An executive at Access Capital Advisers (Access CA) has left its Canberra office to co-found a consultancy with a non-investment focus.

Alex Ramsay resigned as Access CA’s chief financial officer in late October to launch a Canberra-based consultancy, Sustineo, and has begun pitching its evaluation services to government and non-government organisations (NGOs) running social and economic development programs.

While Ramsay was a minor shareholder in Access CA, he was not a partner, and renounced his ownership stake upon leaving the business to run Sustineo with Andrew Rowe, an engineer who has spent the last few years working in international trade and development.

Alexander Austin, CEO of Access CA, said Ramsey had been retained by the consultancy to perform some internal corporate services work, but that Teresa Ho had been promoted to the post of CFO.

Ramsey’s exit followed the departures of seven partners from Access CA in 2010, with only one – head of investment operations Julian Widdup – being made redundant as a result of cost pressures incurred in the past two years as the financial crisis and the loss of client Statewide Super affected revenues.