Market Insight - March 2025

The Back Channel Reference Check (BCRC). Increasingly a Two-Way Street. Employers Beware…!

So firstly just to clarify, what is a BCRC (also known as a backdoor or informal reference check)?

This takes place when a hiring manager or recruiter, reaches out to someone who might know a particular individual but that person doesn’t sit on their official, pre-prepped referee list. This hopefully will generate an authentic and quick view on that person’s capabilities, potential cultural fit, work ethic, etc. For example, it could be an ex line manager/colleague, possibly a client or perhaps someone the candidate has interacted with on a deal.

We are not here to debate the benefits or legitimacy of the BCRC - a contentious topic in its own right. Put simply: it goes on, they happen whether you approve or not, it’s a thing and one that we’ve seen an increasing amount of in the last few years as clients increase the amount of scrutiny on potential hires. Clearly, LinkedIn has helped facilitate this and has made it much easier to identify potential cross connections to help facilitate any BCRCs.

No - the point we want to make is that the tables are now clearly being turned. What does this mean? Well, candidates are increasingly and understandably also doing their due diligence on any prospective employer, again with the assistance of LinkedIn, or their own educational, work or social network. This is often as a result of being caught out in the past and accepting everything they have been told by a company or future boss only to find career promises subsequently not delivered on, deep cultural issues that pervade and not divulged, etc.

Frequently, candidates will also reach out to us at JMES. As a well-respected and long-standing recruitment firm, our views would appear to be a highly valued commodity by those considering a job offer from a prospective employer - especially by those keen to get a ‘warts and all’ view as opposed to simply the glossy corporate pitch they may get elsewhere. We can think of numerous examples where offers have been knocked back as a result of such BCRCs. It happened to a close family member of JMES just last week after cultural issues and non-deliverance on commission structure were uncovered via a BCRC. There have even been cases where people have accepted offers having omitted to do their own BCRC, only to decide to renege on their acceptance once subsequent BCRCs have revealed deep cultural or financial issues causing them to reconsider their decision to join.

So, it would appear that as the old idiom goes “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” when it comes to the ever-intriguing employer/candidate courtship dance. Thoughts? We’re keen to hear about your experiences with BCRCs – whether you be the goose or a gander. Feel free to share with Nissa Foster

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“Movers & Shakers”

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BANKING & MARKETS

Investment Banking / Advisory

• Sam Forman previously with Citi, has joined Canaccord Genuity as a Managing Director, Investment Banking.

• Simon Marrison of Citi has joined Rothschild & Co as Managing Director and Head of Financial Sponsors, Australia.

• Justin Grimmond of RBCCM, will be joining JP Morgan in June in the role of Head of ECM, Australia. Dragi Ristevski, ex Macquarie Capital has also joined JP Morgan as Co-Head of General Industrials & Head of Financial Sponsors for ANZ.  

• Rohit Khosla has been appointed as Partner with Barrenjoey, joining from Grant Samuel where he was a Director. Layton Bonnici, RBCCM veteran has also joined the firm as Partner and Head of Technology. Timothy Sammon  (ex RBCCM & Houlihan Lokey) & Duc Nguyen (ex CIBC Capital Markets) have both joined Barrenjoey as Principals.

• Peter Sidebottom ex Barrenjoey Capital Partners has joined the Goldman Sachs’ real estate team. Yafei Fang has also joined Goldman Sachs as an Executive Director from UBS where she was Director in the Global Industrials Group.

• Jenevieve Zhang has been appointed as Director of Business (COO), Corporate Advisory & Equities with MA Financial Group from UBS.

• Justin To, ex MST Financial, has joined E&P Financial Group as Associate, ECM.

• Mia Hanif has joined UBS as an Investment Banking Associate in the ECM team from RBCCM.

• BMO Capital Markets sees the hires of Sarah Avery & Kieran Easden as Investment Banking Analysts from PwC & Deloitte respectively.

• Amrit William has joined JP Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst from Jarden. Olivia Clemson (ex UBS) also joins the firm’s FIG team as an Analyst.

