Former Director of Portfolio Solutions at Betashares, Issak Walkom, and former Investment and Research Analyst at Allen Partners, Oscar Eele, have both joined Acadian.

Walkom joins in the position of Vice President, Wholesale Business Development and Eele as a Business Development Associate.

Walkom and Eele report to Mark Mukundan, Senior Vice President, Wholesale Markets.

Mukundan said adviser demand for Acadian’s investment capabilities had been steadily growing since 2020, when the group reinforced its commitment to the Australian market by bringing wholesale distribution in-house. Prior to that, Acadian had a long and successful affiliation with Colonial First State.

“Acadian is well known in the institutional market as a leader in systematic investing but we are less well known in the intermediary market. An important focus for the business has been to grow and strengthen our relationships in the IFA and intermediary consultant space and momentum is building, particularly for systematic long/short equities strategies,” he said.

“We are investing in our distribution team to capitalise on these opportunities, and we are excited to have Issak and Oscar join us at this important time.”

Gillian Savage, Chief Executive Officer, Acadian Australia, said the group had plans to launch a number of new strategies into the Australian market in 2024 including systematic credit.

“We will continue to grow our institutional and wholesale footprint in Australia by investing in our people and team, and leveraging our global resources and capabilities to deliver innovative client solutions,” she said.

Globally, Acadian manages more than $150 billion including $9.5 billion on behalf of Australian and New Zealand investors.

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