In 2023 Independent Thought provides you the opportunity to hear how the investment managers and decision makers closest to investor portfolios are meeting the many challenges of continuing geopolitical uncertainty, inflation, interest rates, volatile market returns, the risk of recession, and the resulting effect on portfolio returns for end investors.
Melbourne's Program
We focus on the themes driving investment strategies and portfolio decisions for both returns and to meet the requirements of clients as delivered through advisers.
Sydney's Program
We feature top Portfolio Managers addressing the key asset classes to provide benefit for portfolio asset allocations and investment selection:
- Australian Equities
- International Equities
- Fixed Interest
- Property & Infrastructure
- Alternatives
IMAP thanks our Sydney Hosts & Speakers
Select Melbourne or Sydney to view the relevant Program
Introduction
Breakfast Keynote: Smart beta, intelligent indexing
Australian Equities - Is the market too optimistic?
Fixed Interest - Are Bonds the key to portfolios again?
Property Portfolio Strategies in Challenging Times
International Equities - do they remain a key driver of returns?
Infrastructure Asset Class View
Do Alternatives still have a key role in portfolios?
Lunch Keynote
Introduction
Breakfast Keynote:
Setting a benchmark for Managed accounts and measuring performance in an era of heat maps
Illiquid Assets - Selection & Strategies
Structuring the Growth part of the portfolio
Positioning portfolios for inflation
Recession risks - Will central banks kill the economy?
Structuring the Defensive part of the portfolio
Is climate change creating a new asset class?
IMAP thanks our Melbourne Hosts & Speakers
Jason Brown
Head of Platforms Distribution
BT Financial Group
Jason has worked across all segments of the Financial Services industry during his more than 30 year career, having spent the last 14 years at BT.
He is currently Head of Platforms Distribution, overseeing the distribution and support of both Asgard and Panorama and working with dealer groups, asset consultants, fund managers, and advisers.
Jason is passionate about leveraging his team’s insights across the thousands of advice practices they work with to support the growth of financial advice. He holds a strong belief, evidenced throughout his career, that advised clients are better able to meet their goals in life.
Jason holds degrees in Business and in Investment Management, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
A proud Queenslander, Jason enjoys the outback and hiking, and spending time with his ever growing family including eight grandchildren
Andrew Garrett, CFA, CAIA
Investment Director
Perpetual
Andrew provides investment research, portfolio construction and bespoke investment advice for Perpetual Private’s clients. He works closely with advisers by providing specialist investment knowledge on Perpetual’s investment process and strategy implementation, focusing on delivering optimal solutions to our stakeholders and partners. This is further augmented by his provision of transparent and accessible knowledge of financial markets and asset classes both globally and locally.
Director & Founder
Ashley is one of Australia’s leading portfolio managers of diversified investment funds for long term investors. He is also a of
More recently he was Chief Investment Officer for of for EO of Division Head, Chief Manager for ANZ.
Formal qualifications:
• LLB, LLM - University of Sydney
• BA (economic history, international relations) – Deakin University
• Grad Dip, Applied Finance & Investment - Securities Institute of Australia (FINSIA)
• CFA Charter – CFA Institute
Membership & associations:
• CFA charter holder
• Signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment
• Occasional member, Education Advisory Board Working Committee of the CFA Institute (US)
Brendan Paul
Senior Portfolio Manager Co-head of Multi Asset
Atrium nvestment Management
Brendan has over 20 years’ experience in global financial markets investing across asset classes.
Most recently, Brendan spent 4 years at MST Capital a Multi-Strategy Macro Discretionary Hedge Fund. During this time, he managed global investments across Credit, Equities and Foreign Exchange.
Prior to this Brendan spent 6 years at UBS as part of the Fundamental Investment Group, a Sydney based team investing as a multi-strategy hedge fund in the Australian market. Here he managed a portfolio focused on Credit and Convertible bonds with a mandate that stretched across the capital structure. At the conclusion of his time at UBS, Brendan’s responsibilities extended to risk management for the entire Fundamental Investment Group.
