Wallara Asset Management has replaced senior analyst and 15 per cent owner, David Rosenbloom, who resigned at the end of January.
Banking analyst Mike Macrow joined the boutique investment manager on February 28, bringing to the team 20 years of experience as a broking analyst and five years’ experience on the buy-side, having recently worked with Invesco and Guild Insurance.
Macrow’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Wallara, which is defending $1.7 billion under management in the face of persistent below-benchmark performance. It’s Australian Equities Composite returned 3.4 per cent before fees and tax in the five years to January 31, while the S&P/ASX 200 recorded 3.6 per cent.
Macrow will be responsible for analysing banking, insurance and financial services companies.
Wallara’s managing director, Peter Wetherall, is looking forward to working with Macrow for the second time, having recruited him in 1989 as a bank analyst in the research department of McIntosh Securities (now Merrill Lynch).
“I see it as a very low risk employment,” he said. “I know him very well … he’s a known quantity, he’s very experienced. I think he will fit very well into the team.”
Wetherall said there was universal support from the team for Macrow’s appointment, with Wetherall looking forward to the fresh ideas and perspectives Macrow will bring to the team.
David Rosenbloom’s participation in the 100 per cent staff owned company’s profit-participation or “shadow equity” scheme has been “settled” since his resignation and while Macrow will not be involved in this program straight away, Wetherall expected he would become involved in the future.
“We don’t have a policy of people coming into that, but after a period of time he will be eligible to participate in that. It’s not something we offer until people have been with us for a while and we’re happy and their happy,” said Wetherall. “I suspect if everything goes the way I’m hoping it will go, Mike will be part of the scheme, but we’ll review that later on.”
