Market Insight – December 2023

So that‘s a wrap for 2023!

Well that one certainly flew by didn’t it? And despite some moans and groans in certain quarters concerning the challenging environment for raising capital, deals falling over, the IPO market remaining firmly closed - it’s been a super solid year for us here at JMES.

Ok perhaps not quite of standout vintage quality, but one of the most pleasing things is the broad and consistent spread of mandates across the floor which also bodes well for 2024. We have seen strong activity across both listed and unlisted investments, in particular private capital / alternatives, which includes private equity, infrastructure, core+, energy and renewables, real assets, impact, special situations… the list is ever evolving. Oh and not to forget the much hyped, fast growing new kid on the block: private credit.

In addition, the foreign banks have continued to commit resources in the way of additional balance sheet and headcount to their Australian operations. How very supportive of them, whilst our own Aussie domestics seem to be sounding a rapid retreat in many parts of their business. Also a grateful shoutout to our ever growing list of corporate clients who have continued to build their teams, perhaps in anticipation of growth, restructuring pressures or just the wise understanding that having a bench of quality executives on call is the lifeblood of any successful business.

Early indicators, especially if you are a glass half full subscriber, is that deal activity will be more robust in 2024 than in 2023. Look at the $5 billion worth of deals struck yesterday for example, which certainly bodes well for us all but also means it’s even more important to take a well earned rest and recharge one’s batteries over the coming summer break.

See you on the other side, suitably rested and recharged we hope.

“Movers & Shakers”

BANKING & MARKETS

Investment Banking

• Emma-Jane Newton of Morgan Stanley has been appointed as Head of Investment Banking ANZ with Deutsche Bank and will start her new role in March. In addition, Henry Ryan (ex Credit Suisse), Clément Baillif (ex KPMG) & Daniel Blackwell (ex Dexus) have all joined Deutsche Bank as Investment Banking Associates.

• Tim Foy previously of Credit Suisse & Jefferies has been appointed as Head of Infrastructure ANZ with JP Morgan.

• Alvarez & Marsal have set up offices in Sydney, Melbourne & Perth and seen the hire of David Willis as Managing Director & Country Practice Leader, amongst other ex KPMG appointments. This includes: Doug Houston, David Savage, Steven Shirtliff & Mark Schiavello as Managing Directors.

• Laura Sampson has joined Findex as a Partner in advisory. Laura has prior experience with Adara Partners & earlier with NAB as Head of Healthcare & Ageing.

• Jackson Lowrie, ex Moelis & Co. in London, has joined Miles Advisory Partners as a Vice President.

• Lachlan Southam has joined Barrenjoey in Perth as Principal from RBCCM Sydney where he was an Analyst.

• Alexandra McLennan previously with EY, has joined Gresham Partners as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Mitchell di Felice has joined RBCCM as an Investment Banking Analyst from KPMG’s M&A team.

Corporate Banking / Debt Products / Risk Management

• Leo Zygouras has been appointed as Head of Australia & New Zealand Multinational Clients with JP Morgan. Leo was previously with Bank of America as Director, Corporate Banking Subsidiaries.

• Joshua Zywietz, ex Lygon, has rejoined Westpac Bank as Director & Head of Domestic Banks.

• Caroline Evans previously with Export Finance Australia, has joined Assetinsure as Director, Financial Risk Products. Vanessa Johnston has also joined the firm as Senior Credit Officer from ANZ Bank, where she was Senior Relationship Credit Manager.

• Stephen Boyd has joined Metrics Credit Partners as a Director from NAB where he was Head of Private Capital Syndicate.

• David O’Connor previously Investment Director at Tanarra Credit Partners, has rejoined ANZ Bank as Director, Leveraged & Acquisition Finance.

• Tobias Lonnquist has joined Mizuho as Director, Project Finance from EY’s infrastructure advisory team. Lachlan Bradford has also joined the bank as an Analyst, Loan Capital Markets from Rabobank.

• Damian Ng, ex Credit Suisse, has joined Balmain NB Corporation as Associate Director, Asset Based Lending & Special Situations.

• Braidan McMonagle, ex Credit Suisse has joined Macquarie Group as Vice President, Leveraged Finance.

• Joanna Wang previously with Westpac as Associate Director, Industry Analytics & Insights, has joined MUFG as Vice President, Fund Finance.