• Morgan Stanley sees the addition of Hugh Kim & Pratt Keerasuntonpong, both ex Record Point, as Investment Banking Associates.

• Brandon McConnell has joined Grant Samuel as an Investment Banking Analyst from Deloitte.

• Henry Halliday previously with PwC’s energy transition deals team, has joined Ord Minnett as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Samuel Potts has joined Gresham Partners as an Investment Banking Analyst from Deloitte where he was Manager, M&A Advisory.

• Brianna Bartaula previously with KPMG, has joined Nomura as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• David Fair most recently with PwC, has joined EY as Partner, Energy Lead Advisory.

• Dan Cotton has joined Friday Capital as a Partner, from PKF Corporate Finance.

• Lu Liu previously Manager, Deal Strategy & Operations with PwC, has joined KPMG as Manager, Integration & Separations.

• Oliver Chen (ex EY) & Olivia Horton (ex PwC) have joined 333 Capital as Executive Analysts.

Corporate Banking / Debt Products / Risk Management

• Barry Keenan has joined DBS as Senior Vice President, Credit Risk from Housing Australia.

• James Kanaris previously Executive Director & Head of Structured Finance at Westpac, has joined BNP Paribas as Managing Director, Asset Finance & Securitisation APAC.

• Freshta Mayar previously Director, Originations with Westpac, has joined Neu Capital as a Managing Director.

• James Anderson has joined ING as Director, Energy from Westpac where he was Director, Energy, Infrastructure & Resources.

• Angus Boyd, Head of Funding at BC Invest, has joined Judo Bank as Director, Structured Finance.

• David Buttler, ex Wells Fargo, has been appointed as Managing Partner, Vendor & Dealer Finance with Dynamoney.

• Jeffrey Pickering earlier Managing Director with HPS Investment Partners, has joined MUFG as Director, Credit Managed Assets, APAC.  

• Brett Cheal previously with Dynamoney & Maia Financial, has joined Capify Australia as Head of Growth.

• Alison Ma has joined NAB as Senior Associate, Strategic Capital within the private credit team. Alison was previously with AustralianSuper.

Global Markets (FICC & Equities) / Treasury

• Matt Wilson, previously Jefferies, has joined Jarden as Head of Financials Research.

• Nicolas Lebon has joined Citi as a Director in their corporate solutions group. Nicolas was previously with Credit Agricole.

• Anton Lindell has joined Credit Agricole as Head of Corporate Sales AU/NZ from Commonwealth Bank. Julia Kunz, ex NAB has also joined the bank as Vice President, Fixed Income Sales.

• Peter Medynski previously with Credit Agricole, has joined BNP Paribas as Director, Loan Capital Markets.

• James Debs has been appointed as Head of Syndication with Canaccord Genuity Australia from NAB where he was Associate Director, DCM.

• Michael Stancliff has joined Morgan Stanley as an Equity Research Analyst, Metals & Mining from Adelaide Equity Partners.

• Robert Lister has joined Morgans Financial Brisbane’s ECM team from TMT Partners where he was an Associate.

• Hannah Henderson-Smith has joined BNP Paribas as Associate, DCM from NAB where she was Associate Director, Funding & Debt Investor Relations.

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ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

Private Equity / Family Office / Venture Capital

• Ross Burney has been appointed as CEO of the Pacific Group of Companies. Ross has earlier experience with Hume Partners as their CEO.

• Casey Taylor who was Executive Director with Conscious Investment Management, has joined Cannon-Brookes Collective as CEO.

• Mark Baldassare has joined MADAUS Capital Partners as Managing Director. He was most recently with The Silverfern Group.

• Luke Fay, Head of Venture Capital with Artesian, has joined Perennial Partners as Co-Head of Perennial Private Investments alongside Brendan Lyons.

• David Browne previously of Next Capital Private Equity has joined Alvia Asset Partners as a Partner.

• Emily Mohan from iPartners, has joined Salter Brothers as an Investment Director.

• Gareth Brown previously with Saturday Partnerships & Seidler Equity Partners has joined Fortitude Investment Partners as part of their Investment team.

