![Teik Heng Tan, Executive Director, Investment Innovation Institute [i3]](https://i3-invest.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Teik-Heng-Tan_680-678x430.jpg)
Why do some organisations produce a steady stream of global talent, while others fail to do so? Teik Heng Tan explores the making of influential investment executives, the importance of culture and mentorship, and where GE’s Jack Welch got it wrong
In a recent conversation with an NZ Super Fund alumnus, I was alerted to the fact that this high-performing sovereign fund was also punching above its weight in terms of the impact of its alumni on the global investment community.
Considered small in the global context at just NZ$75b (~US$45b), this fund in the far-flung corners of the world seemed to have its alumni footprint globally:
- Stephen Gilmore, CIO, CalPERS (although Australia’s Future Fund could also claim him as their own, with his earlier tenure as Chief Investment Strategist)
- Sue Brake, former CIO, Australia’s Future Fund, who returned to be a Board Member of NZ Super Fund
- David Iverson, CIO, Accident Compensation Corporation NZ
- Fiona MacKenzie, Managing Director & George Crosby, CIO, ANZ Investments
- Joe Cheung, CIO – Asset Allocation, Exchange Fund Investment Office, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- Tim Mitchell, CEO, Annuitas NZ (considered employee #0 at NZ Super)
What’s fascinating about this group of NZ Super Fund alumni is their geographical spread (Australia, Hong Kong, USA, in addition to the NZ) as well as the significant size of the organisations that they are leading.
The McKinsey CEO Factory
It reminds me of global consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Co, often dubbed the CEO Factory, with its alumni going on to lead global organisations. Notable examples include:
- Sundar Pichai,CEO, Google and Alphabet
- Sheryl Sandberg, former COO, Facebook/Meta
- James Gorman, Chairman, Walt Disney Company; former CEO, Morgan Stanley
- James McNerney, former CEO, Boeing
- Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, former CEO, The LEGO Group
- Indra Nooyi, former CEO, PepsiCo
- Doug McMillon, CEO, Walmart
The PayPal Mafia
In the world of high-tech and innovation, you cannot go past the ‘PayPal Mafia’, where the original group of PayPal employees (1999–2002) went on to found top technology companies in Silicon Valley. Familiar names include:
- Elon Musk, Founder, SpaceX, Tesla and more
- Peter Thiel, Co-founder Palantir, Founders Fund; First Facebook investor
- Reid Hoffman, Founder, LinkedIn; Early investor in Facebook
- Max Levchin, Founder, Slide.com, HVF and Affirm
- Steve Chen, Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, Co‑founders, YouTube
- Roelof Botha, Partner, Sequoia Capital; Oversaw investments in YouTube, Instagram and Block
Swensen: Father of The Yale Model
In the world endowments, David Swensen, credited as the father of the ‘Yale endowment model’, spawned a plethora of proteges to become CIOs at major US endowments and foundations:
- Seth Alexander, CIO, MIT
- Robert Wallace, CIO, Stanford University
- Peter H. Ammon, CIO, University of Pennsylvania
- Andrew Golden, former CIO, Princeton University
- Paula Volent, former CIO, Bowdoin College
- Donna Dean, former CIO, Rockefeller Foundation
- Lauren Meserve, CIO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Randy Kim, former CIO, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
- Anne Martin, CIO, Wesleyan University
- Lisa Howie, CIO, Smith College
But more importantly, Swensen’s teaching and mentoring at the Yale School of Management has influenced many Yale alumni at various asset management firms.
Julian Robertson’s Tiger Cubs
The accolade in alternatives investing must surely go to hedge fund pioneer Julian Robertson, whose Tiger Management spawned a cohort known as the “Tiger Cubs”, who subsequently launched major hedge funds, including:
- Lee Ainslie, Founder, Maverick Capital
- Chase Coleman, Founder, Tiger Global
- Andreas Halvorsen, Co-Founder, Viking Global
- Rob Citrone, Co-Founder, Discovery Capital
Officially, some 30 hedge funds can be considered Tiger Cubs, but it seems that more than 200 hedge funds trace their roots to Tiger Management. According to Wall Street Prep, a more comprehensive list can be found here.
QIC: The Sunshine State Emerging First Among Equals?
Australia’s institutional investment industry is relatively young as compared to the US. But are there glimpses of emerging talent incubators?
