Ms Holbrook was most recently with Equity Trustees for 12 years, leading its Relationship Management team.

The appointment beefs up both business development and fund expertise in MSC’s Sydney office, and follows MSC’s recent acquisition of Certane’s corporate trust & custody business, also operating from Sydney.

In her time with EQT, Ms Holbrook oversaw the development of the relationship management team from 2 to 10 managers and a client book of around AUD $100 million.  Prior to EQT, she was at Perpetual for 8 years, overseeing client management, compliance and team coordination across Responsible Entity and Trustee portfolios.

MSC Group Managing Director, Mr Matthew Fletcher, said: “Kylie is an accomplished leader in Australia’s corporate trust industry.  She brings expertise in business development, client management and funds oversight.  Over 20 years, she is recognised for overseeing multibillion-dollar funds under management initiatives and as an expert in regulatory and compliance practices.

“This appointment is strategic and Kylie joins our expanded relationship management team in Sydney as a specialist in retail and wholesale fund trusteeship in a leadership role.  We are excited to reposition the MSC business post our acquisition of Certane, and promote our new scale and full-service offering including corporate trust, custody and fund administration.”

Ms Holbrook said, “I am looking forward to working with a dynamic team that now brings a full-service, end-to-end, fund services solution to the market, giving fund manager clients an alternative to the traditional trustee and responsible entity models.”

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Matthew Fletcher

Corporate trustee and fund administration platform, MSC Group, has acquired Certane Corporate Trust, formerly trading as AET Corporate Trust and part of Australian Executor Trustees, adding retail custody to its services.

The acquisition, which officially settled on Friday 12 January 2024, will create one of the largest full service corporate trust businesses in Australia, with a combined AUD $30 billion under appointment.  In addition to retail custody, Certane brings expanded debt capital markets expertise and client books in the areas of security trusteeship, facility and escrow agency services.  Certane also manages a large book of employee share plans.

The combined business will present a major alternative to long standing incumbents in the trustee market, with services to appeal to both domestic and international fund and capital managers and providing a powerful one-stop-shop for complementary corporate trust, custody, security trustee & agency, registry & fund administration services.

MSC Group Managing Director, Mr Matthew Fletcher, said “The highly complementary merging of Certane CT into MSC Group represents the final step in creating a full service corporate trust offering.  We know both local and international clients are highly attracted to the combined offering of corporate trust, fund registry, administration and custody services.

“The Certane and formerly AET Corporate Trust business has a long-established history of servicing the local Australia fund and corporate debt market and has managed to grow its book in recent times despite a number of ownership changes.  This acquisition brings an incredibly loyal and capable custody team into our business, plus a genuine footprint in both Melbourne and Sydney.We believe the business will benefit immensely with more stable, aligned ownership and strategic direction in a market with limited competition.

“Competition in the Australian custody space has been retreating following the exit of the Australian banks to return to core business.  Global depository/custodial businesses such as HSBC, JP Morgan and Citi Group have also retreated, preferring larger funds in excess of AUD $5 billion or sometimes as much as $20 billion.  The non-global, stand-alone, local custodial market now comprises only two players: Certane and Sandhurst Trustees (owned by regional Bendigo Adelaide Bank).

“Accordingly, this acquisition represents a substantial opportunity for our business to take market share for custody services on both a stand-alone basis and also as a leverage point for our core and higher margin corporate trust business.

“I want to thank Darran Goodger and Certane Group stakeholders for facilitating what is a fantastic opportunity for our business.  I’d also like to express appreciation for a number of consultancy firms who worked tirelessly to assist us in completing this deal over Christmas / New Years including our legal counsel Minter Elison, our funding partner Epsilon and corporate advisor Prime Capital.”

Certane Group CEO, Mr Darran Goodger, said “From the offset when speaking with Matt, it was clear that bringing together these two companies made for an exciting prospect for all stakeholders.  The combined businesses, with their collective industry experience and technology, are extremely well positioned to support existing and new clients.

“There has been a tremendous amount of hard work undertaken by all parties including Certane Group and our advisors, Ankura and Allen & Overy, to both complete and deliver a seamless transaction over the festive period.”

Certane CT General Manager, Ms Yvonne Kelaher, said: “We look forward to working with MSC, who brings long-term ownership stability and a solid growth strategy.  We consider this an extremely complementary outcome for both our clients and staff, who will respectively benefit from a wider service offering and career opportunities.”

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