• Sambit Mishra has joined Fancourt Capital as an Associate Director from PROBE Group where he was Director, Strategy and M&A.

• Graham Brooke, ex of CPE Capital, has joined Five V Capital as a Senior Advisor.

• Emma Sun prior with Crescent Capital Partners, has joined Anchorage Capital Partners as an Associate Director. Khurshed Mehta has also joined the firm from Crescent Capital Partners as Senior Associate, Private Equity.

• Sandaru Kamalasuriya & Riley Raynes both previously with Barrenjoey, have joined Glow Capital Partners as Analysts.

• Phoenix Love will be joining Marshall Investments’ growth investment team from Oliver Wyman where he was an Engagement Manager.

• Maisie Ryall Investment Associate with Potentia Capital, is set to join EQT’s Private Equity team.

• Xin Chen has joined CVC Capital Partners as an Investment Associate from Igneo Infrastructure Partners.

• Joshua Glaser has joined CPE Capital as an Investment Associate from Pacific Equity Partners.

• Sherrie Zheng has joined Advent as an Associate from Goldman Sachs where she was an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Rhiannon Mackarness (ex Mindr, New York) & Sam Hain (ex Bank of America) have joined Colinton Capital Partners as Investment Associates.

• Harry Muraledaran previously with Allegro Funds, has joined Armitage Associates as an Associate.

• Harrison Bantock prior with Citi, has joined Partners Group as a Private Equity Associate.

• Nicholas Walsh, ex Jefferies has joined CBUS Super as an Investment Associate.  

• Jack Dillon, Investment Associate with Potentia Capital, has joined The Carlyle Group as an Associate.

• Alex Swensen (ex JP Morgan) & Luke Bogatez (ex BCG) have joined the Washington H. Soul Pattinson team.

• Lucas Froude previously with Bank of America has joined The Riverside Company as an Investment Associate.

• Max Pragt, ex Macquarie, has joined BGH Capital as an Associate.

• Ben Wellek who was an Investment Banking Associate with Macquarie’s TMET team, has joined EVP as an Investor.

• Matthew Steck has joined Vision Invest as an Investment Analyst, Private Equity from EY.

• Raewyn Leow joined Pacific Equity Partners’ team late last year as an Analyst from McKinsey & Company.  

Private Credit / Special Situations

• Graham Lees who was Managing Director with Tanarra Credit Partners, has joined Metrics Credit Partners as an Investment Director.

• Ben Hall previously Head of Credit with KKR, has been appointed to lead the corporate credit group with PAG Asia Capital.

• Monroe Capital will establish an Australian base and has appointed Galen Fu (ex Hines Singapore) to lead the Sydney office.

• Daniel Neilson has joined Rixon Capital from Marshall Investments, as its Head of Private Credit.

• Andrew Robertson has joined Stonepeak to set up the private credit fund from Macquarie where he was Executive Director & Head of Structured Lending. Cameron McMillan also previously with Macquarie, has joined Andrew’s team as Vice President.

• Blake Ammit has joined GreenMount’s Business Acceleration Partner team as Managing Director. Blake has earlier experience with Arbitrium Capital Partners & more recently Perrett Evans.

• Luc Grassi has joined Rothesay Asset Management as an Associate, Credit Investments from Macquarie Group London.

• Katrina Wu, ex IFM Investors diversified credit team, has joined Wingate as an Investment Associate.

• Claudia Bishop previously with Tanarra Credit Partners, has joined KKR as an Analyst.

Real Assets - Infrastructure / Renewables / Energy / Real Estate

• David Giffin has joined Centuria Bass as Deputy CEO. He was previously a Co-Founder & CEO at Taurus Finance.

• Katie Pearce previously Director, Energy Transition with PwC, has joined Sydney Water’s major projects team.

• Lucy Minichiello has been appointed as Head of Real Assets with Frontier Advisors, joining from Westbourne Capital where she was Director, Portfolio Management.

• Investment Banking & Head of Project Finance ANZ with KEB Hana Bank.

• Sue Jiang, ex AMP Capital, has joined Aware Super as an Associate Portfolio Manager, Infrastructure.