Brendan began his career with 3 years at Ferox Capital a global convertible bond fund manager based in London.
Cameron Gleeson
Senior Investment Strategist
Betashares
Cameron’s responsibilities span supporting all distribution channels, assisting clients with portfolio
construction across all asset classes, and working alongside the portfolio management team.
Prior to joining BetaShares, Cameron was a portfolio manager at Macquarie Asset Management, and
was responsible for the structuring and management of Macquarie’s listed and unlisted structured
product offering. Cameron’s other experience includes Head of Product at Bell Potter Capital,
working on JP Morgan’s Equity Derivatives desk and at Deloitte Consulting.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and a Master of
Commerce (Hons) from the University of New South Wales.
Contact
Chris Adams, CPA
Portfolio Manager
Infinity Asset Management
Chris is a Portfolio Manager for Infinity Asset Management (a subsidiary of Viridian) with over 26years of experience in financial markets, and a successful track record as a senior portfolio manager at two major asset management businesses.
Prior to his current role, Chris was at Fairview Equity Partners where he led the formation and development of this firm. This included the i nitial deal with NAB, the formation of the business and the growth in funds under management from >10M to over 600M. He also helped design the process and stock selection framework at Fairview that provided for industry leading performance, exceptional fund ratings and numerous industry awards.
Prior to Fairview he was a portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Chris was an investment manager across a variety of equity products and he also developed and founded the GSAM Premier Equities Fund.
Chris is a Director of the Sacré Cœur Foundation Board as well as being on the advisory Board of Global Founders Funds Management.
CHris holds a B.Ec (Monash University), CPA Aust, GDipAppFin, Dip of Financial Planning
Chris Lioutas
Chris has been in the financial services industry for 13 years and is the owner and director of Insight Investment Consultants, an investment consulting business set up in 2013 to provide services to financial advisers and licensees.
Chris acts as the firm’s primary consultant whilst maintaining significant research coverage.
Chris previously worked for a Big 4 bank where he provided a range of similar services to financial advisers and licensees, as well as internal stakeholders.
His research has historically covered managed funds, listed securities (shares, ETFs, hybrids), economics, geopolitics, and asset allocation.
He holds a Bachelor of Applied Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Professional Accounting, and a Master of Applied of Finance, both from Macquarie University.
Chris West
Chris is the co-founder and Principal Consultant at Perth base boutique investment consulting firm, Context Capital. Most recently Chris was the Chief Investment Officer at WA Super and has held a number of roles in the institutional investment and investment consulting industry.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), is a Certified Investment Management Analyst and holds the GAICD designation from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
During his tenure at WA Super between 2013 and 2020, Chris was a finalist in the Conexus Financial Chief Investment Officer of the Year Awards and the fund’s performance was recognised with awards including the AFR Blue Ribbon Best Capital Stable Fund and Selecting Super’s Best Performance for International Equities.
Chris has presented at a range of forums including at the Chief Investment Officer’s Symposium in Melbourne and the Asset Allocation forum in Sydney along with being a guest speaker for a diverse range of audiences on investment topics at events in Perth organised by groups including the Australian Shareholders Association, CFA Institute, Curtin University, Local Government Professionals, NASDAQ Governance Forum and Women in Super amongst others. Chris has also contributed to a range of local and national media outlets.
Chris is an active participant in the WA community having previously been a top 5 fundraiser in the Variety Silence the CEO campaign and currently sits on the board of the End Homelessness (WA) foundation.
Damon Mumford
Fund Manager hybrid fund the Core Property Fund
Dexus
Damon Mumford is the Fund Manager for Dexus’s hybrid fund for retail investors, the Core Property Fund. As Fund Manager, Damon is responsible for establishing and implementing portfolio and investment strategy for the Fund.
Damon was previously the Valuation Manager for AMP Capital Real Estate in Australia and New Zealand for seven years and has a detailed knowledge of the real estate market as well as the AMP Capital property portfolio.