• Anees Basra has joined ANZ from Citi in Singapore as Segment Lead, Institutional Property & Health Group.

• Nicole Lin who was with Gresham Partners’ debt advisory team, has joined PwC as Senior Associate in their energy transition team.

• Paul Taylor joins DBS as Senior Relationship Manager from Commonwealth Bank.

• Arthur Chao has joined Societe Generale as Associate, Infrastructure APAC from Natixis CIB.

• Isabella Cooper has joined Nomura’s debt syndicate team as an Associate from RBCCM.

Global Markets (FICC & Equities) / Treasury

• Daniel Wheeler who was most recently Head of Equities & Equity Derivatives Australia with Société Générale, has joined Morgan Stanley as Executive Director, Institutional Equities.

• Jack O’Dwyer has joined Societe Generale as a Director in fixed income currency sales from Goldman Sachs’ fixed income sales team.

• Dominik Dumaine who has prior experience with AMP Capital has joined FIIG Securities as Director, Credit Research.

• Carlo Da Dalt previously with Mizuho, has joined ING as Vice President, FX Sales.

• Anthony Poon, ex RBCCM & FC Capital, has joined MUFG as Vice President, DCM.

• Deborah Ford has joined Deutsche Bank as Vice President, Commercial Real Estate from MaxCap Group where she was Associate Director, Capital.

• Helen Liu, ex Moody’s Lead Analyst, Structured Finance, has joined MUFG as Associate, Securitisation in the Asian Investment Banking group.

• Blue Ocean Equities has added Elaine Faddis to its team as an Associate. She has prior experience with Jefferies.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

Private Equity / Family Office / Venture Capital / Private Credit / Special Situations

• Will Farrant Head of Asset Finance APAC with Credit Suisse, has joined Ares Management as Partner, Credit.

• Vincent Ling, ex ICG has joined Elham Credit Partners as Managing Director.

• Tim Haden has joined ABGF as Director, Originations from Barclays where he was a Vice President. The firm also sees the addition of Elliot Foote in Melbourne as an Investment Associate. Elliot joins from L.E.K Consulting.

• Zac Zheng has joined OTPP in Singapore as Principal, Private Capital from W23.

• Stephen Allan, formerly of Nomura, will join BlackRock as Head of Australasia Private Credit.

• David Brennecke has joined Adamantem Capital as Investment Director from Affinity Equity Partners. Adam Cutler (ex McGrathNicol) & Ritwik Dasgupta (ex Jefferies) have also joined the team as Senior Associate, Portfolio Operations & Investment Associate respectively.

• Vanessa Pham previously Associate Director, Strategic Accounts Management with Macquarie, has joined Wingate as Director, Investor Services.

• Daniel Norman has been appointed as Director, Impact Investment based in Singapore with KKR. He has prior experience with TPG Capital based in London.

• Linda Wu has joined Realside Financial Group as Director, Investment Solutions & Operations from Longreach Alternatives where she was Head of Product & Operations.

• Pratik Joshi most recently with Bank of America as Vice President, has joined Revolution Asset Management as Portfolio Manager.

• Sophie Newby, ex The Growth Fund, has joined EQT as a Vice President, Private Equity.

• Joseph Clay previously with UBS as Associate Director has joined Fortitude Investment Partners as an Investment Manager. Chloe Hill has also joined the firm as an Investment Analyst from EY.

• Gemma Stooke, previously with Bain Capital & Liam Dunshea, previously with UBS have both joined Five V Capital’s investment team.

• Emanuel Penklis, ex Credit Suisse, has joined Goldman Sachs as Associate Private Equity & Growth Capital Investing.

• Adrielle Touma, ex MA Financial Group, has joined Airtree Ventures as an Investment Manager.

• Stewart Madsen previously of 333 Capital, has joined Archibald Capital as an Investment Manager.

• Cynthia Le who has prior experience with Credit Suisse & KPMG, has joined HEAL Partners as an Investment Manager & ESG Lead.

• Josh McEvoy previously Investment Banking Associate with Goldman Sachs, has joined Bain Capital as a Private Equity Associate.

• Will Sommerville, ex Goldman Sachs, has joined PAG as an Associate in the credit & markets team.

• Pearl Paguio has joined Affinity Equity Partners as an Investment Associate from Carthona Capital.

