The IPA has appointed former Investment Banker and respected adviser David Clasen as its new Finance Director.  He will formally join the IPA on 2nd January 2018.

Clasen will bring to the role his comprehensive experience of corporate finance and auditing – including positions at KPMG, Morgan Grenfell, Deutsche Bank, Cazenove&Co., JP Morgan Cazenove, and most recently as Executive Director at the specialist advisory firm Clasen+Co. Limited.

Working alongside Director General Paul Bainsfair, David will hold responsibility for two key areas:

• Internally: the financial management of the IPA – including the reporting and budgetary control of the organisation and its commercial activities, including any tax and treasury requirements.
• Externally: on our relationship with our members, where we expect him to lead initiatives to help them establish more value-based models for their clients (moving from cost-based to price-based). So he will be working closely with agency finance, procurement and commercial directors, as well as Kingston Smith, ISBA, BARB, PAMCo and the AA.

Says IPA Director General Paul Bainsfair: “Our latest Bellwether Report shows our industry is navigating uncertain times due to the knock-on effect of wider geo-political instability. So now, more than ever, it is imperative that we support our members in asserting and promoting the value they deliver to clients, brands and to the economy. David’s experience in this area will prove invaluable to members. He is the man for the moment.”

Says David Clasen: “I am honoured and very excited to be taking up this role with the IPA.  It will give me the welcome opportunity to combine a long-standing and passionate interest in the advertising industry and its people with the varied financial skills I have built up in the City over the last thirty years.”

In addition to having qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant, David has a degree from Oxford, is fluent in French, is a semi-professional singer and a seasoned cook.

He succeeds Tom Lewis, who resigned in September.