Daniel Choo, CFA
Director, Head of Multi-Asset, Asia Pacific
Russell Investments
Daniel Choo is the Head of Multi-Asset portfolio management for the Asia-Pacific region and a portfolio manager, based in Sydney.
Daniel has primary responsibility for managing a number of Russell Investments’ Australian domiciled multi-asset, Australian equity funds and managed portfolios.
He oversees all aspects of fund management, including design, manager selection and fund construction.
Daniel is a CFA charterholder and is a member of the CFA Society of Sydney. He joined Russell Investments in 2012.
Joint Chief Investment Officer
Aequitas Investment Partners
David studied Commerce, majoring in Economics at Curtin University, WA, before joining AMP Capital Investors in 2006 working with the small-cap Australian equities, quant, multi-asset, enhanced index and ISET teams.
In 2012 David joined CBA Private, responsible for formulating the ‘House Views’, investment strategy and portfolio management for ~$5bn in Funds under Advice alongside Dr Rowan Stewart.
From 2020 at Aequitas, David is responsible for macro-economic analysis and dynamic asset allocation processes across a range of reliable multi-asset and direct equity portfolios with Co-Chief Investment Officer Dr Rowan Stewart.
David gained his CFA Charter in 2010 and was promoted to portfolio manager for the $2.2bn large-cap Australian equity portfolio.
David Wanis
David is the Co-founder, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at Longwave Capital Partners with portfolio management responsibilities for the Longwave Australian Smaller Companies Fund. Longwave Capital Partners was founded in 2018.
Prior to founding Longwave, David was an Equity and Multi Asset Portfolio Manager for almost 15 years at Schroder Investment Management in Sydney.
David developed, launched and managed the Schroders Australian small and microcap equity funds. During his management these funds were both top quartile performers with pre-fee excess returns to the benchmark of 13.5% pa (Microcap) and 14.5% pa (Small Cap).
David was recognised as Winner Money Management | Lonsec Small Cap Fund Manager of the Year (2009), Finalist Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year Emerging Manager (2008).
David began his investment career in 1997 as an equity research analyst at Ord Minnett (now JP Morgan), Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley covering various sectors including small companies, technology, healthcare, developers & contractors and resources.
Dermot Ryan
Portfolio Manager/Analyst
Renaissance Smaller Companies
Dermot Ryan, alongside Tom Young, founded Renaissance Equity Income Pty Ltd in 2022.
Prior to this, Dermot was Co-Portfolio Manager at AMP Capital, managing their range of Australian equity income products with Tom Young. Dermot is an experienced portfolio manager with a strong track-record managing portfolios across multiple investment styles.
Prior to being appointed Co-Portfolio Manager in 2017, Dermot was Portfolio Manager responsible for AMP Capital’s range of Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) and before that worked at Commonwealth Private Bank as an Investment Strategist. Dermot is responsible for covering energy, mining and property sectors
Dominic McCormick provides investment consulting services with a focus on portfolio construction, real return investing and listed fund.
He has worked in financial services and investment management for 34+ years.
He co-founded multi-asset and alternatives manager Select Asset Management in 2002 which was sold to OneVue Limited in 2014.
He holds a Masters Degree in Commerce (Finance) and a BA in Economics
Dinyar co-founded the business in 2010 and currently serves as Chairman & Co-Chief Investment Officer of Innova Asset Management, whereby Dinyar specialises in domestic and international equities, domestic property and contributes to Innova’s house views of the economy and markets.
Dinyar is also a Responsible Manager for Innova Portfolio Management. Dinyar has over twenty years of industry experience, including Head of Investment Research at RI Advice Group/RetireInvest as well as Genesys Wealth Advisers/Associated Planners.
His model portfolios were highly regarded by advice professionals and achieved long term outperformance above both weighted market index and industry peers.
Geoff Greetham, CPA, CFP
Executive Director & Co-Founder
Accordius
Geoff has been in the finance industry for more than 35 years.Joining forces with Mark Korda and Mark Mentha, Geoff Greetham founded Accordius in the depths of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and has been proud to watch the company grow in leaps and bounds since inception.