• Maisie Ryall ex Macquarie Capital has joined Potentia Capital as an Investment Associate.

• Claudia Bishop has joined Tanarra Credit Partners as an Investment Associate from KPMG where she was an Executive, Deal Advisory.

• Nathan Joeng previously from Liverpool Partners has joined Mulpha as an Investment Associate, Principal Investments.

• Aleksander Noble-Campbell has joined Liverpool Partners as an Investment Associate from Waterman Capital in New Zealand.

• Alysha Mathieson has joined Allegro Funds as an Investment Associate from 333 Capital.

• Halil Aydogan ex Stanton Road Partners has joined Roc Partners as an Associate in their Private Equity team.

• Will O’Connell previously with Ord Minnett as Associate Director, Investment Banking, has joined Perennial Partners as an Investment Analyst, Private Investments.  

Real Assets - Infrastructure / Renewables / Energy / Real Estate

• Jordan Kraiten, formerly of Hostplus, has joined Cbus as Head of Infrastructure.

• Julie-Anne Mizzi previously Consulting with CleanPeak Energy, has been appointed to the role of General Manager, Investment & Finance with the firm. Julie-Anne was previously Managing Partner & CEO with Plenary Funds Management.

• Abdul Shamsin & Michael Faulkner have joined Dexus as Managing Director, Infrastructure & Managing Director, Transport respectively. Abdul has prior experience with QIC as Principal, Global Infrastructure & Michael with HRL Morrison & Co as Investment Director, Infrastructure & Private Equity.

• Merrick Underwood is now Head of Energy Markets with Enel Green Power. He was previously General Manager, Analytics & Portfolio Optimisation with Iberdrola Australia.

• David Dowling has joined QIC’s global infrastructure team as Assistant Portfolio Manager. Prior to undertaking this role he was Managing Director, Airports with AMP Capital.

• Matthew Duncan previously with JLL, has joined Gresham Partners as Investment Director.

• Ben Fletcher joins CBRE Melbourne’s debt & structured finance team as a Director from Merricks Capital.

• Phuong Huynh previously Associate Director with Qualitas Group, has joined Barrenjoey as Principal, Real Estate Private Capital.

• Alex Fisher, ex EY Associate Director, Strategy & Transactions, has joined Terrace Tower Group as an Investment Manager.

• Alex Morrissey, ex JP Morgan has joined Scape Australia as an Investment Manager.

• Matt Stephens, ex Lendlease, has joined Brookfield Asset Management as a Senior Associate, Real Estate.  

• Wollemi Capital has added to its ranks Rebecca Watts (ex Barrenjoey) & Suzie Cai (ex Jarden) as Investment Associates.

• Amit Kaul previously with Credit Suisse as an Investment Banking Associate, has joined Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners as an Associate.

• Richard Li who was Associate, External Investments & Partnerships with NZ Super Fund, has joined St Baker Energy Innovation Fund.

• Eshaanya Rai has joined Amp Energy as Associate, Investments. She has prior experience with HLB Mann Judd.

• Alistair See previously with Snowy Hydro as Senior Quantitative Analyst, has joined North Harbour Clean Energy as a Senior Commercial Analyst.

• Evan Sinclair previously Investment Banking Analyst at UBS, has joined Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners as an Investment Analyst.

FUNDS MANAGEMENT (REAL MONEY & SUPERANNUATION)

Distribution & Advice

• Thakshi Wijesundara has joined Franklin Templeton as Senior Director Institutional. She previously held distribution roles with Northern Trust & Dimensional Fund Advisors.

• Charlie Aitken of Bell Financial has joined Regal Partners as an Investment Director in its sales team.

• GQG Partners has appointed Daniel Pantè to the role of Associate Director, Business Development, Victoria. He was most recently with Macquarie Group as a Business Development Manager.

• Rory Irvine, ex Ellerston Capital, has joined Nanuk Asset Management as a Business Development Consultant.

• Global X ETFs has been adding to its team with the appointments of Manny Damianakis (ex Insight Investment Consultants) as Head of Sales, Marc Jocum (ex Stockspot) as Product and Investment Strategist & Todd Surace (ex Tribeca Investment Partners) as Senior Business Development Manager.

Investments

• Platinum Asset Management sees the appointment of Jeff Peters as its new CEO. Jeff has prior experience with Putnam Investments & Columbia Threadneedle.  

