Inaugural Future Fund head Paul Costello appointed to QIC Global Infrastructure Investment Commmittee
QIC – one of Australia’s largest institutional investment managers – has appointed Paul Costello as the Independent Chairman of the QIC Global Infrastructure Investment Committee (the Committee).
Mr Costello has previously been the inaugural Managing Director of the Future Fund and the first CEO of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
The Committee will review all investment and divestment proposals made by QIC’s Global Infrastructure team. Its other key responsibilities are to ensure that risks are satisfactorily identified, managed, measured and reported on.
Commenting on Mr Costello’s new leadership role, QIC CEO Damien Frawley said, “Paul’s appointment further underscores our commitment to world class investment management, strong governance and deep risk management. We have significant global growth plans for our infrastructure capability and his role will be important to its success.”
Mr Costello started in the role at QIC in late 2014. The Committee will comprise members of QIC’s Global Infrastructure team incuding the two founders Ross Israel and Matina Papathanasiou and two Partners on a rotating basis. In addition to Mr Costello as Independent Chairman, the committee will also include Peter Forbes, a highly experienced independent expert.
Speaking about his appointment, Mr Costello said: “I’m pleased to be joining QIC at an especially exciting time for its global infrastructure capability. Governments around the world are recognising a greater role for private sector participation in infrastructure and QIC’s infrastructure pedigree is second to none. I look forward to helping QIC expand its infrastructure funds management offerings to clients. “
QIC pointed to Mr Costello’s appointment as further evidence of its commitment to its infrastructure capability, noting that it also recently developed a global infrastructure fund, the QIC Global Infrastructure Fund, that is now open to Australian institutional investors and is intended to be made available to offshore investors.
The QIC Global Infrastructure Fund has secured cornerstone commitments totalling A$645 million from four investors comprising two QIC foundation clients, an Asian sovereign wealth fund and a major Australiansuperannuation fund.
Action is also underway to gain regulatory fund registrations for the Fund in a number of international jurisdictions.