Geoff spent 14 years in corporate and business banking with ANZ Banking Group in Australia and in Germany, gifting him with both local and global knowledge.
He has also held roles with Arthur Andersen in their Global Corporate Finance Division, before taking up a post as the Head of Research at First Samuel, a private client portfolio manager. where he was responsible for the firm’s investment in small cap companies in the Australian share market (ex ASX 100), as well as business development and overall compliance.
Geoff holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University, a Certified Practicing Accountant, CPA Australia (CPA), aCertified Financial Planner, Financial Planning Association (CFP) and is a
SMSF Specialist Adviser, SMSF Association (SSA).
Hamish Tadgell
Portfolio Manager
SG Hiscock
Hamish joined SGH in July 2015. He is Portfolio Manager of the SGH High Conviction Fund.
Prior to this he worked at Goldman Sachs, where he was Chief Investment Officer – Australia for Global Investment Research.
Hamish’s distinguished career in investment markets and equity research spans 24 years, during which he has held positions in both Australia and the UK at JB Were and Goldman Sachs. Previously, Hamish spent 7 years in professional services at Arthur Andersen.
He holds a B.Com, CA
Isaac Poole, PhD CIMA®
Chief Investment Officer
Oreana Portfolio Advisory
Isaac joined Oreana Financial Services in 2018.
He previously was Head of Capital Markets Research, Asia Pacific at Willis Towers Watson, and prior to that served as the Chief Economist for the NSW Treasury Corporation.
Isaac has experience working across portfolio management, risk management, economic research, investment strategy and central banking through Australia, the UK and Hong Kong.
Isaac holds a PhD in economics and has studied at the University of Sydney, the University of Oxford and the University of Tasmania.
He is a CIMA® certificant through the Investments and Wealth Institute and appears regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg
Jameson Coombs
Economist
Westpac Group
Jameson Coombs is an economist for several businesses within the Westpac Group including the Westpac Business Bank, St.George Bank, BT, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA.
Jameson joined the bank in 2021, and prior to that worked as an accountant in the insolvency and restructuring industry.
Jameson holds a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Technology, Sydney
Jarek Kowcza
Senior Economist
Westpac Group
Jarek joined the Westpac Group as a Senior Economist in 2021 and works across several businesses, including BT. Jarek covers a range of topics and provides insights on the economy. This includes analysis and reporting of current economic conditions and the economic outlook.
Prior to this Jarek worked for The Treasury in Canberra for over eight years, where he specialised in tax and macroeconomic analysis and forecasting, and banking and financial system policy.
Jarek holds a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Finance double degree from the University of Adelaide.
Jason Horn, CA
Managing Director & Head of BlackRock
Private Markets Platform – Australia & New Zealand
Jason is responsible for building out BlackRock’s private market business strategy, alternative investment capabilities, distribution platform and coinvestment program across Australia & New Zealand.
Previous to his current role, Mr Horn was the head of the Asia Pacific short duration fixed income and liquidity business based in Hong Kong. Prior to his relocation to Asia, Mr Horn was based in London and responsible for the distribution of BlackRock's short duration fixed income products, he joined BlackRock in 2016 as part of the Bank of America Capital Management acquisition.
Mr Horn has additionally held senior positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (UK), Royal Bank of Scotland (UK) and American Express (UK & Australia) working within the M&A, corporate development and network services business, he started his career with Ernst & Young (Australia) within their property assurance & corporate finance division.
Mr Horn is a Chartered Accountant (Aust.) and earned a B.Com degree in Accounting and Finance at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Jeff Mitchell, CIMA
Chief Investment Officer
Infocus Securities
Jeff joined Infocus as group CIO in August 2018.
Prior to this he was with Australian Unity Personal Financial Services (PFS) where he led their investment research group for five and a half years. At PFS he was responsible for capital markets, portfolio construction, direct and managed investments research as well as management of the group’s approved product lists.
