Zac Leman

JANA Investment Advisers (JANA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Zac Leman as General Manager, Wealth.

Zac’s appointment reflects strong growth and momentum in JANA Wealth, with total wealth client funds under advice or management of ~A$15bn, including more than A$3.4bn in managed accounts. It also underscores JANA’s continued investment in senior leadership to support scale, innovation and strong client outcomes.

The appointment comes at a time of significant structural change across the wealth and advice sectors, as clients increasingly seek institutional-quality insights to meet growing portfolio, governance and implementation complexity.

This move reinforces JANA’s ongoing focus on expanding its wealth capability, building on sustained growth and long-established expertise across advice, research, portfolio construction and implementation.

Zac will lead JANA’s Wealth business strategy, strengthening advice, investment, operational and implementation capabilities to support continued growth in the Wealth segment. Michael Karagianis will continue to lead JANA’s Wealth consulting relationships.

The appointment follows the recent strengthening of JANA’s investment leadership with the appointment of Matt Wacher as Chief Investment Officer, reinforcing alignment across investment strategy and client delivery as the business continues to scale.

Lauren O’Neill, General Manager, Strategy & Innovation at JANA, said: “Zac’s appointment strengthens our leadership at a time when clients are seeking more sophisticated, institutional-quality capability that’s delivered to meet their needs. Drawing on his deep understanding of the wealth and advice landscape, Zac will play a key role in expanding access to our investment expertise, and delivering consistent, high-quality advice and implementation outcomes.”

Zac Leman said: “JANA’s client-first philosophy, purpose-led approach and its depth of investment capability strongly align with how I think about delivering value to clients. The business has built real momentum in the wealth segment, and I’m excited to be joining at a time of opportunity and growth.

The wealth sector continues to evolve, with increasing demand for more sophisticated, outcome-focused solutions. I’m looking forward to working closely with clients and partners to build on JANA’s strengths and deliver advice and implementation that supports long-term value creation.”

Zac was most recently Head of Managed Accounts and Direct Equities at BT Financial Group and has also held senior roles at Mason Stevens and Next Financial. He officially commenced his role at JANA on 4 May 2026.

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Matt Wacher

JANA Investment Advisers (JANA) has appointed Matt Wacher as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), strengthening investment leadership and alignment across its investment capabilities.

The appointment reflects JANA’s continued evolution as client demand, portfolio complexity and regulatory expectations continue to grow across segments and mandates.

Reporting to JANA’s Chief Executive Officer, Georgina Dudley, and joining the Executive Leadership Team, Mr Wacher will lead JANA’s overarching investment strategy and oversee investment outcomes across all client segments and mandates.

In this role, Mr Wacher will provide leadership across JANA’s investment research, investment strategy and sustainability functions.

Ms Dudley said the CIO appointment reflects the increasing breadth and complexity of client needs.

“JANA has a team with real depth across research, strategy and sustainability, and I’m incredibly proud of what they’ve built,” Ms Dudley said.

“As demand continues to broaden across our clients, the work is becoming more multi-dimensional as we support a wider range of client objectives and portfolio needs.”

“A Chief Investment Officer role strengthens investment leadership across our business and ensures we continue to deliver disciplined, long-term outcomes for our clients.”

Mr Wacher said, “I’m excited to join JANA at a time when clients are placing an even greater emphasis on disciplined decision-making and consistent oversight.”

“JANA has built strong investment capability grounded in rigorous research and thoughtful portfolio construction,” Mr Wacher said.

“My focus will be to provide leadership across the investment function, build on the depth already in place, and ensure we continue delivering disciplined, long-term outcomes for clients.”

Mr Wacher joins JANA from Morningstar Investment Management, where he was Chief Investment Officer, Asia Pacific, leading multi-asset investment strategy and portfolio management across the region. He also served as Chair of Morningstar’s Global Investment Committee, overseeing investment methodologies and governance across its global investment operations. In these roles, he oversaw approximately US$15 billion across diversified multi-asset strategies.

Earlier in his career, Mr Wacher held senior investment roles at Qantas Superannuation, Russell Investments and CMC Markets, spanning multi-asset portfolio construction, institutional investment solutions, and investment markets across Australia and Japan.

Matt Wacher will commence his role at JANA on Tue 19 May.

