Mr Randal Williams, Senior Vice President, was appointed Chief Lending Officer. In this role, Mr Williams will be responsible for overseeing the efficient and effective management of the Real Estate Credit Division involving the Distribution, Credit, Operations and Sales teams. Mr Williams was previously the Chief Investment Officer and has held a variety of senior management roles in the organisation including Head of Legal & Compliance, Head of Funds Management and Company Secretary.

Mr Chris Andrews, Vice President, will replace Mr Williams as Chief Investment Officer with responsibility for running all aspects of La Trobe Financial’s Funds Management Division including our award winning mortgage fund. Mr Andrews was formerly Head of Funds Management and prior to this he was Senior Legal Counsel for the La Trobe Financial Group.

Mr Martin Barry, Vice President, has been appointed Chief Wealth Management Officer. In this role, Mr Barry will be responsible for the Global Asset Management Division. Mr Barry is also head of the Group’s Sydney office which has grown dramatically in the last twelve months from 2 to 12 key staff members.

Mr Greg O’Neill, President and CEO, stated that “Mr Barry is making a significant contribution to our Sydney operations and we look forward to growing this over the coming months”.

Further, Mr O’Neill commented: “These senior executive changes contribute further to the strength of La Trobe Financial with an experienced and capable leadership team. I have no doubt these individuals will continue to make a valuable contribution to our clients, staff and business results. We are entering an exciting growth phase as we expand our business and I’m confident we have the best team to drive us there.”

In addition, La Trobe Financial announced two further appointments to its Executive Team.

The first appointment is Ms Jacki Jennings who has been appointed Executive General Manager – Head of Custody. Ms Jennings has been with La Trobe Financial since 1985. Her wealth of experience and performance are key attributes to her appointment. Ms Jennings was previously Customer Service Manager, since being appointed in July 2009, and after holding a number of positions within the La Trobe Financial Group.

Mr Brian Ford, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of La Trobe Financial stated “I am delighted with Ms Jenning’s appointment. Ms Jennings has over the years played an important role and has built a successful career with the Group. She will continue to be an asset for the Group and a role model in her new role”.

The second appointment is Mr Jason Gidman who has been appointed Head of Portfolio Management. Mr Gidman started his career with La Trobe Financial in December 1992 and has held senior positions across the La Trobe Financial Group, originally with a focus on origination, selection and management of the Group and fund assets. Mr Gidman was the Group’s first Portfolio Manager, a role that he was appointed to 9 years ago.

Mr Rob Clough, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of La Trobe Financial commented that “Mr Gidman’s appointment is very timely. Our mortgage fund is closing in on $1 billion of assets under management with growth in excess of 30% year to date. Mr Gidman plays a pivotal role in the asset allocation and he will continue to make a valuable contribution for investors and the Group with his new appointment”

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Randal Williams

La Trobe Financial’s Pooled Mortgages Option (“the Fund”) has been judged the Best Mortgage Fund in Australia by the personal finance journal Money magazine. No other mortgage fund in Australia has achieved such an accomplishment.

The objective of the Fund has long been to provide investors with a choice of capital-stable, reliable income generating investment options. The Fund’s continued performance in times of low interest rates continues to attract attention across the market.

One of the award judges for Money magazine, Louis Christopher commented that ‘Contrary to many of its peers within the mortgage sector, the fund has remained open and has fulfilled all maturity redemption requests since its inception.’

La Trobe Financial’s Chief Investment Officer, Randal Williams commented ‘we are delighted to receive our sixth consecutive ‘Best of the Best’ award. It is a vindication of a focused business strategy that has been developed over a period of more than sixty years.’

He further added that ‘La Trobe Financial’s driving principle is that it is far more important to be solid than to be big. We have adopted this philosophy in managing over $10 billion for institutional investors without loss since 1952 and have applied it with equal force to our retail offerings.’

Chris Andrews, La Trobe Financial’s Head of Funds Management stated ‘our strong organisational history of success was an important contributing factor in the Fund’s sustained performance. Our role as a Fund Manager is not to be “all things to all people” but to be clearly focused and to remain committed to our investment philosophy. Our team is driven by the need for consistency and repeatability of performance’.

Only a few week’s ago the Fund won the prestigious International Finance Magazine Awards (IFM Awards) for Best Investment Management Company Australia and Best Mortgage Fund Australasia. The IFM Awards represent the highest standards of innovation and performance. These include path-breaking initiatives in corporate responsibility, better governance and other achievements that impact the global finance community.

The Fund is independently rated by Australia Ratings, Zenith, SQM Research and Lonsec. In February 2014 the Fund was also recognised on an international platform having won International Alternative Investment Review (IAIR) Awards for Excellence in Mortgage Fund Management Australia.

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Randal Williams

La Trobe Financial’s Chief Wealth Management Officer Randal Williams, has announced that the Pooled Mortgages Option (“PMO”), an investment option in the La Trobe Australian Mortgage Fund, has again been recognised with a “Recommended” rating by Zenith Investment Partners.

In the report, Zenith Analyst, Dugald Higgins states that “La Trobe Financial has achieved an impressive track record in the mortgage sector driven by its deep lending experience spanning over 60 years as an organisation.”

The PMO was established in 2002 to provide investors with exposure to a diversified, Australia-wide pool of loans secured by first ranking mortgages. Higgins mentions in the report that “unlike some other funds in the sector, it has always been able to pay eligible redemptions and continues to hold its track record of not having ever returned a capital loss to investors, a feat which several prominent mortgage funds have been unable to replicate over the past three years”. Higgins further notes “that the PMO is most suited to those seeking capital stability and an income return which should solidly exceed the cash rate through investment cycles.”

The PMO’s manager, La Trobe Financial, was established in 1952 as a credit specialist. Randal Williams, Chief Wealth Management Officer at La Trobe Financial, stated that “the La Trobe Financial team was driven by the need for consistency and repeatability of performance. With equities markets experiencing such volatility, our investors are targeting capital stability and reliable income at a premium to cash. We have provided that since inception.” Williams further stated “Like any fund, the performance of the PMO is driven by the quality of its assets. We therefore welcome Zenith’s description of our credit assessment processes as `robust’ and `stringent’”.

Chris Andrews, Head of Funds Management at La Trobe Financial noted “that it was particularly pleasing that Zenith recognised the PMO as having … the highest level of diversification in the mortgage fund sector”.

Andrews added “La Trobe Financial’s unique co-investment model diversifies the funding sources for each individual loan, meaning that the PMO can massively increase its number of investments and decrease its average size of investment. This achieves enhanced diversification, which smoothes asset performance for investors and thereby contributes to an exceptionally stable absolute return profile”

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