TCorp has named Stewart Brentnall its first chief investment officer, amid a string of appointments announced on Monday, February 13, 2017.
The new role was created because of a restructure to internal teams following a merger between TCorp and two other NSW funds – State Super and iCare (formerly NSW WorkCover) – to form a $70 billion institutional investor in 2015.
The role combines the functions of asset allocation and manager selection, which was previously split between the general manager, investments, Mark O’Brien, and general manager, investment and client strategy, Steve McKenna.
“It made sense to us to combine that into the one role of CIO,” TCorp chief executive David Deverall said. “It is not a huge surprise, I’d imagine, because that is the way a lot of organisations work.”
He added that the new role allowed TCorp to manage its responsibilities across asset classes and portfolios, as it now has many large clients with sophisticated needs. One of TCorp’s largest clients is the New South Wales Treasury, which has asked for the creation of a conservative portfolio to manage proceeds from the leasing of assets such as Ausgrid.
Brentnall is due to start in April, after he finishes as ANZ Wealth’s CIO. O’Brien will leave TCorp after a handover period to Brentnall. McKenna will stay on as general manager, investment and client strategy, and report to Brentnall.
Brentnall offered experience trifecta
General manger, investment implementation and operations, Jonathan Green will continue to report directly to Deverall. The dedication of resources to investment operations is becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry, with other investors, such as Cbus, also having direct reports from operations to the chief executive.
Deverall said the big draw to Brentnall was the experience trifecta of managing multiple stakeholders at ANZ, leading a team of 75 people, and having substantial funds under management, at $65 billion.
“Being in the environment of multiple clients was [a very attractive qualification], as TCorp has a number of significant clients, and we don’t just manage a pot of money for one trustee board,” Deverall said.
Other appointments at TCorp included:
- General manager, financial markets, Paul Verschuer. He has joined TCorp from Westpac, where he has held senior roles over the last 12 years, most recently as general manager, business bank, responsible for the specialised finance business. His broad banking experience includes senior roles at Zurich Capital Markets Asia and Bankers Trust Australia.
- General manager, client relationships, Katharine Seymour. She has joined TCorp from BNP Paribas Securities Services. Seymour brings to TCorp a background in relationship/account management and market development. She previously held senior positions with BlackRock and Schroders, in Australia and the UK.
- General manager, human resources and internal communications, Katy McDonald. She has extensive experience in legal and banking environments. McDonald joined TCorp from Sydney Opera House, where she was director, people and culture. She previously held HR leadership positions with Minter Ellison and Westpac.
- Chief risk officer Kevin Masling has more than 20 years of experience in risk management within financial markets and investment management. He has joined TCorp from Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. He previously held senior positions with Lloyds International, AMP Capital Investors, ING, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and JP Morgan.
ANZ Wealth has replaced Brentnall in its CIO role with Mark Rider. He joined the bank in 2013 as the head of investment strategy and portfolio management. Prior to this, he was UBS Global Asset Management head of investment strategy, Australia. He also worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
