Australian Ethical appoints Dion Cooney as Equities Trader 

Dion Cooney

Australian Ethical Investment has announced the appointment of Dion Cooney to its investment team as an Equities Trader, effective 1 December 2025

Dion brings 25 years of industry experience, including almost six years as senior trader at AllianceBernstein. Prior to that, Dion held various international leadership roles for over 19 years with the global financial technology firm, ITG.

Nathan Parkin, Head of Equities at Australian Ethical, said: “We are fortunate to have someone of Dion’s calibre join the team as an Equities Trader. Dion’s expertise will enable an increased focus on trade execution, costs and liquidity management, ensuring we scale efficiently and provide investors with great value.”

Reporting directly to Nathan, this appointment reflects Australian Ethical’s commitment to strengthening its investment capability. It is the second appointment into the Equities team this year, following Nathan’s own appointment in July.

Nathan continued, “The equities team manages more than $7bn in FUM across active and systematic portfolios for both retail and middle market investors. Dion will work closely with the portfolio managers, freeing them up to focus on stock research and portfolio construction.”

Dion Cooney said of joining Australian Ethical, “It’s an exciting time to join Australian Ethical and I look forward to helping the equities team deliver for investors while investing in line with the company’s 39-year-old Ethical Charter.” 

In FY25 the ethical investment manager saw two equities portfolios achieve significant milestones. The Australian Shares Fund (ASF) celebrated 30 years in September 2024, and the Emerging Companies Fund (ECF) marked its 10th anniversary in July 2025.

Both portfolios outperformed their corresponding mainstream benchmarks during this period1. Notably the ECF, managed by Parkin, outperformed the ASX/S&P small industrials index by close to 5% pa over the decade to 30 June 2025.2