Jamie Downing

bfinance, a global independent investment consultancy, has announced a strategic expansion of its wealth sector services, as wealth managers face growing demand for sophisticated, institutional-grade investment solutions. Responding to a competitive landscape and changing client needs, bfinance is extending its expertise to wealth managers and multi-family offices, helping them deliver advanced investment strategies once reserved for large institutional investors.

With clients increasingly focused on sustainable and ESG-aligned investments and seeking the flexibility to enter specific opportunities alongside traditional mandates, wealth managers are under pressure to evolve their offerings. This shift is driving demand for solutions that blend custom portfolio design, ESG integration, and access to alternative asset classes. By broadening its wealth sector services, bfinance is supporting managers in providing these sophisticated options, empowering them to meet diverse and complex client expectations.

Jamie Downing, Managing Director and Head of Client Consulting at bfinance, commented: “We’re seeing a clear shift in the wealth sector, with managers aiming to replicate the sophistication of institutional investors to meet rising client expectations. Wealth managers now need to offer more than traditional investment options—they must deliver ESG-integrated strategies, alternative investments, and customised portfolio structures. This demand for advanced solutions has driven significant interest in bfinance’s expertise in manager research, strategic portfolio design, and fee optimisation.”

Originally developed in partnership with institutional asset owners such as pension funds, bfinance’s core research capabilities are increasingly sought by wealth managers. This partnership approach provides wealth managers with the flexibility to access only the specific expertise they need, acting as an extension of their in-house teams to enhance capabilities in areas such as manager research and selection, portfolio design, and performance monitoring.

In 2023, more than 10% of engagements conducted by bfinance were for wealth managers or multi-family offices, highlighting the wealth sector’s evolution towards institutional-style sophistication. The firm has seen a range of recent search activity from wealth managers, including absolute return fixed income, semi-liquid infrastructure, and liquid alternatives for downside protection.

Reflecting on recent trends, bfinance’s Asset Owner Survey indicates that wealth managers are increasingly adopting flexible mandates and ad hoc opportunities to capture emerging trends in ESG and alternative investments. Clients’ focus on cost transparency has also grown, with wealth managers scrutinising transaction costs for a complete view of expenses.

This expansion comes as bfinance marks 25 years of independence and celebrates a recent return to employee ownership under CEO David Vafai. With a presence in 11 financial centres worldwide, including London, Chicago, Toronto, Dubai, Sydney, and Hong Kong, bfinance remains committed to delivering its unbiased, research-driven consulting services to an ever-broadening client base across the wealth management and institutional sectors.

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Tom Clapham has been appointed head of APAC, following the retirement of Tony Archer, and will relocate to Sydney from Singapore. Elizabeth Trinh, who was previously head of Australia and New Zealand for American Century Investments, has been appointed to the newly created role of head of Hong Kong and South East Asia.

In addition, Michelle Kidd, who has been vice president of American Century’s Institutional Advisory Group since 2018, has been appointed to head of Australian and New Zealand institutional business, while Alastair McKibbin will take on the newly created role of head of Australian wholesale business.

Jamie Downing, American Century’s global head of institutional business, says the new appointments further establish the firm’s commitment, expertise and offering in the Asia Pacific region.

“We have long seen the APAC region as an important market in our growth strategy and in the past few years have seen increasing interest across our boutiques, particularly in our actively managed equity and fixed income offerings.

“These appointments will ensure we continue to build strong and enduring relationships with investors in these markets, both institutional and wholesale, at a time when the skills and experience of our investment teams are increasingly valued by clients.”

Mr Clapham joins American Century from Aviva Investors where he was head of Asia, Client Group, a role he has held for almost five years. He has 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry, in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing, including working with AXA Investment Managers, Macquarie Group and Deutsch Bank. He holds a Masters in Economics and International Business from the University of Sydney

Ms Trinh has been with American Century since 2010. She joined from Macquarie Group where she was an associate manager and has also worked as a tax consultant at KPMG. In the newly created role, she will be responsible for further expanding the company’s actively managed investment capabilities in the southeast Asian markets. She holds a Bachelors in Commerce, Finance and Marketing from the University of Melbourne and a master’s degree through HKUST/NYU Master Science Global Finance.

Ms Kidd has 15 years’ experience in the Australian institutional market, joining American Century from Affiliated Managers Group where she worked for seven years in senior distribution roles.  She has also worked with Investors Mutual as manager, research and institutional business. She holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Mr McKibbin has been with American Century Investments for over three years and will relocate to Sydney from New York where he was vice president, global strategic relationships, with a particular focus on Latin America. He joined American Century from State Street Global Advisors where he was head of ETF Managed Portfolio Solutions for the US SPDR ETF Business. He has also worked at State Street Global Advisors and AllianceBernstein in New York.  He started his career in Australia in 2001, working at ING Australia and Colonial First State. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Sydney.

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