In 2026 turbulent times continue, and to help portfolio decision makers IMAP's Independent Thought Conference delivers the latest in thinking of how investment managers & decision makers plan to steer their investors' portfolios through a period of higher inflation and potentially increases in interest rates
Come along to find out more and to network and share your experiences with other advisers and portfolio decision makers.
Managing Director
Head of Investments
Russell Investments
Managing Director
Head of Investments
Russell Investments
Andrew Pease is the Asia-Pacific Head of Investments for Russell Investments and is based in Sydney. Andrew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist, fund manager and central banker. From 2013 to 2025, Andrew was the London-based Global Chief Investment Strategist for Russell Investments. He developed the cycle, value and sentiment framework that guides the tactical positioning of the firm’s actively managed funds. Andrew joined Russell Investments’ Sydney office in 2006 where he was Chief Investment Strategist for the Asia-Pacific region.
Andrew previously worked for the funds management division of Macquarie Bank, as the Chief Economist for JPMorgan in Australia and as the Australian head of research at Nomura Securities. Andrew began his career as an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Andrrew holds both a Master of Commerce (honours), University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Economics (honours), University of Tasmania
Investment strategist
Global X
Investment Strategist - Australia
Global X
Billy joined Global X in 2024 and is responsible for investment research and ETF analysis in the technology sector. Billy has over a decade of experience in financial services, focusing on equities and technology, previously working as equity analyst at Optiver in Sydney, and was the director of equity
research for China Internet at Haitong International in Hong Kong. Billy was ranked as the 3rd best equity analyst for regional software and internet in 2020 by Asiamoney.
Billy holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a qualified CPA Australia.
Senior Portfolio Manager
Vaneck
Senior Portfolio Manager
Vaneck
Cameron leads investment performance analytics for the firm and is responsible for trade execution for equity and fixed income ETFs. Cameron was previously at Pacific Life Re Australia where he worked in the pricing and client solutions teams.
He holds a Bachelor of Communications majoring in Actuarial Studies and Finance, University of New South Wales, and is an Associate of Society of Actuaries (ASA), Society of Actuaries
Senior Portfolio Manager
Australian Ethical
Chris Dickman
Senior Portfolio Manager
Australian Ethical
Before cofounding Altius, he was with ANZ Bank as the director of the fund's management and public sector business.
Prior to this, he worked as director, fixed income at Credit Suisse Australia and was head of Australian institutional fixed income and money markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Investment Consultant
Investment Consultant
Dominic McCormick has worked in financial services and investment management for 33 years.
He co-founded multi-asset and alternatives manager Select Asset Management in 2002, which was sold to OveVue Limited in 2014.
He is the Portfolio Manager of the Select Listed Investments Fund and the Select Real Return Fund.
He also provides investment consulting services with a focus on portfolio construction, real return investing and listed funds.
Executive Director Managed Accounts
Colonial First State Investmens
Francy Taylor
Executive Director Managed Accounts
Colonial First State Investments
Francy is the Executive Director of Managed Accounts at Colonial First State Investments Ltd.
Francy has extensive experience in working with advisers, licensees, asset consultants focussing on building platforms and managed accounts functionality including, the commercialisation of these offers.
Currently she oversees $23 bn in Managed Account solutions on the FirstChoice and CFS Edge platforms.
Prior to joining CFS, Francy developed Managed Accounts on AMP North and worked alongside the founders of HUB24 to develop and take to market that platform including the managed account offer.
Portfolio Manager
Bell Asset Management
James Nguyen
Portfolio Manager of the Bell Australian Small Companies Strategy
Bell Asset Management
James joined Bell Asset Management in April 2026 and he has over 22 years of experience in financial services, with a career spanning equity analysis, portfolio management, and investment consulting across Australian and Asian equities.
Prior to Bell Asset Management, James joined Tyndall Asset Management in 2008, where he spent 18 years developing deep expertise in Australian equities research and portfolio management. At Tyndall, James served as a Senior Analyst and Portfolio Manager and was Co-Portfolio manager of the Tyndall Australian Small Companies strategy from its inception.
Prior to joining Tyndall, James was an Equity Analyst and Portfolio Manager at DVA Capital, specialising in Asian equities. He also held the role of Asset Consultant at JANA Investment Advisers and worked as a Risk Analyst at Deloitte Australia.
James holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) / Bachelor of Laws, Master of Economics (Honours).
Director Investments
Resonant Asset Management
Director Investments
Resonant Asset Management
Jason has over 20 years of investment experience at some of Australia’s largest Institutional Fund Managers, Global Investment Banks and Hedge Funds, as a Portfolio Manager and Quant Developer.
Jason’s experience includes managing $900m in assets for BT (now Pendal) and managing absolute return strategies for hedge funds in Asia and the US.
He has a strong tech background through his experience as a Software Engineer at Boeing, and quant development roles at Barclays Capital and BAML.
Jason holds a Masters in Quantitative Finance from Bond University and a Bachelor in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Flinders University.
Director
Avanzare Group
Director
Avanzare Group
Jaime is an experienced professional with over two decades of experience within financial services.
She has expertise in various aspects of financial advice and distribution and has also led Licensee and Private Wealth businesses during transformative periods. Her skills and experiences encompass advice, governance, portfolio construction, risk management, product development, and distribution.
Currently, Jaime is a Director of Avanzare Group a firm which provides consulting services to groups of different sizes within advice and third-party services.
She also serves on several Advisory Boards and is a Non-Executive Director Of Mason Stevens. Jaime is passionate about advice and the transformative impact quality advice can deliver. Her experience allows her to steer businesses through growth and complex challenges.
A core belief of Jaime’s is that good advice relies on an educational exchange between advisers and clients. Trust is built when clients understand and value the advice provided to them. This forms a strong foundation for a long-term exceptional advisory experience.
Chief Risk and Operations Officer
Evidentia
Chief Risk and Operations Officer
Evidentia
Jason Komadina joins Evidentia with over 28 years of experience spanning all areas of wealth management, bringing a proven track record of driving revenue growth and building high-performing teams to this new role..
Jayson most recently serving as General Manager, Distribution and Investment Services at MLC Asset Management
He has previously held leadership roles at MLC/NAB Wealth and Perpetual
Head of Investment Research & Governance
North
Jeffrey Chee
Head of Investment Research & Governance
North
Jeffrey Chee has 25 years’ experience in wealth management, spanning superannuation and investments.
He has spent the past 14 years in senior investment governance roles and is currently the Head of Investment Research and Governance for the North platform.
Jeffrey has deep expertise across investment option oversight and platform investment frameworks. Earlier in his career, he held roles in product management and oversaw statutory fund investments of life insurance companies.
In his current role, Jeffrey works closely with the North platform team and the AMP Investments team to oversee the onboarding, ongoing monitoring, and governance of investment options available on North.
He also works closely with the superannuation trustee on investment governance matters, supporting robust oversight, risk management, and alignment with regulatory and fiduciary expectations.
Chief Investment Officer
Centric Wealth
Kieran Canavan
Chief Investment Offiver
Centric
Kieran began working in the financial services industry in 1992 as a Financial Adviser for premier clients of The Standard Bank in South Africa.
In 2003 Kieran joined Centric (Wealth), which was at the time a wealth management firm. Kieran’s roles included Head of Lending, Head of Treasury Services and subsequently Head of Products and Services.
As a result of Findex’s 2014 acquisition of Centric Wealth, Kieran joined the Findex Group Executive Team as Chief Investment Officer. Kieran’s team manages over $17.5B in Findex Group FUA including more than $10B in the Findex Managed Discretionary Accounts.
Since its inception in 2019, Kieran has been instrumental in assisting with the launch and development of Centric as an Investment Platform.
Today, Kieran is the Chief Investment Officer for Centric, the Vice Chair of the Findex Investment Committee, Chair of the Centric Investment Committee and he also holds a number of responsible manager and board positions within the Findex Group.
Portfolio Managert
Kapstream Capital
Kris Bernie
Portfolio Manager
Kapstream Capital
Kris Bernie is a Portfolio Manager at Kapstream Capital, responsible for macroeconomic research, asset allocation, and interest rate and foreign exchange trading.
Kris has more than two decades of experience across active fixed income portfolio management, institutional markets and macroeconomic research.
Prior to joining Kapstream in early 2022, he spent seven years as a Portfolio Manager at First Sentier Investors, where he was a senior member of the Australian Fixed Income team with a strong track record of alpha generation across global rates, credit and inflation strategies, as well as portfolio construction and design.
