Global Investment Insights

Michael Leithead, Head of Fixed Income & Senior Portfolio Manager, New Capital, visiting Australia 19-23 June 2023

Roadshow Announcement | 19 – 23 June 2023, Australia

Michael is the Head of Fixed Income and Senior Portfolio Manager at New Capital. He will be visiting Australia from London in the week commencing 19 June 2023.

Michael is responsible for managing over AU$4.5 billion in FUM across three key investment strategies.

Michael sees a potentially rich opportunity set in bond markets after a turbulent 2022. On this visit, he will unpack “why bonds now” as bond yields hit their highest levels in over a decade. He will share his insights on key risks for investors’ portfolios from a macro perspective and highlight where he sees opportunities in fixed income in the 2nd half of 2023 and beyond.

Michael McQueen appointed to a Chief Investment Officer role

May 2023

Global Investment Institute congratulates Michael McQueen on his appointment as the Chief Investment Officer of Foresters Financial.

Foresters Financial is a member-owned Australian financial services provider of investment and insurance products with AU$390 million in funds under management, serving over 80,000 members around Australia. Foresters Financial provides investment bond solutions for investors seeking better ways to grow, protect and transition family wealth, and to protect intergenerational legacies. The company maintains strong links with the funeral industry as a leading funeral industry fund manager, providing funds management for both prepaid funeral plan products and funeral bonds.

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

Megan Talmage joins AustralianSuper in a senior equities role

May 2023

Global Investment Institute congratulates Megan Talmage on joining AustralianSuper as Portfolio Manager, Portfolio Construction & Strategy – Equities.

AustralianSuper is the largest superannuation fund in Australia and one of the top 40 pension funds globally, with more than AU$260 billion in assets under management, which it invests on behalf of 2.7 million members.

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

Alex Satchcroft joins Aware Super as Portfolio Manager, Private Equity

May 2023

Global Investment Institute congratulates Alex Satchcroft on joining Aware Super as Portfolio Manager, Private Equity.

Aware super is one of Australia’s larges industry funds providing superannuation, advice and retirement solutions to those who teach, nurse, care, respond and help others in our communities. The Fund currently manages a combined asset pool of AU$125 billion on behalf of its 1.1 million members.

Alex joined Aware’s Private Equity team on 26 April 2023, and reports to will report to the incoming Head of Private Equity, Jenny Newmarch. Alex will play a lead role in the evolution of the Fund’s Private Equity strategy, adding and building capability to invest more strategically alongside Aware’s investment partners.

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

Chris Grogan promoted to Head of Defensive Assets & Deputy CIO of Qantas Super

May 2023

GII congratulates Chris Grogan on his promotion to Head of Defensive Assets & Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Qantas Super.

Qantas Super is the superannuation fund for employees of the Qantas Group, an Australian airline company. The fund was established in 1939 and has since grown to become one of Australia's largest corporate superannuation funds, with over 30,000 members and more than AU$9 billion in funds under management.

We wish Chris all the best in his new role and continued success to the team at Qantas Super.

Jarrad Hose joins CareSuper as Investment Implementation Manager

May 2023

GII congratulates Jarrad Hose on joining CareSuper as an Investment Implementation Manager.

CareSuper is an industry fund for professionals, established in 1986 to look after the superannuation of office-based employees.

Today, CareSuper is one of the largest industry funds for people in professional, managerial, administrative and service occupations in all business sectors, representing more than 220,000 members, with approximately AU$20 billion in assets under management.

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

Louise Hollingsworth joins Rest in the role External Mandates Credit - IG & Sub IG

May 2023

GII congratulates Louise Hollingsworth on joining Rest in the role External Mandates Credit – Investment Grade & Sub-Investment Grade. Established in 1988, Rest is amongst the largest superannuation funds in Australia by membership, with approximately 1.9 million members and AU$66 billion in assets under management.

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

Spotlight on Thomas Kyriakoudis, Partner & Head of Capital Solutions, LGT Capital Partners

Thomas Kyriakoudis is a Partner and Co-head of credit solutions at LGT Capital Partners and he is responsible for managing the private credit exposure of the LGT endowment.

Recently, rapid increases in interest rates, the reversal of QE and well publicised banking failures are having a profound impact on assets in the private credit industry. The balance of supply and demand has altered in favour of lenders and away from borrowers.

As some companies come under pressure from higher rates combined with cost inflation there is likely to be more opportunity to invest in the stressed/distressed credit market.

There are also a number of opportunities emerging from providing liquidity to the very large amount of capital in existing PE funds where exit activity is significantly reduced. This would include product like NAV lending.

Thomas will present on the emergence of NAV based financing as an investment opportunity and the key considerations for investors at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Roundtable, taking place on Thursday, 4 May 2023 at The Residence - Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria.

Registrations close this week. To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan.kapetanovic@globalii.com.au.

Spotlight on Ilfryn Carstairs, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Chief Investment Officer, Värde Partners

“Recent economic events and market volatility signal that we are clearly in an unfolding global credit cycle. The issues in credit are now significant enough to drive the tighter linking of interactions across the market that make a cycle spread, in our experience, from one segment to another. This is the essence of a credit cycle; problems, when they occur in large enough parts of the market, create more problems. Credit standards tighten, availability goes down and costs go up, drawing more sectors of the market into stress.”

Ilfryn Carstairs is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Värde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm specialising in credit and credit-related assets.

Ilfryn will share current views on the credit cycle and explain why we are in the midst of one of the richest environments for opportunistic credit investing. He will discuss how investors can pursue the best relative value across both public and private markets globally when he presents at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Roundtable, taking place on Thursday, 4 May 2023 at The Residence - Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan.kapetanovic@globalii.com.au.

Spotlight on David Ross, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit, Northleaf Capital

David leads the direction and development of Northleaf’s global private credit strategies and serves on its Executive Committee overseeing their broader private markets platform.

David will discuss the evolution of the private credit asset class, from an extension of the private equity asset class to an established and growing asset class within fixed income, and the key factors to achieve long term performance outcomes, at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Roundtable, taking place on Thursday, 4 May 2023 at The Residence - Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan.kapetanovic@globalii.com.au.

Spotlight on Joe Millward, Founding Partner, Epsilon Direct Lending

Joe is the Founding Partner of Epsilon Direct Lending, an Australian based non-bank corporate lender and private markets investment manager, providing capital to support growing middle market businesses in Australia and in New Zealand. Epsilon’s team have been active corporate lenders for over a decade, having closed >50 transactions and >AU$1.7 billion of middle market direct lending.

Joe will present on the opportunity in the Australian direct lending middle market in the context of its relative value compared with offshore markets, at Global Investment Institute’s upcoming Private Credit Roundtable, taking place on Thursday, 4 May 2023 at The Residence - Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Victoria.

To register your interest in attending, click here or for more information email zlatan.kapetanovic@globalii.com.au.

Ben Lam promoted to Head of Equities at Colonial First State (CFS)

April 2023

GII congratulates Ben Lam on his promotion to Head of Equities at Colonial First State (CFS). CFS is one of the largest retail super funds in Australia with AU$145 billion in assets under management and a membership base of approximately 670,000.

Ben joined the Colonial First State FirstChoice Investments team in May 2016 and most recently held the role of Senior Investment Manager at CFS, with primary responsibility for undertaking research and providing advice in relation to manager selection and portfolio management of the FirstChoice Australian Share, Australian Small Companies, Australian Property Securities, Global Property Securities and Global Infrastructure Securities portfolios.

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