He was also a portfolio manager for PFSIM Pty Ltd, the investment management arm of PFS which runs multi strategy and direct equity Separately Managed Accounts.
Jeff is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and holds the following qualifications:
• Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment
• Diploma of Financial Planning
• Diploma of Technical Analysis
• Diploma of Management
John Woods, CFA
Deputy Chief Investment Officer & Head of Multi Assets
Australian Ethical
John is responsible for the Balanced Fund, as well as the overall AE SAA process. John joined Australian Ethical in March 2021. John’s primary responsibility is to design and implement investment strategies across the range of multi-asset portfolios at Australian Ethical, including the super investment options.
John has 15 years’ experience in the investment industry in Australia and Hong Kong with previous roles as a portfolio manager of both multi-asset and equities portfolios as well as investment strategist at MLC, CLSA and Macquarie. John joined the investment industry after roles in technology companies, including IBM.
John graduated from The University of New South Wales with a Master of Commerce and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours). He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Jonathan Ramsay
Director
Investsense
Jonathan Ramsay has over 27 years’ experience in asset consulting and funds management in the UK and Australia, where he has held senior roles including Head of Asset Consulting and Chief Investment Officer. At InvestSense, Jonathan helps clients develop and manage their own investment products and is involved in several investment committees. Jonathan is regularly requested to participate in industry events and to provide commentary to media.
Previously, at van Eyk Research, Jonathan had managed recommendations to all external clients on asset allocation, fund selection and portfolio construction. During that time, portfolio construction and management became an increasing focus, and this was ultimately the reason the team launched InvestSense.
Jonathan has also been a Senior Consultant with a global asset consulting firm, has run his own independent consultancy, served as CIO for a boutique hedge fund and was Head of Investment Strategy and Risk at an Australian small companies boutique.
Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of East Anglia (England) with Joint Honours in French and Economics. Jonathan qualified as an Associate of the Institute of Investment Management and Research.
Julie Ballard
Director of Channel Management for Australia and New Zealand
S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI).
Julie joined S&P DJI in March 2022, with extensive experience managing national and strategic account relationships at global and ASX-listed financial services organizations including Citigroup, AXA, AMP and MLC Asset Management (previously part of the National Australia Bank Group).
Leah Willis
Leah is the Head of Client Relationships at Australian Ethical Investment, Australia’s leading ethical superannuation fund and investment manager with over $6.94 billion in funds under management.
Leah joined Australian Ethical in December 2016 and is responsible for client relationships across Australian Ethical’s intermediated channels, including financial planners, researchers, consultants and mezzanine investors.
Leah has more than 26 years’ experience in financial services distribution, including senior distribution positions with Rothschild Asset Management, BT Financial Group, Barclays Global Investors and IOOF.
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Louis Christopher
Managing Director
SQM Research
Louis established SQM Research in 2006.
He was Head of Research and General Manager of the property statistics agency, Australian Property Monitors (APM) for six years.
During his time at APM, Louis constructed key residential property market indexes published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Prior to APM Louis spent three years at the Securities Institute of Australia as a Technical Editor. Louis previously spent 18 months at MLC working in the investment services.
He is widely respected for the quality and accuracy of his market outlooks and funds management ratings process.
is Head of JANA’s Property Research Team and a Principal Consultant.
She leads the JANA Property Team which is responsible for all Property related matters including setting strategy and outcomes, domestic and global property research across both private and public markets.
Mary has been involved in a number of direct property transactions and take private deals. She has evaluated investment opportunities in Australia, Asia, China, US and London. Mary has a strong governance background and holds positions on various Investor Review Committee (IRC’s) including Charter Hall, Lendlease, Dexus and AMP Capital
Prior to JANA, Mary was Head of Portfolio Management at Warakirri Asset Management and held several roles including Head of Research and Head of Marketing, Charities.
Mary holds a Bachelor of Business with Distinction (Property) from RMIT University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from the Financial Services Institute of Australia.