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Andrew Cassar

Australia’s equity market is becoming harder to trade in size, even when headline liquidity metrics look benign. Rising passive ownership and a shrinking actively traded free float are weakening price discovery and amplifying single-stock moves, with direct implications for portfolio construction and rebalancing.

JANA Investment Advisers’ latest research^[1] examines the structural forces reshaping Australian equity markets, finding that the rise of passive ownership – compounded by regulatory changes and shifts in investor behaviour – is fundamentally altering market dynamics, liquidity, and volatility, with direct implications for portfolio construction.

As price-insensitive index flows have grown as a share of overall market activity, the nature of price discovery has fundamentally shifted. In periods of heightened volatility, including those currently being experienced amid elevated geopolitical uncertainty, these mechanical reallocations can intensify short-term swings as capital is pulled toward outperformers and pushed away from laggards.

The structural shift underway in Australian equities is likely to continue, with passive ownership expected to approach levels seen in Canada and the United States.

These dynamics appear structural rather than cyclical, suggesting that portfolio construction approaches developed under higher-turnover, more-liquid market conditions may warrant reassessment.

Implications for portfolio construction

For institutional investors, these dynamics point to lower market turnover, extending performance cycles and a greater role for momentum as a driver of returns.

While headline volatility will remain compressed at a surface level, underlying market behaviour suggests greater single‑stock volatility and tail risk.

As a result, tighter portfolio risk controls and more deliberate portfolio construction are becoming increasingly important, particularly amid a backdrop of declining investor tolerance for underperformance.

A blend of core and non-core exposures, styles, and investment timeframes is essential for managing risk and reducing reliance on any single return driver. Laddering investment timeframes can help improve resilience across market regimes and reduce concentration risk.

In this environment, both fundamental and systematic active managers continue to play a critical role in supporting price discovery and capturing inefficiencies that passive strategies cannot address.

Key findings

• Passive and index ownership has grown as a proportion of the S&P/ASX 300 register over the past decade, with the trend accelerating, though Australian passive penetration remains below the United States level of approximately 50%.
• The Your Future, Your Super regulatory reforms have had unintended consequences, driving greater adoption of enhanced passive and index-following strategies as superannuation funds respond to underperformance disclosure requirements.
• Free float turnover for the S&P/ASX 300 fell to 53% in 2024, well below the long-term of 78% since 2002, indicating structurally lower liquidity. In the banking sector, turnover has fallen further to just 33%, down from a historical median of 55%.
• Headline market volatility has compressed, while single-stock volatility has increased, and tails have grown fatter. Intraday trading ranges on earnings release days have risen sharply over the past three years as thin order books amplify price swings.
• Over the past decade to August 2025, M&A activity has far outpaced IPOs (168 M&A transactions above $100 million occurred, against only 67 IPOs). Combined with approximately $60 billion in on-market buybacks concentrated in Materials and Financials, the available free float and diversification opportunity set has materially reduced.
• The inherent momentum embedded in market-cap-weighted indices is being amplified by passive flows, reinforcing short-term price trends and intensifying stock-specific swings when catalysts emerge. The August 2025 reporting season provided clear illustrations: CBA’s continued premium re-rating despite a modest earnings beat, Woolworths’ ~12% fall on a double-digit profit decline, and Coles lifting over 8% on a clean result.
• While bid-ask spreads have narrowed across large, mid and small caps, this masks a more fragile liquidity environment beneath the headline metrics.

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Notes:
[1] The analysis in this article draws on market return, fundamental, and institutional ownership data sourced from FactSet, covering the S&P/ASX 300 constituent universe. FactSet is a leading global provider of integrated financial data and analytics, used by JANA for index-level return series, free float turnover metrics, institutional ownership categorisation (active versus passive), buyback and M&A transaction data, and historical volatility analysis. Additional context on intraday earnings-day trading ranges was sourced from UBS and Barrenjoey via Yarra Capital Management. All data is current as of the time of writing.

By Andrew Cassar, Head of Australian Equities

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Sai Srinivasan

JANA Investment Advisers (JANA) has been appointed as the Implemented Consultant for TasBuild, who is responsible for managing the portable long service leave entitlements on behalf of workers in the building and construction industry in Tasmania.

