Ms Evans has more than 25 years of experience in funds management, working across client relationship management. She has previously held senior account management positions at Colonial First State, Macquarie Group and BT Financial Group.

She is based in Brisbane and will report to account director Jodie Saw.

Mr Cumming starts his newly-created role with 13 years of experience in business development, distribution and account management across the funds and wealth management sectors. He has held senior business development roles at Macquarie Bank, MLC Australia and NAB.

He is based in Perth and will report to head of distribution Jonas Daly.

Mr Daly said Ms Evans and Mr Cumming are key to further expanding the company’s national distribution strategy.

“Amanda has exceptional relationship skills and an in-depth knowledge of the industry, and she’ll be instrumental in supporting our clients in the Queensland region,” he said.

“Meanwhile, Andrew’s demonstrated ability to develop key client relationships, and his extensive network across the region, will be integral in growing our client reach across Western Australia and South Australia.

“Our advisers on the west coast will also now have access to an account director based in their own state, which has been an important goal for us.”

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Mai Platts

Bennelong Funds Management has appointed Mai Platts as account director, NSW and ACT, as the company continues to build its investment distribution team.

Ms Platts will be based in Sydney, working alongside account director David Whitby, and will report to Bennelong’s head of distribution, Jonas Daly.

Ms Platts has 16 years of funds management experience, spanning key account, dealer group and adviser relationship management.

Prior to joining Bennelong, Ms Platts worked as director, key accounts and adviser business at BetaShares, a position she held since 2018. In this role she was responsible for supporting the business’s distribution activities, working with key accounts and intermediary channels.

Ms Platts has also held roles with iShares, and started her career at Macquarie in 2007 as a relationship consultant.

Mr Daly said Ms Platts’ in-depth industry knowledge and experience in managing key accounts and adviser relationships make her a great addition to Bennelong’s team.

“Mai joins the business at a key time in our development, and will help drive business opportunities across our key markets,” he said.

Ms Platts holds a Bachelor of Agriculture Economics and a Master of Business Law from the University of Sydney.

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Mr Masalski has 25 years of experience in funds management, across client relationship management and portfolio analysis. He is based in Melbourne and will report to head of distribution Jonas Daly.

Prior to joining Bennelong, Mr Masalski held senior business development roles at Colonial First State, Legg Mason Global Asset Management and AllianceBernstein. He also has global experience at HSBC Asset Management and Henderson Asset Management in the United Kingdom, and he started his financial services career at UniSuper.

Mr Daly said Mr Masalski’s industry knowledge and networks will be instrumental in expanding the business’s relationships with advisers and investors in Victoria and Tasmania.

“Nathan’s knowledge and experience in the local market will support Bennelong and our boutique partners as we focus on further building relationships in the wealth management area,” said Mr Daly.

Mr Masalski holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) and is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA).

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Mr Finnell was previously at Fisher Investments, most recently as co-head of institutional business development and client services for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Before this, he was a financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial.

Craig Bingham, CEO of Bennelong, said Mr Finnell’s appointment represents Bennelong’s commitment to broadening its institutional footprint in Australia and overseas.

“We’ve seen increased interest in our products here in Australia, but also in our UK-based boutiques and their offerings,” he said.

“As always, we’re focused on delivering the best outcomes for our clients across the globe, and that includes providing access to a suite of diverse and innovative investment strategies.

“Eric’s appointment will ensure our important institutional clients continue to receive the high level of service our investors expect of us.”

Mr Finnell will be based in Sydney and report to Jonas Daly, Head of Distribution.

“Eric’s experience on both the funds management and advisory side of financial services gives him a unique insight into the intermediary market, which will be instrumental in supporting our institutional clients as well as the expansion of our global product base,” said Mr Daly.

Mr Finnell has a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) from the University of North Carolina.

Bennelong is part of the BFM Group, an investment company that partners with boutiques asset managers across the globe to deliver actively managed equity funds. Outside Australia the Group operates as BennBridge, with a presence in the UK and US.

In 2019 BennBridge announced its partnership with two new UK-based boutiques – BambuBlack Asset Management, investing in Asian equities, and Skerryvore Asset Management, investing in global emerging market equities. The Group’s growing reach also gives its investors access to Australian, UK and global equities; and listed global infrastructure and real estate.