Mathew Jeremy
Managing Director
Caravel Consulting Services
Mathew has been involved in financial markets for nearly 45 years as an economist, monetary policy adviser, investment strategist, portfolio manager and consultant. He has extensive experience in applied macro-markets research, designing investment models and processes, and managing investment businesses.
Mathew has qualifications in economics from the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, as well as an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
After starting his career in 1979 at the Reserve Bank of Australia (Sydney and New York) and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mathew moved on to senior positions at National Mutual Funds Management, Queensland Investment Corporation and Suncorp Investment Management.
Mathew established Caravel Consulting Services in 2007 and was a founding director of Quilla Consulting.
Findex
Matthew Swieconek
Head of Investment Relations - Findex
For more than twenty years, Matthew has held a variety of client advisory and corporate roles across the Wealth Management industry in Australia and the UK, with a particular focus on high net worth individuals and families, as well as not-for-profit organisations.
As Head of Investment Relations for Findex, Matthew works in collaboration with the Findex Investment Team and Findex Financial Advisers to help construct and deliver the Findex investment proposition to clients.
Matthew holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA).
Michael Blayney
Head of Multi-Asset
Pendal Group
Michael joined Pendal Group in August 2017 and leads the Multi-Asset Investments team.
Michael has over 21 years’ investment management and consulting experience and joined Pendal from First State Super, where he was Head of Investment Strategy since January 2014. In this role, Michael was responsible for the establishment of an active asset allocation process and led the Fund’s Investment Strategy Team.
Prior to this appointment, Michael was Head of Diversified Strategies at Perpetual for over five years, with portfolio management responsibilities for the manager’s range of diversified funds. Michael’s prior experience includes over 10 years in consulting roles at Watson Wyatt (now Willis Towers Watson) and NSP Buck.
Michael is a qualified actuary and holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland
Michael Frearson, CFA
Director, Head of Fixed Income
Real Asset Management
Michael has over 24 years of experience in Global Wealth Management and Asset Management, working for leading financial institutions in Australia.
Prior to joining Real Asset Management, Michael was a Senior Portfolio Manager for Macquarie Bank in the Discretionary Managed Accounts business.
He has over 12 years’ experience as Portfolio Manager, working as a senior member of the investment team managing in excess of $1 bn in clients discretionary funds and was directly responsible for over $440m in clients fixed interest and credit investments, as well as previous experience managing Equities and A-REITs, Strategic Asset Allocation and Tactical Asset Allocation. His previous experience within Macquarie Bank includes trading, derivatives, client advisory and money market activities.
Michael’s first role with Macquarie was as a Stock Exchange operator where he developed a keen passion and knowledge of listed investments, and was a SEATS Governor for the ASX. Michael also worked at Westpac Bank as a securities officer prior to his role with Macquarie.
Michael holds degrees in Commerce and Finance from Adelaide University (B Com & B Fin), has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment, is a CFA Charterholder, and Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia (F Fin).
Monik Kotecha
Chief Investment Officer
Insync Funds Management
Monik has 30+ years of funds management experience in international & AUS equity markets working in London, New York & Sydney.
Prior roles include Senior Portfolio Manager at Investors Mutual Limited, with BT Funds Management Limited looking after international equity funds including being a member of the asset allocation team and Pan European Equity analyst for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in London.
Monik was a key member of IML Investment Team awarded Fund Manager of the Year Australian Equities in 2002 & 2003 by Money Management.
Nick Schoenmaker, CFA, FRM
Client Portfolio Manager
Drummond Capital Partners
Nick has 17 years’ experience within investment markets which spans portfolio management, investment strategy, manager research as well as senior investment specialist functions.
Most recently, Nick worked as a ‘Senior Asset Consultant’ at a boutique asset consultant where he designed, built, implemented, & managed tailored multi-asset portfolios for advice firm clients. Before this, Nick was a Senior Cross-Asset specialist at Aberdeen and member of the Australian Leadership team.