TasBuild will benefit from JANA’s specialist liability-aware consulting capabilities, including actuarial expertise and asset-liability modelling to support investment decision making. This is particularly relevant for long service leave funds and redundancy trusts targeting specific funding ratios in an environment of market volatility and governance complexity.

JANA will provide holistic investment advice, portfolio construction and implementation services that support the long-term sustainability of the Fund.

The mandate underscores JANA’s continued growth, reflecting continued demand from statutory and purpose-led organisations for long-term, outcome-focused investment partnerships supported by deep institutional expertise and implementation capabilities.

Sai Srinivasan, Head of Client Development at JANA said: “We are delighted to be appointed as TasBuild’s investment consultant. TasBuild plays a critical role in supporting workers in the Tasmanian construction industry, and we are proud to partner with an organisation so deeply aligned to the wellbeing of workers across the state.”

JANA brings together advisory expertise and execution capability, helping liability-aware funds like TasBuild make confident investment decisions and deliver resilient, long-term outcomes for members.

Mark Williams, Chief Executive Officer of TasBuild said: “Our engagement with JANA has reinforced the strong cultural alignment between our organisations – particularly our shared commitment to disciplined governance, thoughtful investment strategy and long-term outcomes. We are confident JANA’s deep institutional experience will support TasBuild in continuing to deliver strong, resilient outcomes for our members.”

The appointment builds on JANA’s track record of supporting a range of clients across superannuation, endowments, insurers and statutory funds with strategic, long-term investment solutions.

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Daniel Park

JANA Investment Advisers (JANA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Park as Investment Grade Debt Lead.

Daniel’s appointment builds on JANA’s established investment grade debt capability, further strengthening support for clients navigating increasingly complex fixed income environments.

Reporting to Robert Moore, Head of Debt Research, Daniel will lead JANA’s investment grade debt research function, with responsibility for manager research, capital markets analysis and portfolio construction. He will work closely with JANA’s consulting and investment teams and play a key client-facing role, supporting investment committees and boards as a subject matter expert in investment grade debt.

Mr Park joins JANA from Mercer, where he was Head of Fixed Income within the Pacific region. Prior to this, he held senior roles at BT, including Head of Income and Alternatives and Head of Interest Rates, overseeing multi-billion-dollar public and private debt portfolios.

Daniel Park said: “Investment grade debt markets are evolving rapidly, and investors are facing a more complex mix of risks and opportunities. I’m looking forward to contributing to JANA’s strong investment grade debt research capability across manager research and portfolio construction.”

Robert Moore, Head of Debt Research at JANA, said: “The fixed income environment is becoming more dynamic, with higher interest rates, increased volatility and greater breadth and dispersion across credit markets changing the opportunity set for investors. Daniel’s deep expertise across investment grade credit, capital markets and multi-manager portfolio construction strengthens JANA’s ability to navigate this evolving landscape and support clients with robust, forward-looking advice.”

Daniel officially commenced his role at JANA on 19 January 2026.

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Oscar Lonergan

JANA Investment Advisers (‘JANA’) is pleased to announce the appointment of Oscar Lonergan as Senior Client Development Director.

JANA supports a broad range of institutional clients across superannuation, wealth, not-for-profits, insurance and other sectors. Oscar’s appointment strengthens JANA’s support for not-for-profit (NFP) and liability-aware investors seeking an institutional-quality consultant or investment implementation partner.

Reporting to Sai Srinivasan, Head of Client Development, Oscar will focus on partnering with prospective clients across the NFP and liability-aware sectors, including general, life and private health insurers, as well as long service leave and redundancy trusts.

In this role, Oscar will engage with organisations, to help meet their investment goals aligning JANA’s investment, governance and responsible investments capabilities, as well as more integrated support across advice and implementation, where required.

Many institutions in the NFP and liability-aware segments operate with limited internal resources and therefore seek more integrated support to execute their investment strategy. Over the past five years, JANA’s implemented consulting platform has grown from $11 billion to over $18 billion, reflecting increasing client demand. This scale provides additional benefits for clients, including access to a broader range of fund managers and strategies.

Mr Lonergan joins JANA from Russell Investments, where he held senior institutional business development roles, most recently as Institutional Business Development Manager, working closely with NFP, Insurance and Government clients.

