August was a busy month for institutional investment appointments. Here are some of the key moves from earlier this month.
AustralianSuper
AustralianSuper announced a series of appointments to its London office.
The fund has appointed John Normand as Head of Investment Strategy. Normand will join the fund later this month, after 24 years at J.P. Morgan. There, he was most recently Head of Cross-Asset Strategy.
At AustralianSuper, he will lead the asset allocation research team that drives investment strategy across all major asset classes.
In addition, AustralianSuper appointed Deborah Gilshan as Head of ESG and Stewardship, Europe. Gilshan has worked in previous stewardship roles at a number of large institutional investors, including Railpen, Aberdeen Standard Investments and the UK’s Co-operative Insurance Society.
Finally, AustralianSuper has appointed William Manfield as Head of Group Risk, International, and he joins AustralianSuper from BNP Paribas Asset Management.
Late last year, the fund had already announced that Carl Astorri would return to London as Head of Investments, Europe. Astorri had been working in AustralianSuper’s Melbourne office since 2015, where he led the asset allocation and research team and was responsible for asset allocation, equity strategy and macroeconomic research.
At that time, the fund also appointed Sujay Shah as Head of Internal Government Portfolios in the London office. Shah will manage the fund’s government bond portfolios and team, across the UK and Australian offices.
Aware Super
Aware Super names former AMP Capital’s Simon Warner Head of Portfolio Management
Aware Super has appointed Simon Warner as Head of Portfolio Management. Warner will join the fund in September this year.
Warner spent more than 15 years at AMP Capital, where in his last role he was Global Head of Public Markets.
Aware also appointed Justin Howell as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Investments. Howell joins from Pendal, where he was Group COO.
Cbus Super
Cbus Super has appointed Leigh Gavin in the newly-created role of Head of Portfolio Strategies. Gavin joins from AustralianSuper, where he was Head of Investment Model Design. He initially joined AustralianSuper in April 2021 in the fund’s Total Portfolio Management team.
Cbus created the new role to drive the fund’s new five-year investment strategy, through which the fund intends to internalise more than half its assets under management, while also enhancing global partnerships for greater access to new investment.
To read more about Cbus’s investment strategy, please read the interview with CIO Brett Chatfield below.
Colonial First State
Colonial First State has appointed John Iles as Head of Cash Management and Derivatives. Iles joins from AustralianSuper, where he was in charge of implementing investment decisions in the equity asset class. There, he focused on the implementation of overlays as well as looking for solutions to effectively optimise the fund’s equity holdings.
Prior to joining AustralianSuper, Iles worked in the Global Equity and Quant Team at UniSuper for eight years managing an internal equity portfolio. He started his career in boutique fixed income asset management companies in London before moving to New Zealand and converting to Equities.
Evidentia Group
Evidentia Group has appointed Jo Cornwell as Head of Manager Research and a member of the Investment Committee. Evidentia is a boutique asset consultant, which services the private wealth sector.
Cornwell was previously Portfolio Manager for Growth Assets at Aware Super. At Aware Super, she was responsible for $70 billion in assets spanning Australian and Global Equities investments. Cornwell oversaw manager research, manager selection, portfolio construction, implementation, and portfolio performance across Aware’s set of listed equity portfolios.
Prior to joining Aware, Jo was an Investment Professional at StatePlus, while she has also previously worked as an Investment Consultant at Mercer both in the UK and Australia.
Future Fund
The Future Fund has appointed Ben Samild as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), taking over from Raphael Arndt, Chief Executive Officer of the fund, who had been acting CIO after the departure of Sue Brake in June last year.
Samild was previously Deputy CIO of Portfolio Construction for the fund and will now be overseeing more than $250 billion in investments and a 90 person investment team.
Lonsec
Lonsec has appointed Nathan Lim as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Executive Director of Lonsec Investment Solutions, the investment division of rating agency Lonsec.
Lim joins from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia where he was Co-Head of Investment Management Services. He is also well-known from his time with responsible investment manager Australian Ethical Investment, where he managed the company’s International Shares Fund.
As CIO, Nathan will join the Product and Investment Oversight Committee, Asset Allocation, Manager Selection, Direct Equities and Tailored Portfolio committees, which oversee the Lonsec Investment Solutions portfolios.
Lonsec also promoted Deanne Baker to the newly created position of Deputy CIO. Baker had been interim CIO, while the company was recruiting for a permanent CIO. Baker will also continue in her role as Portfolio Manager Multi-Asset Portfolios, managing the multi-asset, retirement and sustainable portfolios.
Eleanor Menniti rejoins Lonsec as Associate Portfolio Manager, Multi-Asset Portfolios, after five years at BlackRock.
VFMC
Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) has appointed Georgina Bishop as Senior Portfolio Manager in the fund’s property team. Bishop joins from industry super fund-owned property manager ISPT, where she was a Fund Manager.
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