Spotlight on Kevin Marchetti, Co-Head of Direct Lending & Chief Credit Officer, Man Varagon

“Investors continue to allocate heavily to private credit, signalling an enduring commitment to integrating private credit as a core allocation, as they seek diversification, attractive risk-adjusted yields, and low correlation with public market volatility. The nature of today’s market and economy has shown some signs of potential stresses in credit portfolios. We believe that today it is particularly important for investors to focus on income, risk management, and capital preservation.”

- Kevin Marchetti is the Co-Head of Direct Lending and Chief Credit Officer at Man Varagon where he oversees the Leading the Underwriting and Portfolio Management teams, leveraging his extensive experience in risk management and middle market lending. He also serves on the Investment Committee, responsible for final approval of new and additional investments in the portfolio.

Kevin will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Investment Forum, taking place on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.

Spotlight on Gareth Abley, Co-Head of Alternative Strategies, MLC Asset Management

"In nearly 20 years of researching alternatives, we have found very few genuinely uncorrelated asset classes that have a fundamental economic reason as to why they should deliver attractive long-term returns. Natural catastrophe reinsurance or Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) is one of the most attractive. This does not mean that it has been easy for people to capture the ‘beta’ – which in practice is a much more nuanced concept than is initially apparent.”

- Gareth Abley is the Co-Head of Alternative Strategies at MLC Asset Management where he is responsible for identifying strategies with two key characteristics. Firstly, attractive risk-adjusted returns on a stand-alone basis. Secondly, as uncorrelated as possible to broader markets – in particular the ability to still make money when equities don’t, or when the economy is weaker.

Gareth and his team manage two portfolios worth a combined A$6.75 billion. Of this A$3.25 billion is in natural catastrophe reinsurance. The remaining A$3.5 billion is in the MLC Opportunistic Capital Solutions portfolio, which consists of niche private credit, legal finance and opportunistic investments.

Gareth will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Investment Forum, taking place on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.

Spotlight on Leander Christofides, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Global Special Situations, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

“With limited supply of new credit issuance and tightly priced spreads, investors should seek differentiated deal flow to diversify their allocations and focus on bespoke financings that offer a complexity premium and higher total lender returns. It is important to focus on managers that are not chasing crowded transactions so they can maintain high returns for low risk.”

- Leander Christofides is the Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Global Special Situations (GSS) team at J.P. Morgan Asset Management where he oversees GSS's investments in distressed and special situations private credit assets.

In the special situations and distressed asset class, several key themes are driving both risks and opportunities, these include:
- Convergence of private and public credit markets
- Uncovering hidden leverage and operating performance adjustments in private credit
- Understanding what the true default and recovery rates are for private credit
- How to assess the problems private equity have in exiting companies

Leander will be presenting at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Investment Forum, taking place on Thursday, 8 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan@globalii.com.au.

Sue Brake joins Aware Super's Investment Committee

April 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Sue Brake on joining Aware Super as a member of the Investment Committee.

Aware Super manages a A$190 billion portfolio on behalf of the Fund’s 1.15 million members.

Sue brings over 25 years of leadership experience and serves as a trusted advisor to some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investment institutions, offering expertise in portfolio strategy, and organisational strategy and governance. Most recently, Sue held the role of Chief Investment Officer at the Future Fund, until 2022.

We wish Sue all the best in her new role and continued success to the team at Aware Super.

HESTA appoints Michael Blayney as General Manager, Dynamic Asset Allocation

April 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Michael Blayney on his appointment to the role of General Manager, Dynamic Asset Allocation at HESTA.

HESTA is an Australian industry superannuation fund with A$93 billion in assets under management and over 1.05 million members.

Michael brings over 27 years of expertise in investment management, consulting, and superannuation, working with some of the world’s leading institutions. In his new role, he will lead the dynamic asset allocation team and report to Dianne Sandoval, HESTA’s Head of Portfolio Design.

We wish Michael all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at HESTA.

Yile Chen promoted to Chief Investment Officer at Zurich Financial Services Australia

April 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Yile Chen on his promotion to the Chief Investment Officer role at Zurich Financial Services Australia Limited.