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Chris Bedingfield

The Quay Global Real Estate Fund has been upgraded to a recommended rating from Zenith Investment Partners, recognising the fund’s recent strong performance and business growth.

The Quay Global Real Estate Fund, which was launched in 2014, is the flagship fund of Quay Global Investors, founded by portfolio managers Justin Blaess and Chris Bedingfield as a boutique investment manager focused on global listed real estate securities. In 2015, Quay Global Investors partnered with Bennelong Funds Management.

In its assessment report, Zenith noted: “Zenith views Quay’s approach to listed property investing as differentiated compared to peers, specifically the team’s focus on companies trading at a discount to replacement cost. In Zenith’s opinion, this approach combined with the Fund’s total return focus should provide a defensive exposure to global listed property over the long term.

“Zenith’s conviction is underpinned by Quay’s differentiated investment process, which is intuitively appealing, combined with the team’s strong understanding of real estate markets with in-depth fundamental research.

“Zenith believes that both Bedingfield and Blaess are high calibre global real estate investors.

“Overall Zenith believes the portfolio construction process is robust and results in a portfolio that is reflective of the Fund’s total return and high conviction approach.”

Bennelong’s head of retail investment sales, Jonas Daly, said the rating upgrade reflects the knowledge and experience of Mr Blaess and Mr Bedingfield as well as the calibre of the Quay team.

“Justin, Chris and the team have delivered consistently strong investment outcomes, with Zenith noting the positive funds under management trend reflecting adviser support into the fund.

“This upgraded rating continues the positive momentum Quay has been building for the past few years and will further assist with growing the dealer and adviser base in accessing the fund.

“The fund is performing particularly well and, given it takes a long-term view, that’s likely to improve over time – which is exciting for us and Quay’s investors,” said Mr Daly.

According to the Morningstar® Australian Institutional Sector Survey at 30 June 2019, the Quay Global Real Estate Fund is the top performing global REIT over one, three and five years. The fund has returned 15.6 percent p.a. over the past five years, outperforming the index* by 4.3 percent p.a. after fees and charges (at 31 July 2019). 

In addition to its rating upgrade and strong performance, the fund was recently added to the Colonial Firstwrap platform, further consolidating its position with existing platforms including MLC, ANZ Grow, IOOF, and Wealthtrac. The fund is also rated ‘Recommended’ by Lonsec and ‘Outstanding’ by SQM.

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*FTSE/ EPRA NAREIT Developed Index Net TR AUD

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Jonas Daly

SQM has upgraded Quay Global Investors, a Bennelong boutique, to its highest rating category of “Outstanding” (4½ stars).

The rating indicates that SQM believes the Quay Global Real Estate Fund “most often outperforms its peers and benchmark” and that “management is extremely experienced and skilled and has access to significant resources”.

SQM stated it considers the fund to be highly suitable for inclusion on Approved Product Lists (APLs). The rating follows the fund’s recent listing on the Wealthtrac and ANZ Grow Wrap platforms.

Jonas Daly, head of retail investment sales at Bennelong Funds Management, said the upgraded rating and platform listings are tribute to the strength of Quay’s team and investment process.

“Quay’s focus on achieving absolute returns in listed real estate securities, combined with strong and disciplined risk management to reduce downside risk, has enabled it to generate excellent performance for investors.

“Since the launch of the strategy by Chris Bedingfield and Justin Blaess in 2014, the fund has returned 15.1 percent, outperforming the index* by 4.5 percent p.a. after fees and charges (at 28 February 2019).

“Quay invests through the economic cycle, while also taking advantage of select counter-cyclical opportunities and maximising tailwinds from macroeconomic themes.

“This allows the team to identify opportunities for outperformance across all economic conditions,” Mr Daly said.

In its report, SQM said: “The fund has displayed strong performance across all periods against both benchmark and peers” and “has outperformed its benchmark on 90% of rolling one-year periods since its inception”.

It also noted the strength and experience of the team, stating: “The investment personnel of the Quay Global Real Estate Fund are eminently capable, averaging about 20 years’ experience in the industry. The investment team has highly relevant prior experience in funds management and real estate”.