Nick also has a background in Private Banking where he was the Research Manager at CBA Private Bank. In this role, Nick led the manager effort and the selection across all asset classes, as well as contributing to the team’s DAA views.
Nick has a Bachelor of Commerce from Macquarie University and is both a CFA and FRM charter holder.
Nick Langley
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
ClearBridge Investments
Nick co-manages all Global Infrastructure Strategies for ClearBridge Investments.
He has 26 years of investment industry experience.
Nick co-founded RARE Infrastructure Limited in 2006. Previously, Nick served as Principal of AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Funds Management team, where he was also the CFO of DUET, an ASX-listed investment trust with AUD 5 billion in electricity and gas assets.
He was also an Associate Director, Investment Banking, at UBS and Manager, Mergers and Acquisitions, at BZW/ABN AMRO.
Nick earned a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland.
Peter Bell
Co-founder & Director
Bellmont Securities
Peter is a co-founder and director of Bellmont Securities. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics & Finance) from the University of Wollongong, graduating with Distinction.
A passionate value investor, Peter is renowned within Bellmont for his tendency to regurgitate Buffett quotes in any applicable (or inapplicable!) situation. As well as running Bellmont’s Buffett- style value investing portfolio - the Bellmont Classic Value Portfolio, Peter consults to a large number of high-net-worth, sophisticated investors, and helps run Australia’s largest high-net-worth value investors network, with over 400 members around the country that collectively control well in excess of $1b in Australian equities.
Peter is an experienced presenter who has spoken at a number of industry events, as well as contributing content for industry publications.
Rebecca Jacques
Wealth - Head of Portfolio Solutions
Mercer
Rebecca is a highly experienced senior investment specialist who has worked across many facets of the advice chain.
Rebecca has 20+ years’experience as an analyst in Funds Management, commencing her career with FPI Research/Navigator where she built the first Australian downside deviation investment model portfolios.
Prior roles include CEO of ASSIRT Research, Investment Specialist for Deutsche Asset Management, General Manager at AGBA and CEO of SiResearch Solutions
Rob da SIlva
Investment Consultant
da Silva Consulting
Rob has 35+ years’ experience as a highly regarded investment manager & ratings expert. He has been a member of the IMAP Managed Awards Judging Panel for 3 years including 2023.
Previously Rob was Head of Research at SQM Research (2014 to 2023), leading and mentoring an analyst team that saw ratings coverage grow from 45 to 450 across all asset classes.
Prior roles include Head of Research & Deputy CIO at van Eyk Research, and 23 years leading and managing the extensive credit / fixed income capabilities at BT and Principal Global Investors. His responsibilities included strategic & tactical asset allocation for the BT/PGI suite of balanced and capital stable funds.
Investment Manager
Akambo
Robert has been working in the wealth management industry since 1998, starting out at stockbroking firm TD Waterhouse.
He has since worked with UBS, Morgan Stanley and Baillieu Holst as a senior Wealth Management Adviser. He has extensive experience in managing investment portfolios and tailored trading strategies over Australian and International Equities and associated derivative products.
Robert has RG146 accreditation in securities, managed investments, margin lending and derivatives. He is ADA Level 2 accredited and experienced in advising on Exchange Traded option products, and has obtained US Series 7 qualifications.
Robert h0lds a Bachelor of Business from Victoria University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from Kaplan Professional.
Steven Tang BPharm, FINSIA, CFA, CAIA
Head of Consulting
Zenith Partners
Steven leads Zenith’s Portfolio Services team, working closely with a range of advice practices to deliver portfolio construction, management and monitoring advice.
In addition to oversight of the team and investment process, his role includes participation in investment committee meetings and presentation of portfolio updates to advice practices.
Until 2015, he was a member of Zenith’s research team where he conducted manager reviews across a broad range of asset classes, both domestically and internationally.
Steven is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) charterholder.
