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.

Andrew Lill joins legalsuper as Interim Chief Investment Officer

March 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Andrew Lill on his appointment to the role Interim Chief Investment Officer of legalsuper.

Legalsuper manages the retirement wealth of the legal community, representing more than 41,000 members and with more than A$6 billion in assets under management.

Most recently, Andrew was the Chief Investment Officer at Rest. A position he held for five years until October 2024. Prior to that, Andrew was the Chief Investment Officer at Morningstar Investment Management for its Americas division and previous to that for Asia Pacific.

We wish Andrew all the best in his new role and continued success to the legalsuper team.

Jacki Ellis appointed as Head of Retirement at AustralianSuper

February 2025

Global Investment Institute congratulates Jacki Ellis on her appointment to the Head of Retirement role at AustralianSuper.

AustralianSuper is Australia’s largest superannuation fund with A$365 billion in assets under management and over 3.5 million members.

In her new role, Jacki will report to Shane Hancock, AustralianSuper's General Manager of Retirement.

Prior to joining AustralianSuper, Jacki was with Aware Super since 2018, where she most recently held the position of Head of the Retirement Segment for three years. She initially served as Portfolio Manager for Retirement Strategy, a role she held for nearly four years.

We wish Jacki all the best in her new role and continued success to the team at AustralianSuper.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT INSIGHTS