicer’s leadership, Canstar expanded with the acquisition of RateCity in 2021 and got into the open banking market. Canstar claims to be Australia’s biggest comparison site, with two million visits a month.