Kayla Batiste

Fund manager GSFM has appointed Kayla Batiste to the newly created role of Key Account Manager (QLD), effective 27 October. She will be based in Brisbane and will report to GSFM’s head of retail business, Ben Williams.

Ms Batiste’s responsibilities will include panel management and client retention, platform and product distribution, strategic planning and execution, as well as sales analytics and reporting, and supporting the business and its fund manager partners.

She joins GSFM from Macquarie Group where she worked for nine years, most recently as business development manager in the Brisbane office. Prior to this she worked as an adviser services consultant with Macquarie Group for two years. She started her career at Mortgage Choice.

GSFM’s head of retail business, Ben Williams, says Ms Batiste’s appointment will significantly increase the depth and breadth of the business development capabilities in the important Queensland market.

“Kayla is a results-oriented BDM with over 10 years of experience in financial services. She has a proven track record in retaining and growing high-value panel clients while identifying and converting new business opportunities – skills that will serve her well in this new role.

“She joins GSFM at an important time in the business’ growth, as it continues to bring new opportunities to the Australian market, as well as deliver high quality investment strategies that provide exceptional outcomes for investors.

“Kayla’s experience is a good fit for the GSFM business – which has a portfolio that spans global and Asian equities, Australian equities, fixed income and private credit, as well as alternative strategies.”

Ms Batiste holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Southern Queensland.

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Damien McIntyre

GSFM and Australian equities manager, Auscap Asset Management, have formed a partnership, with GSFM the exclusive distributor of the Auscap High Conviction Australian Equities Fund and the Auscap Ex-20 Australian Equities Fund in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Auscap Asset Management was founded in 2012. It is a quality first, value focused, active Australian equities manager. Its High Conviction Australian Equities Fund and its Ex-20 Australian Equities Fund both have a RECOMMENDED rating from Zenith and Lonsec.

GSFM CEO, Damien McIntyre, said the partnership brings the number of GSFM’s specialist fund manager partners to 10.

“GSFM’s goal is to partner with high calibre investment managers to deliver differentiated, quality investment strategies to help Australian investors build wealth. Auscap’s Australian equity funds certainly meet our criteria.

“Auscap is a considered, patient and long-term investor, an approach that has paid off in consistent performance.

“The High Conviction Australian equities fund has a 12+ year track record and is a top quartile fund. The Ex-20 Australian Equities Fund was launched in November 2023, and has shown similarly good performance,” Mr McIntyre said.

Tim Carleton, Auscap’s founder and chief investment officer has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry including as an executive director at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for managing an Australian equities portfolio, and Macquarie Bank where he worked in the Investment Banking team.

He was a founder of Auscap, which has a quality first, value-focused philosophy.

“Our vision is to continue to develop a leading funds management business that has a reputation for outperformance, strong risk management, a positive culture and integrity.

“In GSFM we have found an experienced and knowledgeable team with nationwide capabilities across relevant channels, and we look forward to working with Damien McIntyre, Ben Williams and the broader team.

“Partnering with GSFM, with a recognised reputation as experts in distribution, means the investment team can focus our attention on continuing to deliver strong returns for our clients.”

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David Cohen

Fund manager GSFM has appointed David Cohen to the newly created role of key account manager (QLD), effective 18 November. He will be based in Brisbane and report to national distribution manager, Steven Taylor.

Mr Cohen will work as part of the GSFM retail distribution team and will focus on servicing private wealth advisers and independent financial advisers (IFAs) in Queensland.

Prior to joining GSFM, Mr Cohen spent over six years in financial services distribution, most recently as a business development manager at Praemium. He also worked for four years with Commonwealth Financial Planning, including two as a financial adviser.

GSFM head of retail business, Ben Williams, says this appointment reflects the growing interest in GSFM’s funds and strategies by current and prospective clients.

“As our offering continues to expand and we introduce new funds and strategies to the Australian market, we want to ensure our distribution team continues to deliver the same high level of service.

“In this role David will support our Queensland-based clients and grow the GSFM business in that region.

“David has built a strong network across the Queensland advice market during his more than six years in business development roles as well as his previous experience as a financial planner,” says Mr Williams.

“His strong background in business development, and his financial services background will allow him to seamlessly step into this position.

“His previous work with financial advisers, stockbrokers, private wealth advisers and family offices means he brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge, making him a great addition to our national distribution team.

“We look forward to welcoming and working with David, as we execute our sales strategy nationally and introduce new and existing investment options to our clients,” he says.

Mr Cohen holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Griffith University and is a CFA charterholder.

His appointment follows the recent appointment of Ben Williams to the head of retail distribution last month.

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Ben Williams

Fund manager GSFM has appointed Ben Williams as the head of its retail business. He will be based in Sydney and will report to GSFM CEO, Damien McIntyre, effective 21 October.

In this role Mr Williams will lead the retail business and be responsible for the development and execution of GSFM’s retail distribution strategy. Mr Williams’ responsibilities will include research houses, retail asset consultants, platforms, private wealth and independent financial advisers (IFAs).

His career in financial services spans over 20 years. Prior to GSFM, he was the distribution director, APAC and head of private wealth at Warakirri Asset Management. He has also held executive roles in wholesale and retail distribution at UBS Asset Management Australia, Lazard Asset Management Pacific and BlackRock. He started his career at Bridgeport Advisers and Asset Managers where he was an associate and corporate superannuation consultant.