Tim Hext
Head Government Bond Strategies
Pendal Group
Tim has over 30 years experience in financial services including nearly 7 years with Pendal Group
His experience includes 10 years with New South Wales Treasury Corporation, a Head of Bond Trading at CBA and Senior Associate Director Deutsche Bank
Vaughan Smith
Authorised Representative
Count Financial
Vaughan Smith is an Authorised Representative of Count Financial and a highly experienced financial adviser at Kofkin Bond & Co.
Vaughan has a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance Major) from Monash University, and a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning.
Vaughan's expertise extends across a wide range of financial services, including investment management, retirement planning, tax optimization, estate planning, and wealth preservation.
Victor Huang is a principal with Milliman and heads up the Investment Solutions team in Australia. He has been with Milliman since 2008.
Victor currently leads a team of portfolio managers, actuaries, and traders who design and implement investment strategies within superannuation, (re) insurance companies, ETF managers, and managed accounts.
Strategies Victor has worked on include tail risk hedging, currency hedging, and rebalancing overlays for funds, as well as dynamic hedging programs for investment guarantee products and defined benefit liabilities.
Wayne is a member of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Australia Portfolio Investment Committee with key responsibilities including portfolio construction and management as well as leading the research coverage of Alternative Asset strategies in the Research team.
\He has led the development of several proprietary resources such as the Managed Fund Comparative Performance Analysis tool as well as the local implementation of Morgan Stanley’s patented market leading Quantitative Manager Scoring tools and the Active Passive Model.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2016, Wayne was employed at the Royal Bank of Canada where he was responsible for equity research coverage of the Australian Oil and Gas sector.
He previously held managerial and technical roles as a Mechanical Engineer, designing equipment for the mining and power industries including developing and patenting several technologies.
Wayne has a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland, a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and is a CFA® charterholder
Will Riggall
Chief Investment Officer
Cllime Investment Management
Will joined Ralton (now Clime Investment Management) in 2018 as a Portfolio Manager and is responsible for portfolio construction across the varied strategies. He brings over 15 years of funds management experience having held senior portfolio management roles within investment and superannuation organisations. In Will’s last role as Senior Investment Manager at REST (Super Investment Management), he was responsible for portfolio construction, risk management and analysing Australian large and small-cap equities. Prior to REST, Will spent time at Wallara Asset Management as a Senior Investment Manager and at AMP Capital where he was Lead Portfolio Manager for the firm’s Sustainable Alpha Funds. During his time at AMP Capital, Will became a CFA charterholder. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne
Meet the IMAP Team
Toby Potter
IMAP Chair
Toby has championed IMAP's mission for a number of years and is a key contributor for IMAP (along with others) in the representation to ASIC on recent changes to the MDA regulations and ongoing regulatory matters.
His experience in the wider investments market is extensive and his advice and experience is frequently sought after for his breadth and detail, plus his knowledge of the people in the industry.
His working experience includes key roles for NAB, IOOF, Morningstar, Managed Accounts, SFG Australia
Jenny Phimleut
IMAP Program Director
Jenny manages IMAP's program of conference events, webinars and publication, and liaises with sponsors, speakers
Jenny supports and organises IMAP special interest groups i.e. The Regulatory Group, and the Data Standards Group, and works closely with Toby, David and the IMAP team.
She is responsible for maintaining IMAP's digital presence, as well processes and policies as well as developing promotional material.
Jenny's Financial Services background covers Next Financial working in Product and Portfolio Management and Shadforth Financial Group.
David McDonald, CFA
IMAP Investment Specialist
David's role is focused on working to develop a community of interest among the professionals responsible for portfolio management of managed account programs.
He has 30+ years’ experience in financial markets. He has worked as an economist, investment strategist, and has extensive experience in equity portfolio management and analysis. He was previously the Chief Investment Strategist for Credit Suisse Private Banking in Australia.
He has worked in institutional asset management and private wealth in Australia and the UK, & started his career as an economist with the Australian government.
David holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Economics (honours) from the Australian National University. He is a CFA Charter holder and holds the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement designation
IMAP Contact Details
Email Address: support@imap.com.au
Phone: +61 2 8003 4147