Mark Folpp

Grant Samuel is expanding in the financial adviser markets with the appointment of a very experienced business development manager.

Starting in the job last Monday, the new BDM for the eastern states, Mark Folpp, is already travelling through Queensland, New South Wales, and the ACT, meeting financial advisers.

Folpp joined Grant Samuel Funds Management after 11 years at Investors Mutual, where he had been head of retail distribution and state manager NSW and ACT.

According to Andrew McKinnon, CEO of GSFM, Folpp will work closely with Damien McIntyre, head of retail distribution, and Stephen Fletcher, the Melbourne-based business development manager retail distribution.

Folpp’s brief will be to “cultivate relationships in NSW, ACT and Queensland,” McKinnon said. “We saw a gap in our coverage and Mark has been in domestic and global equities for more than 18 years. This suits our strategy.”

GFSM’s three areas are insto, fund-of-funds, and retail distribution, McKinnon said. “In domestic equities, our distribution partner is Tribeca Investment Partners for which we’ve raised $1.2 billion,” he said.

In global equities, GSFM distributes for the New York-based global equity specialist fund manager Epoch Investment Partners, for which GSFM has raised $1 billion.

GSFM also represents Grant Samuel Infrastructure Funds Management, which invests in long-term unlisted infrastructure assets.

McKinnon said that Folpp’s had extensive knowledge of the structure of retail funds management, and the financial planning industries.