Oscar Lonergan said: “NFP and liability-aware investors are operating in an increasingly complex environment, and there is growing demand for advice that is both rigorous and practical. I’m excited to be joining JANA and working with clients to support their purpose and long-term objectives.”

Sai Srinivasan, Head of Client Development at JANA, said: “Oscar’s experience working with NFP and liability-aware investors will be instrumental as we continue to support clients navigating more complex investment, governance and implementation requirements.”

Oscar officially commenced his role at JANA on Monday 19 January 2026.

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Investment in leadership and growth

These promotions follow the recent appointments of JANA’s new Heads of Sustainability, Infrastructure and Alternatives, and reflect the firm’s annual process to support the ongoing growth and development of its people – ensuring JANA continues to deliver positive outcomes for our clients and their beneficiaries.

The new appointments highlight the deep breadth of talent across JANA, which forms the foundation for delivering trusted, high-quality advice in an increasingly complex investment landscape. With more than 100 investment professionals and over A$1.7 trillion in funds under advice, JANA continues to strengthen its capability across investment consulting, research and implementation.

“These appointments recognise people who consistently deliver high-quality outcomes for our clients and embody the depth of thinking and collaboration that define JANA,” said Georgina Dudley, Chief Executive Officer.

“Our culture is built on shared purpose and client focus, and these promotions celebrate the people who bring that to life every day. They also reflect JANA’s commitment to investing back into our people. JANA has been fortunate, through strong staff retention, to have the ability to promote exceptional talent from within, creating opportunities for growth and reinforcing the strength that sets us apart.”

The promotions span a broad cross-section of JANA’s advisory, research, and investment teams – reflecting the collective effort and expertise that drive strong client outcomes and sustained growth across the firm.

Promotions to Principal Consultant

• Bill Dwyer – Client Investment Consulting
• Ed Giudice – Client Investment Consulting
• Matthew Moon – Private Equity
• Robert Moore – Fixed Income
• Prashanthi Nadarajah – Client Investment Consulting
• Christopher Worthington – Quant & Risk

Additional Senior Promotions

• Kevin Fernando, Senior Consultant
• Sadru Karim, Senior Manager

These promotions acknowledge the depth of expertise and leadership across JANA’s consulting, research and operational teams, reinforcing the firm’s ability to deliver superior investment outcomes for clients.

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John Xu – Head of Infrastructure Research

John Xu joins JANA as Head of Infrastructure and commenced his role on 20 October. John brings over 15 years of investment experience in Infrastructure having served in senior buy-side roles in Australia and Europe with Infracapital and Hastings. He has extensive M&A, asset management and operational experience. Recently John held leading roles in driving business transformation and operations focusing on digital infrastructure in Australia.

In this role, John will lead the investment direction of JANA’s infrastructure research capability, overseeing due diligence and advisory services on infrastructure portfolios for JANA’s clients and managed investment trusts. His deep industry expertise and strategic leadership will further enhance JANA’s infrastructure insights and value creation for clients.

Chris McAvoy – Head of Alternative Investment Strategy Research

Chris McAvoy has been promoted to Head of Alternative Investment Strategy Research, effective immediately. Since joining JANA in early 2020 from Aon UK, Chris has played a pivotal role in shaping JANA’s alternatives research agenda and thought leadership.

Chris will lead JANA’s alternatives research capability, covering investment manager and capital markets research, portfolio construction, and performance outcomes for both client and JANA Alternatives portfolios. He will also retain a strong client-facing component, engaging regularly with client investment committees and boards as a subject matter expert.

Suzy Yoon – Head of Sustainability

Suzy Yoon has been appointed Head of Sustainability. Suzy initially joined JANA in 2007 and has held analyst and consulting roles across property and global equities research, as well as client responsibilities across industry superannuation funds, charities and university endowments. After several years in Korea, she rejoined JANA four years ago and has since been a core member of the Sustainability team.

Suzy brings deep investment expertise and extensive knowledge in sustainability. In this role, Suzy will lead JANA’s sustainability agenda, supporting clients in aligning investment strategies with their long-term objectives and reinforcing JANA’s leadership in responsible investment.

