Weekly round up of people news, Dec 6
EQUIP SUPER ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TEAM POST TELSTRA MERGER
The soon-to-be A$60 billion ($38.6 billion) Equip Super has named its executive team and board following its merger announcement with TelstraSuper, which will see the TelstraSuper brand retired.
Chris Davies, currently TelstraSuper CEO, will serve as initial CEO before transitioning leadership to Scott Cameron, who will retain his current role as Equip Super CEO.
Davies brings over 30 years' financial services experience, including previous roles at UniSuper and BT Financial Services Group.
Cameron joined Equip Super as CEO in 2019 from Computershare where he was CEO of Australia and New Zealand operations.
Michael Cameron, current Equip Super chair and former Suncorp Group CEO, will continue as chair of the merged entity.
TelstraSuper's current chair Anne-Marie O'Loghlin, who joined in 2019 following a 16-year tenure as HESTA CEO, will become deputy chair.
The board will maintain equal representation with ten directors split between both funds. Integration is expected to complete by late 2026.
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ELECTED NEW HEAD
The Asian Development Bank has elected Masato Kanda as its 11th president, who will assume office on February 24 next year, succeeding Masatsugu Asakawa.
Kanda has four decades of experience previous, including vice minister of Finance for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance of Japan.
He also served as deputy commissioner at the Financial Services Agency, deputy director general of the Budget Bureau, and deputy vice minister for Policy Planning and Coordination.
Since 2016, he has served as chair of the OECD Corporate Governance Committee. He also served as alternate executive director for Japan at the World Bank.
TCORP NAMES INVESTMENT HEAD
NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) has appointed Katheryn Young as head of client advice and portfolio management.
Based in Sydney, Young will join the investment leadership team, reporting to CIO Stewart Brentnall.
Young joins from Cambooya, one of Australia's oldest family offices, where she spent five years managing investments and family foundations, reporting to Riccardo Briganti.
Previously, she held senior investment roles at the Myer and Baillieu family offices, focusing on manager selection across public and private markets.
Her 20-year career includes over a decade at Morningstar, where she rose to director of manager research ratings, Asia Pacific, after joining as a senior data analyst in Chicago in 2007.
She replaces Eva Cook, who recently moved to Morningstar as director for manager research.
FUNDS SA NAMES NEW CIO
Adelaide-based Funds SA has appointed Con Michalakis as chief investment officer, effective February 2025.
Michalakis will report to CEO John Piteo, replacing acting CIO Matt Kempton who has led the investment team for the past six months.
Michalakis joins from Hostplus where he has served as deputy chief investment officer since March 2022, following the fund's merger with Statewide Superannuation where he was CIO.
His career includes roles at Pzena Investment Management, Merrill Lynch, Alliance Capital, and Watson Wyatt across Australian and international markets.
Matt Kempton will continue as acting CIO until Michalakis commences.
ART NAMES NEW CHIEF RISK OFFICER
Brisbane-based Australian Retirement Trust has appointed Daryll Burke as chief risk officer, effective March 2025.
Burke will lead the fund's risk and compliance division, reporting to CEO David Anderson.
Burke joins from Colonial First State where he served as chief risk officer.
His 25-year career spans senior risk and governance roles at Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered, PGIM, and Westpac across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions.
At ART, Burke will oversee risk management strategy and governance frameworks for one of Australia's largest superannuation funds. The appointment follows significant growth at ART in recent years.
RAFFLES FAMILY OFFICE WELCOMES NEW BOARD ADVISOR
Raffles family office (RFO) has appointed Abdullatif Mohamed Kanoo as its board advisor based in Abu Dhabi.
In his new position, he will be charged with guiding the family office’s expansion into the Middle East.
Kanoo is a fifth-generation member of The Kanoo Group, a UAE conglomerate established in 1890 with interests across shipping, logistics, travel, commercial, and energy sectors.
He will report to Chi-man Kwan, the group’s chief executive officer.
STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS APPOINTS HEAD OF JAPAN
State Street Global Advisors has appointed Dohei Echizenya as head of Japan, effective immediately.
In addition to his new role, Echizenya will also serve as president and representative director of the group, effective from December 11.
He will report directly to Kevin Anderson, head of Asia Pacific for State Street Global Advisors.
Joining from BlackRock, Echizenya served as director of the client business division in Japan at the world’s largest asset manager.
He was also head of ETF department in Japan, and spent a decade working in the US at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
FUTURE FUND ADDS CREDIT SPECIALIST
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund has appointed Brooke Peel as senior associate in its credit team.
Based in Melbourne, Peel will cover global credit investments including investment grade, high yield, private debt, emerging markets and distressed debt.
She joins from HESTA where she served as fixed-income investment analyst, helping to bring the super fund's defensive assets portfolio in-house.
Prior to HESTA, Peel was a financial planning lecturer at Deakin University.
T ROWE PRICE NAMES APAC CONSULTANT RELATIONS HEAD
T Rowe Price has promoted Cassandra Crowe to head of Asia Pacific consultant relations.
Based in Sydney, Crowe will assume the new position at the start of next year.
Currently, she is head of consultant relations for Australia and New Zealand at the group based in Sydney.
Crowe is co-chair of the group's regional diversity and inclusion business group.
She also holds several industry positions, including executive founding director of the Bloomberg Women's Buy Side Network for Australia and New Zealand, and co-chair for the Chartered Financial Analyst Society Australia Member Council.