Earlier in his career, Kris held institutional rates and credit sales, rates strategist and market economist roles at National Australia Bank in Sydney, Melbourne and London, after beginning his career as a macroeconomist with the Commonwealth Department of the Treasury in Canberra.
Kris holds a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from FINSIA, where he was recognised with national prizes in Foreign Exchange Markets and Trading and Technical Analysis.
Managing Director
SQM Research
Louis Christopher
Managing Director
SQM Research
Louis Christopher is a Managing Director at SQM Research based in North Sydney, New South Wales.
Previously, Louis was a General Manager Head of Research at Australian Property Monitors and also held positions at Finsia, National Association of Broadcasters, MLC, National Australia Bank.
Louis received a Bachelor of Business degree from Griffith University and a Post Graduate Diploma from FINSIA.
Portfolio Manager
Nanuk Asset Management
Marco Lo Blanco, CFA
Portfolio Manager
Nanuk Asset Management
Marco joined Nanuk in 2025 after previously working as a Portfolio Manager at Seilern Investment Management in London.
There, he co-managed Seilern World Growth, a concentrated global equity fund of quality growth companies across OECD markets.
Prior to this he was an investment manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments and started his career as a financial modeller and auditor at KPMG.
Marco holds a degree in commerce from Sydney University and is both a CA and a CFA charterholder.
rincipal Wealth Management Investment Solutions
Marsh
Rebecca Jacques
Principal Wealth Management Investment Solutions
Marsh
Rebecca is the Head of Investment Solutions for the Wealth Management client segment in the Pacific. Rebecca is responsible for leading the the Portfolio Solutions Group which is responsible for Marsh’s Managed Account business, and the Advance Diversified Multi-Manager Funds and Mercer Indexed Diversified Funds.
Rebecca is a member of the Pacific Asset Allocation Committee, the Pacific Public Markets Investment Committee and the Pacific Private Markets Investment Committee and is also a member of the Asia Pacific Mercer Research Ratings Review Committee (“RRC”).
Ms. Jacques has been in the financial services industry since 1997, focusing on portfolio construction, multi asset and multi manager portfolios since 2001. Previously, she worked at Norwich Union Navigator, Sealcorp Holdings, Deutsche Asset Management, and Vertex Capital Management across Manager Research, Alternative Assets and Quantitative Analysis. Ms Jacques has also led her own consultancy business providing investment and portfolio construction advice to independent financial planning firms, and dealer groups, as well as product and asset management consultancy to asset management firms.
Rebecca Jacques holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours HIIA), majoring in Economics and Politics, from Monash University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investments from the Securities Institute of Australia. Ms Jacques has also been named in the Who’s Who of Australian Women 2007, 2008 & 2009.
APAC Head of Index Investment Strategy
S&P Dow Jones Indices
APAC Head of Index Investment Strategy
S&P Dow Jones Indices
Sue Lee is APAC Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). The group provides research and commentary on S&P DJI’s entire product set, including U.S. and global equities, fixed income, commodities and economic indices.
Prior to joining S&P DJI in 2023, Sue worked as an equity derivatives strategist at Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan, where she published market analyses and trade ideas for the Asia Pacific region. She also worked for a family office in Hong Kong where she managed a multi-asset portfolio.
Sue is a CFA charterholder and holds a master’s degree in financial engineering from University of California at Berkeley, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business from Seoul National University.
Investment Consultant
JANA Investment Advisers.
Xinling Han, CFA
Investment Consultant
JANA Investment Advisers
Xinling holds a CFA designation and recently participated in the LevelUP program managed by Future IM/Pact, an initiative focused on accelerating the career growth and visibility of women in investment management.
Professionally, she is involved in the Melbourne investment community and has been a featured speaker or participant in initiatives like the "Inner Game of Careers" industry events
Venue Details - Tuesday 27th October 2026
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
Program Director
IMAP
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.
Events & Communications
IMAP
Lucie Bradley
Events & COmmunications
IMAP
Lucie is a versatile professional with a strong background in events management.
She joined the IMAP team in early 2022 as an events and communications associate working closely with Jenny Phimleut and the rest of IMAP's team on our conferences, webinars and the FPA Congress managed account zone.
Over this time Lucie's role has expanded to include social media such as IMAP's linked in profile and communications, podcast and development and support of IMAP's services.