Zurich Financial Services Australia Limited (Zurich) is the local arm of the Zurich Insurance Group Ltd, a global insurance and financial services company. Zurich have approximately A$9 billion in assets under management and are headquartered in Sydney.

Yile has been with Zurich for nearly six years, and until his promotion to CIO, he was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer.

We wish Yile all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at Zurich.

Brian To promoted to Senior Manager, Infrastructure, Real Assets & Private Markets at TCorp

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Brian To on his promotion to Senior Manager, Infrastructure, Real Assets & Private Markets at TCorp.

TCorp is the financial services partner to the NSW public sector, providing investment management, financial management solutions and advice. With A$116 billion of assets under management, TCorp is a top 10 Australian institutional investor and is the central borrowing authority of the state of New South Wales.

Prior to his promotion, Brian was the Manager, Infrastructure, Real Assets & Private Markets at TCorp for almost four years.

We wish Brian all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at TCorp.

SuperCareers - Job opportunities for executives and senior investment professionals across our industry

March 2025

Current featured job vacancies and opportunities include roles at Australian Ethical Investment, AustralianSuper, Aware Super, BlackRock, Frontier Advisors, Future Fund, Hostplus, LGT Crestone, Mercer, Octopus Australia, Queensland Treasury Corporation, TCorp, UniSuper and Vanguard Australia.

If you would like us to promote a job vacancy at your organisation for executive and senior investment roles, please email Nicole Browne, Global Investment Institute.

Ali El Saleh appointed as Responsible Investment Manager at Team Super

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Ali El Saleh on his appointment to the role of Responsible Investment Manager at Team Super.

Mine Super and TWUSUPER successfully completed their merger on 21 March 2025. To support the merger, Mine Super rebranded to Team Super on Monday, 20 January 2025. Team Super now manages over A$21 billion in assets and serves more than 150,000 members.

Most recently, Ali served as the Manager, Responsible Investment at TWUSUPER, where he was also a Modern Slavery Committee Member. Prior to that, he was a Responsible Investment Analyst at the Responsible Investment Association Australia.

We wish Ali all the best in his new role and continued success to the Team Super team.

Jerom Lotscher joins Team Super as Head of Strategic Investment

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Jerom Lotscher on his appointment to the role of Head of Strategic Investment at Team Super.

Mine Super and TWUSUPER successfully completed their merger on 21 March 2025. To support the merger, Mine Super rebranded to Team Super on Monday, 20 January 2025. Team Super now manages over A$21 billion in assets and serves more than 150,000 members.

Jerom held various roles at TWUSUPER over the past eleven years. Most recently he served as Senior Investment Manager for over four years. Prior to that, he was the Manager, Investment Operations at Australia Post Superannuation Scheme.

We wish Jerom all the best in his new role and continued success to the Team Super team.

John Archer appointed as Senior Manager, Investment Strategy and Portfolio Management at TAL Australia

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates John Archer on his appointment to the Senior Manager, Investment Strategy and Portfolio Management role at TAL Australia.

TAL is a leading life insurer with 150 years of experience. They protect more than five million customers and their families, together with their partners.

John most recently served as Head of Investment Strategy at AIA Australia. Prior to this, he was with CommInsure for over 17 years, in the role of Executive Manager, Investment Strategy.

We wish John all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at TAL Australia.

Grace Szeto promoted to Head of Real Assets Australia at WTW

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Grace Szeto on her promotion to the role of Head of Real Assets Australia at WTW.

WTW is a global asset consultant, providing a range of expertise in risk management, strategic and dynamic asset allocation, portfolio construction, investment manager selection, sustainable investment, investment governance, and delegated investment solutions (implemented consulting).

Most recently, Grace served as Associate Director at WTW for over three years. Prior to that, she held various roles at Christian Super for more than seven years, concluding her tenure as Investment and Operations Manager, after commencing as an Investment Analyst.

We wish Grace all the best in her new role and continued success to the WTW team.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT INSIGHTS