The alternatives sector is unique in that it’s largely defined by what it’s not. Accordingly, how you fit alternatives within your existing asset class structure will depend on relativity, and how the investments interact with the other asset classes according to Atchison’s Kev Toohey.
The private markets juggernaut is one that has also thrown up a wealth of data that other players can use to sharpen up due diligence when making their own investment decisions – especially in the growing secondaries market.
Akambo, CFS and Atrium lead appointments this week
Last week’s Australian unemployment figures showed spectacular improvement, with the headline figure falling to 3.5 percent from 3.9 percent, while adding 88,400 jobs to the economy last month. Officially, it’s the lowest jobless rate ever recorded in Australia since 1974. The participation rate rose to a record high of 66.8 per cent. What these numbers tell us is that there are as many vacant positions as people still looking for work. It’s a tight labour market, where businesses are short of staff because there is a shortage of available workers. Many businesses are offering higher packages to attract and retain staff. And with the labour market running super tight, there’s no shortage of jobs out there.
There have been a few key movements this week, particularly at the top of some of Australia’s largest financial services groups.
Financial services business Akambo has made two new appointments. The firm has appointed Michael Happell as its non-executive chairman and Kevin White as a non-executive director of the group’s holding company. Happell had recently retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers after 24 years as the chairman for four of those years. Current roles include president of the Melbourne Cricket Club, chairman of Supra Capital and director of two emerging IT companies, My Prosperity and Financial Crimes Solutions. White has extensive knowledge of building and leading ASX listed companies, which include Crowe Horwath Australasia and WHK Group, and, most recently, Freehills Patent Attorneys.
Financial services tech firm GBST has made two new Australian appointments to its executive team, with Stacey Kelly joining as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the internal promotion of Marie Maky as its first-ever chief people officer (CPO). This follows the recent appointment of UK based chief commercial officer (COO), Kirsty Worgan. Kelly will play a key role in developing and implementing corporate strategy. Her most recent role was as the CFO of Mainstream Group. Maky was a senior HR business partner at GBST, a role she had undertaken for one and a half years, and the perfect candidate for the newly created role of CPO. Her roles prior to joining GBST in 2020 included leading teams at Cuscal, eftpos Payments Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, Kelly Services, and Cochlear.
Scott Richardson has been appointed for the role of director of systematic credit at Acadian Asset Management in an effort to introduce a systematic capability service to keep up with growing client demand. In his previous roles, Richardson was the head of Europe equity research at BGI/BlackRock and head of global credit research at AQR. His role at Acadian Asset Management will involve building and leading a team of portfolio managers, researchers, traders and support personnel.
Colonial First State (CFS) has a new chief investment officer (CIO), Jonathan Armitage. With 30 years of global experience, Armitage is a highly regarded asset management investment executive, having worked in Australia, the UK and the US.
Atrium Investment Management has appointed David Harris as the company’s chief operating officer. He joins the firm as it sets out on a new growth phase. With 20 years of experience across a range of executive and leadership roles, Harris will oversee the firm’s core operational functions.
GSFM has increased its retail distribution team with the appointment of Simone Newman as key account manager Victoria and Tasmania and the promotion of Steven Taylor to national distribution manager. Newman comes from Dexus-owned APN Property Group, where she was the head of group marketing and distribution.
HUB24 has appointed Tim Steele as the chief executive of the self-managed superannuation fund administration technology firm Class, which HUB24 acquired earlier this year. Steele brings a wealth of executive experience in leading teams and working with financial professionals.
In financial advice world, the number of financial advisers rose by nine this week to 16,415. According to Wealth Data – There were 32 licensee owners that added 54 advisers, while 30 licensee owners had net loss of -42. Steinhardt Group (Infocus) gained six advisers after taking over a practice from AMP Financial Planning and two additional advisers from ANZ.