In 2016, Mr Williams won the Financial Standard MAX award for Distribution Executive of the Year, and he is a faculty partner with Portfolio Construction Forum.

GSFM CEO, Damien McIntyre, says Mr Williams is highly regarded across the financial services sector as a reliable, informed, and trustworthy executive, with relationships forged through two decades of shared experience.

“Throughout his career Ben has demonstrated a commitment to delivering sustainable, consistent, and exceptional outcomes for investors. He brings a wealth of knowledge and strong relationships, to the role.

“He has extensive experience having successfully fundraised and secured mandates for many different asset classes including emerging market equities, global equities, Australian income products as well as evergreen Agriculture REIT funds.

“Ben’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable as GSFM continues to expand its retail client base, and to position and communicate the opportunities in its funds and strategies to current and prospective clients,” he said.

Mr Williams holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, as well as a Master of Business Administration and Master of Management (Marketing) from Macquarie Graduate School of Management. He has also completed a graduate diploma of financial planning from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Mr Williams replaces Stephen Fletcher, who has been appointed to the newly created role of client portfolio manager at GSFM’s fund manager partner, Munro Partners. Munro has successfully built a team in Canada which provides dedicated support to its distribution partner, CI Financial Group, and its activities in the Canadian market. Mr Fletcher will spearhead Munro’s efforts to provide the same dedicated support to GSFM here in Australia.

Mr McIntyre said: “Steve has been an incredible asset to GSFM during his 16 years with the business and has been instrumental in the development of our retail business during that time. We thank Steve for his many years of service, and we look forward to working with him in his new role with Munro Partners”.

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Reporting to Ben Williams, Head of Private Wealth, who joined Warakirri in November of last year, Melanie will be responsible for expanding the firm’s relationships in the Family Office, High Net Worth (HNW) and Retail Advisory markets in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Stuart Devlin, Warakirri Head of Distribution said: “We’re delighted that Melanie has joined Warakirri as we continue to broaden our retail footprint. It’s an exciting time of significant growth and development at Warakirri and her experience working with sophisticated advisers who are demanding differentiated, quality solutions will help deliver on our ambition to provide unique investment solutions into the retail market.”

“As the exclusive retail distribution partner for Northcape Capital’s Australian, global and emerging market equity strategies, the rapid growth in funds under management for the Flinders Investment Partners small companies strategy and with the growing demand for our diversified agricultural offerings, we believe Warakirri is uniquely positioned,” Mr. Devlin added.

Melanie has over 20 years’ experience working in the financial services industry and joins Warakirri from State Street Global Advisors where she was previously a Regional Manager.  Her previous experience includes business development roles at Generation Life as well as spending time as a financial planner at ANZ Bank. Melanie holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wollongong and an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning from Kaplan Professional.

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Ben Williams

Multi boutique funds manager Warakirri Asset Management, has announced the appointment of Ben Williams to the newly created role of Head of Private Wealth.

Reporting to Warakirri’s Head of Distribution, Stuart Devlin, and based in Sydney, Mr. Williams joins the firm as it continues to grow its distribution team and broaden its footprint across NSW and Queensland, and the private wealth channel.

Mr. Williams brings to the role more than 20 years of experience in financial services working across funds management and wholesale distribution. He has held a range of local and regional leadership positions with BlackRock, Lazard Asset Management and most recently with UBS Asset Management. His experience in managing teams and client relationships extends nationally and across the advice ecosystem and includes the co-design of various investment solutions tailored to the evolving needs of the portfolio construction industry.

Jim McKay, Warakirri Managing Director said, “We’re delighted to have someone of Ben’s calibre and seniority join our team as we continue to build Warakirri’s relationships with family offices, financial advice practices and High Net Worth clients. Ben’s strong network, coupled with his significant experience across key facets of the advice market, the platform space and product solutions, will help build on our relationships with our key client groups and for our funds management and agriculture capabilities.”

The addition comes following the recent appointment of Tim Lang to the newly created position of Research Relationships Manager. Warakirri is also currently recruiting for a further distribution individual in Melbourne.

“Ben joins at an exciting time for Warakirri. Our new Global Emerging Markets strategy managed by our investment partner Northcape Capital, has already received a recommended rating from two of the major Australian research houses and secured several key platform and managed account positions,” said Mr. Devlin.

“And our Australian small caps fund managed by Flinders Investment Partners is also going from strength to strength, with an excellent long term performance track record, more than tripling in size since Warakirri acquired its equity stake in the firm in the middle of last year,” he added.

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In his role, Ben will be responsible for building, implementing and monitoring the firms’ strategic engagement with a broad range of investors, including consulting, research, platform, aligned and independent adviser channels.

Bryce Doherty, CEO of UBS Asset Management, Australia and New Zealand, said: “Ben is a highly experienced, widely respected and well credentialed leader within the asset management industry. He adds considerable expertise to our already successful wholesale team and is a very welcome addition to UBS Asset Management.”

Ben brings almost 20 years of investment industry experience to UBS Asset Management, having worked in various marketing, sales and product development roles with Lazard Asset Management, BlackRock and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

“UBS Asset Management is building and managing everything you need to succeed as a long-term investor, so we plan on working with as many Australians as we can in the years ahead, and delivering the best of breed investment outcomes they desire,” commented Ben Williams.

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