Orbis Investments appoints Alison Savas as Investment Director to bolster Australian team
Alison Savas
Global contrarian investment manager Orbis Investments has appointed Alison Savas as Investment Director, further strengthening its Australian investment specialist team. Based in Sydney, she will work closely with Head of Clients – Australia Eric Marais and Investment Specialist Vern du Preez to deepen engagement with advisers and consultants and deliver differentiated portfolio insights.
Ms Savas brings more than 20 years’ experience across Sydney, Singapore and London, with a career spanning global equity research, portfolio construction and senior client-facing roles.
She has extensive experience at value-oriented managers and will play a key role in supporting Orbis’ growing base of financial adviser clients and retail consultants, bringing investment depth to client engagement across its global equities and emerging markets strategies.
In her role at Orbis Investments, Ms Savas will work closely with the global investment team and local distribution team to articulate the firm’s long-term, contrarian investment philosophy and portfolio positioning, while strengthening relationships with existing clients.
Jason Ciccolallo, Managing Director of Orbis Investments Australia, said Ms Savas’ appointment reflects the firm’s continued investment in on-the-ground capability as adviser demand evolves.
“Alison brings a rare combination of deep global equities expertise and the ability to turn complex ideas into practical insights advisers can use with clients when discussing markets, exposures and the role Orbis can play in client portfolios. The understanding of this differentiated role is exactly what we’re focused on building in Australia,” Mr Ciccolallo said.
“We’re seeing a clear shift in how advisers are constructing portfolios. Passive and managed accounts have an important role – but they are increasingly concentrated and benchmark-aware by design. That is driving demand for genuinely differentiated, high-conviction strategies that can sit alongside these exposures.”
“Our approach is deliberately contrarian. We look where others are not, to identify mispriced opportunities, it is often in these overlooked areas that we find our best ideas. In today’s market environment, that’s not just additive, it’s becoming essential for diversification and long-term outcomes. Alison will play a key role in helping us bring that perspective more directly to our clients.”
Ms Savas joins Orbis Investments from Antipodes Partners, where she was an Investment Director and key spokesperson for the Global Equities team across both institutional and retail channels. In that role, she represented portfolio managers, developed strategic content, hosted the Antipodes Good Value podcast and was a regular speaker at industry conferences, client events and investor roadshows.
Previously, Ms Savas was Deputy Portfolio Manager at Kingfisher Investments in Singapore, where she led global equity portfolio construction for a family office, managed a long-only global equities portfolio and oversaw a dedicated investment team. Earlier in her career, she spent more than a decade at Platinum Asset Management as a Senior Investment Analyst, covering Asian equity markets and contributing to high-conviction, value-oriented portfolios.
Ms Savas began her career at Morningstar Research and also completed the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s graduate program in institutional banking. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.
