Former Synchron chair Michael Harrison died yesterday in Melbourne after a long illness. He was 78. 
 
He is survived by his wife, Pam, and five children, and will be farewelled at a private family funeral in accordance with his final wishes. 
 
Mr Harrison was chair of the financial advice group from April 2011 until the sale of the business to WT Financial last year. 
 
He was also a highly respected business strategist. In 1997 he was charged with the responsibility of reinventing Zurichʼs Australian life insurance business. 
 
Long-time colleague and friend, Don Trapnell, said Mr Harrison made an enormous contribution to Synchron. 
 
“With his help, we transformed Synchron into one of the largest non-institutionally owned licensees in the country and a preferred dealer group for both younger advisers and our traditional network of older advisers,” Mr Trapnell said. 
 
“He was one of the main instigators of our ground-breaking NextGen bootcamp for young advisers and industry participants, and he went with me to the UK in 2015, to uncover the real story in relation to life insurance commissions in that part of the world.” 
 
The UK trip yielded findings that informed debate on the issue of risk remuneration in Australia and helped shape the future, Mr Trapnell says. 
 
Mr Harrison was also instrumental in Synchron’s legal battle against the State Revenue Office (SRO) of Victoria over the imposition of payroll tax on the earnings of financial advice practices that did not employ two or more people. 
 
“It was [him] who successfully led that fight, saving not only Synchron, but potentially all licensees across the industry, from a hefty payroll tax bill that could have had a profound negative impact on their businesses,” Mr Trapnell said. 
 
Mr Trapnell has published a video tribute to Mr Harrison. 
 
Click here to view the tribute.