Driving growth and exceptional client outcomes

Georgina Dudley, CEO of JANA, commented: “These appointments reflect JANA’s ongoing commitment to delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients. Each of these leaders brings deep expertise and a client-first mindset that strengthens our ability to provide strategic, high-quality advice across a range of asset classes. As JANA continues to grow, these appointments ensure we remain agile, forward-looking, and focused on helping our clients achieve their long-term investment objectives in an increasingly complex environment.”

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Lynda Trusler

JANA Investment Advisers (‘JANA’) is pleased to announce the appointment of Linda Trusler as Senior Consultant. This addition further strengthens JANA’s expanding consulting capabilities in the Not-for-Profit (NFP) sector, supporting the continued growth of its client base in this area.

As Senior Consultant, Linda will lead the delivery of investment consulting services to a range of JANA’s institutional clients, with a particular focus on the NFP sector. She will be responsible for driving high quality client outcomes, overseeing investment strategy, governance, and general investment advice tailored to each client’s mission and objectives.

Her appointment expands JANA’s NFP consulting team and reflects the firm’s continued growth and commitment to this sector. Her contribution will further enhance the firm’s ability to build enduring client relationships and deliver forward-thinking investment advice that is mission-aligned and tailored to the evolving needs of NFP organisations.

Linda brings a wealth of investment experience to the role, having held senior positions across asset management, superannuation, and consulting. Her career spans over two decades within both Australian and international equity across a range of asset managers. Most recently, she served as Chief Investment Officer at Rajomon Asset Management, and has previously held roles at Legal Super, CCI Asset Management, and Mercer.

Linda holds an MBA and is a CFA Charterholder and is a lecturer for the CFA curriculum. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and responsible investing, having contributed to a range of industry policy and advisory committees. Her involvement includes serving on the CFA Society Australia’s National Diversity Council, as well as holding roles with Women in Super, International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), reflecting her ongoing commitment to driving positive change across the industry.

Michael Maher, Head of Not-for-Profit Consulting at JANA, stated, “We’re delighted to welcome Linda to JANA. Her extensive investment experience, including senior leadership roles across asset management and superannuation, will be invaluable to our Not-for-Profit clients. In recent years, JANA has significantly expanded our support for the NFP sector – both in the number of clients we work with and the depth of advice we provide. Linda’s appointment strengthens our ability to service that growing client base while continuing to deliver deeply considered, purpose-aligned advice. Her industry contributions through advisory, policy and education roles also reflect the breadth of insight she brings to our team and clients.”

Linda added, “I’m thrilled to be joining JANA at a time of strong momentum in the NFP sector. I’m passionate about working with clients to shape thoughtful, purpose-driven investment strategies, and I look forward to supporting them in achieving long-term, impactful outcomes.”

Linda officially commenced her role at JANA on Monday 14 July 2025.

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Michael Karagianis, Head of JANA Wealth, commented, “David’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for JANA Wealth, as new client growth drives the need for additional high-quality consulting expertise. His expertise further strengthens our ability to support wealth advisors, advice practices and family offices with tailored investment solutions. As JANA expands its presence in the Wealth sector, we are seeing increasing demand for customised managed account engagements and remain committed to delivering institutional-quality insights and portfolio solutions our client’s trust.”

David’s appointment reflects the increasing market demand for sophisticated investment solutions in the wealth sector. As interest in tailored managed accounts and specialist consulting services accelerates, he will play a pivotal role in growing JANA’s business with wealth clients.

JANA Wealth advises on over $15bn in assets, including $2.8bn in managed accounts. Partnering with wealth managers, advice practices, and family offices to provide specialist investment consulting, tailored managed account programs, and access to wholesale investment strategies and research.

With strong investment committee support, rigorous due diligence, and deep research capabilities, JANA Wealth offers expertise across both traditional and alternative asset classes – including private equity, infrastructure, direct real estate, and niche investments – helping clients navigate complex markets and unlock high-quality investment opportunities.

David Wilson said of his appointment, “JANA’s reputation in investment consulting is second to none, and I’m excited to be part of a team that’s shaping the future of wealth. I look forward to working with our clients to develop investment strategies that meet their long-term goals.”

With a career spanning senior roles at Mercer and Lonsec, David brings extensive experience in investment consulting. At JANA, he will focus on enhancing consulting services and delivering tailored investment solutions to a growing Wealth client base.

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