• David Anderson, formerly of Mercer, has been appointed CEO of Australian Retirement Trust

• David Macri, formerly of Australian Ethical Investment, joins Mason Stevens as Head of Asset Allocation.

• Susan Buckley has been appointed as Managing Director, Funding and Markets with QTC, joining from QIC where she was Managing Director, Liquid Markets Group.

• Jody Fitzgerald, ex Morningstar, joins Australian Retirement Trust as Head of Investment Resilience & Planning.

• Andrew Chernih has been appointed as Senior Manager, Portfolio Risk with State Super. Andrew has prior experience with Akuna Capital as Head of Risk.

• Firetrail Investments sees the addition of Dean Fremder (Founding Principal at Barrenjoey) as Equity Analyst in their absolute return fund, as well as Matthew Thomson (Portfolio Manager at Peregrine Capital, South Africa) as an Equity Analyst reporting to Scott Olsson for the Australian High-Conviction Fund.  

• Julia Humphries of Metrics Credit Partners, has joined Australian Retirement Trust as Senior Portfolio Manager, Private Debt & Alternatives.

• Natalie Tam, previously with Perpetual & earlier of abrdn – has been appointed as Systematic Portfolio Manager with Australian Ethical Investments.

• Adam Deering has joined Aware Super as Associate Portfolio Manager, Managed Equities. He has prior experience with Mercer & BT Financial Group.

• Mark Hoven has joined Morningstar as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Sales. He formerly held roles with S&P and Equifax.

• Melinda Howes, ex KPMG & BT Financial, will join AMP as Group Executive, Superannuation & Investments.

• Richard Mercado has been appointed as Head of Internal Global Equities with Rest Super. Richard was previously based in Paris with COMGEST as Portfolio Manager.

• Jock Traveerungroj, ex Barrenjoey, has joined Polymer Capital as an Investment Analyst.

• James Macdonald, ex Magellan Financial Group has joined Tura Capital as an Investment Analyst.

• GCQ Funds Management has added Yathavan Suthaharan (previously with Magellan Financial Group) as an Investment Analyst.

CORPORATE / GOVERNMENT / C-SUITE

• Paul Ryan previously of Goldman Sachs’ real estate team, has been appointed as Managing Director with CBRE Asia Pacific.

• Craig Smith has been appointed as Global CFO with Prezzee. Prior to this role Craig was Head of Real Estate Investment Banking with Morgan Stanley.

• Tushar Kale, ex Australian Unity and IOOF has joined Clime Investment Management as CFO.

• Philippa Chen of Macquarie, has been appointed as CFO of Zen Energy. She was most recently with Macquarie Energy Transition Fund.

• Nathan Cowen (ex Goldman Sachs) & Kulwant Singh-Pangly (ex Rest Super) have joined Queensland Treasury Corporation as CRO & COO respectively.

• Robert Ure has been appointed as Head of Corporate Development with The Lottery Corporation from News Corp where he was Director, Strategy and M&A.

• Andrew Sparks has joined Cleanaway as Head of M&A from Morgan Stanley where he was Vice President, Investment Banking.

• Alexander Valenti & Brian Phan have joined Sydney Airport Corporation as Group Manager, Corporate Finance & Senior Manager, Corporate Finance & Analysis respectively. Alexander joins from TPG Telecom and Brian joins from Sentient Impact Group.

• Richard Lim & Ben Patterson have both joined Wesfarmers as Assistant Treasurer, Capital Markets & Assistant Treasurer, Balance sheet respectively. Richard was previously CIMB Singapore & Ben with HSBC.

• Umreen Hansra previously Associate Director with Adamantem Capital, has joined Vocus Group’s corporate development team.

• Bruce Bao, ex Domain & Deutsche Bank, has joined Coles Group as Business Development Manager M&A.

• Lucy Li has joined Woolworths’ strategy and corporate development team, from UBS where she was an Associate Director.

• Susanna Wong has joined Airwallex as a Senior Associate from Credit Suisse where she was an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Jemma Lee See has joined The Iconic as an Analyst from Lazard where she was an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Kevin Chong has joined Team Global Express as Manager, Business Development from Barrenjoey.

We are keen to hear your feedback or should you require further information, please contact us on 02 9235 9400 or nfoster@jmes.com.au

The content or this document is not to be copied or reproduced without the prior consent of the Directors of JMES.