The fund is also available on BT (Wrap and Panorama), Hub24, Macquarie Wrap, Netwealth and Powerwrap.

* FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index

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Jonas Daly

Two of Bennelong Funds Management boutique partners’ funds – the 4D Global Infrastructure Fund and the Quay Global Real Estate Fund – have been added as investment options on Macquarie Wrap, providing advisers with the opportunity to diversify client portfolios into global listed property and infrastructure investments.

Bennelong Funds Management’s head of wholesale sales, Jonas Daly, says the funds provide advisers with a proven method to diversify investor portfolios, while maintaining a focus on risk management and wealth preservation.

“Both funds offer a wide variety of investment opportunities across multiple geographies, backed by quality teams of highly-experienced investment professionals with established track records.

“4D offers an index-unaware global listed infrastructure securities product, which aims to offer attractive returns throughout a market cycle via its potential to tilt to emerging markets.”

The Fund aims to consistently deliver above-benchmark returns over an investment cycle, and has returned 14.35 per cent per annum (after fees) since inception to 30 September 2017.

“Quay offers a concentrated portfolio of global REITS, allowing the team to invest in their best ideas and avoid over-leveraged or disrupted sectors of the index, such as developers and mid- tier shopping centres,” said Mr Daly.

Their portfolio aims to consistently deliver attractive long-term inflation protected returns with a quality focus. The strategy has returned 14.42 per cent per annum (after fees) since inception to 30 September 2017, and was recently upgraded to ‘Recommended’ by Lonsec.

Bennelong Funds Management distributes the funds and provides a range of support services to the boutiques, positioning them for future growth.

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In the newly created role, Mr Fechner will be responsible for the day-to-day contact and support to retail fund researchers and asset consultants.  He will also act as an investment specialist on behalf of Bennelong’s boutique fund manager partners.

Mr Daly said that Mr Fechner’s extensive track record in both pure research and distribution roles was particularly attractive to Bennelong.

“Stuart brings a particular mix of experience to the role, combining an in-depth understanding of the research house rating process with portfolio construction knowledge and the ability to articulate our fund managers’ investment process and philosophies.

“As Bennelong continues to grow and looks to form additional boutique fund manager partnerships, building in-depth relationships with researchers and asset consultants, as well as other intermediaries, will become increasingly important,” Mr Daly said.

Mr Fechner joins Bennelong from AMP Capital where he was state account manager – Victoria & Tasmania.  Prior to this he held a range of business development and research roles at MLC (previously Aviva) and was also a research analyst at Advisor Investment Services.  He holds a bachelor of economics from Latrobe University and a graduate diploma in management from Deakin University.

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Jonas Daly

The Bennelong Concentrated Australian Equities Fund has been added to both the Macquarie Wrap and BT Wrap platforms.

The fund is managed by Bennelong Australian Equity Partners (BAEP). From its inception in January 2009 through to 31 October 2016, the Fund has achieved an average annual return of 17.49%. This compares to the benchmark’s return of 10.18%. It was recently awarded the AFMA Golden Bull Award for 2016, an award the fund also won in 2015. The AFMA Golden Bull Award is decided by a panel of peers and is awarded to the best managed fund among all equities strategies.

The Concentrated Fund aims to provide investors with a high conviction portfolio of Australian-listed shares. Unlike many all-cap funds, it is willing to diverge significantly from the index’s composition, preferring instead to focus on the best risk-return opportunities in the market, regardless of the stock’s size. The BAEP team is very selective in picking stocks that it believes will outperform the market and will help make up a portfolio that aims to provide attractive absolute returns over the medium to long term.

According to Jonas Daly, head of wholesale sales at Bennelong, active managers with proven outperformance display a typically sound investment process regardless of the economic landscape.

“The high demand for BAEP’s Concentrated Fund reflects a proven and disciplined investment approach and represents a genuine value-add investment option that has consistently achieved investment outperformance,” said Mr Daly.

BAEP seeks to invest in high quality and strongly growing companies whose growth prospects are underappreciated by the market.

BAEP also won ‘Fund Manager of the Year’ at the Professional Planner/Zenith Fund Awards last month. The Concentrated Fund is rated ‘Highly Recommended’ by Zenith.

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