• Alice Dunn has joined CEFC as a Senior Associate from Redwood North where she was an Investment Associate.

• Akhil Prasad has joined Stonepeak as an Investment Associate from ICA Partners where he was an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Tom MacMahon has joined Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) as an Associate from Barrenjoey’s corporate finance team.  

• Alicia Yeo previously with Gresham Partners as an Investment Banking Associate, has joined QIC as an Associate, Global Infrastructure.

• Josh Noble prior with UBS’ power, utilities & infrastructure group, has joined Brookfield as an Associate, Infrastructure Investments.

• Gemma Everest has joined Greystar as a Senior Analyst, Investments from Charter Hall where she was a Transaction Analyst.

• Harry Park has joined ARENA as an Investment Analyst from Nomura where he was an Investment Banking Analyst.

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FUNDS MANAGEMENT

Investments & Distribution

• Claire Van Schaik has been appointed as Managing Director, Institutional Capital with HMC Capital. Claire was previously with Lendlease as Head of Capital Raising Australia.

• Jacki Ellis previously with Aware Super, has joined AustralianSuper as Head of Retirement.

• Emma Pringle, formerly of Maple-Brown Abbott, has joined Magellan as Head of Investor Relations & Sustainability. James Wang joins as an Investment Analyst from Citi.

• Graeme Miller has been appointed Chief Investment Officer for Mercer Super. Previously, he was CIO at TelstraSuper.

• Laurie Berrange has joined Conscious Investment Management as a Director from Liverpool Partners.

• Ben Coughlin previously of Oaktree Capital Management, has joined AVARI Capital Partners as Managing Director & CIO.

• Mandy Zhang has joined Cbus Super Fund as a Senior Investment Analyst, Debt & Alternatives. She was most recently with Morgan Stanley as Executive Director.

• Andrew Gowen has joined Bell Asset Management as Portfolio Manager & Director of Research from Lombard Odier in London.

• Anna Wu, formerly of Macquarie, has joined VanEck as Senior Associate, Cross-Asset Investment Research.

• Ted Alexander previously CIO with BML Funds, has joined Platinum Asset Management as a Portfolio Manager.

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CORPORATE / GOVERNMENT / C-SUITE

• David Gall has been appointed as CEO of the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC). David has prior experience with NAB as Group Executive, Corporate & Institutional Banking. Nick Thomas (ex Metrics Credit Partners) & Elaine Chun (ex Macquarie Group) have also joined NRFC as Director, Investments. Whilst, Lillian Croft joined the team last year as Associate Director, Investments from Genesis Capital.

• Dirk McLiesh joins the ASX as CRO. He previously held roles with Westpac & Bank of NZ.

• Robert McLellan previously CRO with Payton Capital & Qualitas Group, has joined RMBL Investments in a similar role.

• Manny Arabatzis, ex Export Finance Australia, has joined MaxCap Group as CRO.

• Deborah Caudle has joined BlueScope as Chief Executive Climate Change & Sustainability from Fortescue where she was CFO, Fortescue Energy.

• Rob Stanton of Barrenjoey Capital Partners, has joined Built in the newly created role of Head of Built Capital.

• David Sidoti has been appointed as Head of Capital Markets & Investments with Squadron Energy. David was most recently Managing Director

• Elena Wang has joined Five V Capital as a Financial Controller. Elena has prior experience with Odyssey Private Equity & Pacific Road Capital.

• Billy Sangha prior with CBA as Director, Debt Capital Markets Originations, has joined AirTrunk as Director, Capital Markets.

• Mathew Fulton, ex Metrics Credit Partners, has joined IFM Investors as an Investment Director.  

• Melissa Lok has joined Permaconn as Head of Corporate Development from Quadrant Private Equity, where she was an Associate Director.

• Johna Boo previously with HMC Capital, has joined Dexus as a Senior Manager focusing on Corporate Strategy & Fund Development.

• Adam Reich has joined Bridge Housing as a Strategic Finance Manager from Warburg Pincus Singapore.

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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

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