Away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney and Melbourne lies Brisbane to the north, where QIC, the Queensland state’s investment engine, shines brightly. Not to be outdone by the NZ Super cohort, the QIC alumni have also spread their wings across the globe:
- Brad Holzberger, former CIO, QSuper
- Stewart Brentnall, CIO, TCorp (former CIO, ANZ)
- Adriaan Ryder, former Chief Strategist, Abu Dhabi Investment Council
- Troy Rieck, CIO, Emirates Investment Authority (former CIO, Equip & LGIA Super)
- Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, CIO, HESTA
- Charles Woodhouse, CIO, Abu Dhabi Pension Fund (former CIO QSuper & Deputy CIO, ART)
- Aongus O’Gorman, Head of Investments, WTW
- Kevin Wan Lum, Deputy CIO, LGT Crestone (former CIO, Energy Super)
- Angela Ashton, Founder, Evergreen Consultants
- David Brown, CIO, Cook Islands Superannuation (former CIO of NasFund PNG)
- Tony Day, Former Head of Strategy, Future Fund
- Jim Christensen, former CIO of Telstra Super, who returned to be CIO of QIC
Christensen subsequently handed the CIO reins to Allison Hill, who had spent considerable time at Frontier Advisors – which brings us the next question: How about asset consultants?
Frontier Advisors: Edging Ahead?
It is more difficult to figure this out, as most investment professionals would have started their careers at one of the consulting houses. But Frontier Advisors seems to have more than a fair share with their current slate of CIOs:
- Kristian Fok (current CEO), Brett Chatfield & Leigh Gavin, consecutive CIOs of Cbus
- Allison Hill, State CIO, QIC
- Sam Sicilia, CIO, Hostplus
- Michael Wysch, CIO, & Tim Ridley, Deputy CIO, Vision Super
- Damian Moloney, Deputy CIO, AustralianSuper
- Daniel Selioutine, Group Executive, Investments, ESSSuper
- Kate Misic, Acting CIO, Telstra Super
- Norman Zhang, CIO, Koda Capital (former CIO of Legalsuper & Media Super)
- Edward Smith, CIO, TWU Super (former CIO of Legalsuper)
- Matthew Kempton, Head of Equities Strategies, Cbus (former Deputy CIO, Funds SA & former Head of Investments, ESSSuper)
Recognising the Leaders Behind the Leaders
So, what is the reason behind the extraordinary cohort of emerging leaders? Is it the organisational culture? Or the visionary leaders who presided during the time?
Other than Swensen and Robertson as highlighted earlier, perhaps we could recognise these Australasian leaders for their mentorship and talent management:
- Adrian Orr, former CEO, NZ Super Fund
- Doug McTaggart, former CEO, QIC
- Fiona Trafford-Walker, former Director of Consulting, Frontier Advisers
When asked about the ‘secret sauce’, QIC alumnus Troy Rieck quipped, “A big part of it was Doug [McTaggart] getting the fully discretionary mandate and then hiring Brad [Holzberger] to run strategy. Brad hired a strategy team and turned them loose on the world!”
GE’s Jack Welch: Perils of Succession Planning
Remarkable as it is to have outsized industry influence, isn’t the talent management endgame all about ensuring sustained long-term superior performance for your own organisation?
In a sense, you develop more talent than you need, then endeavour to retain the best for your organisation.
However, there arises another crucial factor – culture.
It’s critical to empower and nurture individual talent, but equally important is the need to foster a culture for these high performers to work cohesively.
As former Wallaby Ben Darwin will testify, success is derived from high performing teams displaying cohesiveness, not solo rock stars.
That’s where GE’s legendary CEO Jack Welch may have gotten it wrong.
Welch is widely recognised for his intensive management training programs aimed at grooming leaders of tomorrow. Housed at Crontonville, GE’s management training facility in New York, that program empowered many GE employees, who subsequently became leaders of top organisations such as 3M, Home Depot, Honeywell, Boeing, to name a few.
However, despite the quality and quantity of leaders on staff at GE, it is believed that Jack made a major mistake when it came to succession planning.
He pitted key executives against one another in the succession horse race. When Jeff Immelt snared the top job, the eventual fallout between the other executives caused a mass exodus of talent. The corporate culture was also severely damaged.
Unfortunately, when Immelt eventually failed to live up to the lofty standards, there was a dearth of talent to take over. The first outsider in 100+ years, Larry Culp, was hired as the new CEO. While Culp plans to rebuild the internal talent pool, he must rely on external hires in the interim.
In contrast, NZ Super’s current co-CIOs, Will Goodwin and Brad Dunstan, are both homegrown talent and internally promoted to the leadership position.
The sporting world too has many such examples. Top of mind is the contrasting results after the retirement of two highly successful coaches in the English Premier League – Manchester United (Alex Ferguson) vs Liverpool (Jurgen Klopp).
But that is a story for another day. #YNWA
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[i3] Insights is the official educational bulletin of the Investment Innovation Institute [i3]. It covers major trends and innovations in institutional investing, providing independent and thought-provoking content about pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds across the globe.