Melanie McQuire

After over four years of service, Sophia Rahmani has resigned from the role of CEO and managing director of Maple-Brown Abbott Limited.

Since joining Maple-Brown Abbott in October 2019, Ms Rahmani has played a leading role in expanding Maple-Brown Abbott’s investment capabilities, products and distribution channels.

She will step down from all Maple-Brown Abbott boards and committees effective immediately, and will work closely with the Board and the Maple-Brown Abbott leadership team to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities and continuity for clients. The Maple-Brown Abbott Limited Board will continue to drive Maple-Brown Abbott’s strategic direction during the transition to a permanent replacement.

The Maple-Brown Abbott Limited Board has appointed Melanie McQuire as Maple-Brown Abbott Limited acting CEO and as a member of the Maple-Brown Abbott Limited Board, effective immediately. Ms McQuire joined Maple-Brown Abbott in September 2020 as chief operating officer.

Ms McQuire has outstanding experience in the financial services industry, joining Maple-Brown Abbott from Lazard Asset Management where she was chief operating officer, Asia Pacific, for eight years. Prior to this she spent seven years at Macquarie Asset Management and four years at ING Investment Management.

Ms McQuire currently sits on the Maple-Brown Abbott Funds p.l.c. Board and has previously served in the role of acting CEO.

The role of Maple-Brown Abbott Limited CEO and managing director does not include direct investment responsibilities and these will continue to be fulfilled by chief investment officer Garth Rossler and the relevant heads of investment strategies.

Maple-Brown Abbott Global Listed Infrastructure Pty Limited continues to be managed as a discrete entity by its managing director and other co-founders, and there will be no changes to the management or operations of this business.

Maple-Brown Abbott is proud of the strong long-term investment performance across all its investment strategies, which has been delivered through consistent investment philosophies and processes and enduring operational excellence.

The Maple-Brown Abbott Limited Board would like to thank Ms Rahmani for her work with Maple-Brown Abbott and wishes her all the best for the future. The Board looks forward to working with Ms McQuire in her new role as acting CEO and Board member to continue to provide outstanding investment products and service to all Maple-Brown Abbott’s clients.

The post Changes to executive management team appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Simon Beram has been promoted to head of institutional and research relationships. Mr Beram will continue his focus on researchers and has taken on responsibility for institutional and consultant relationships for all Maple-Brown Abbott investment strategies, collaborating with Greg Stark, Investment Director, for global listed infrastructure.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector, Mr Beram joined Maple-Brown Abbott in April 2006 and has held various roles including Head of Client Service and Senior Investment Specialist.

Vijay Srinivasan has been promoted to head of wholesale distribution. Since joining Maple-Brown Abbott in November 2021 as national key account manager, Mr Srinivasan has helped build Maple-Brown Abbott’s internal wholesale capability and will now take the lead on wholesale distribution for all strategies other than global listed infrastructure.

Mr Srinivasan has worked across sales and distribution for over 20 years, including at Colonial First State, BlackRock, Barclays and BT Financial Group.

Russell Edwards has been promoted to head of marketing and client service. Since joining Maple-Brown Abbott in April this year as communications manager, his responsibilities have broadened to include leading the client service function and he will now take on overall responsibility for marketing strategy and execution.

Mr Edwards was previously an associate director with KPMG and has worked in marketing and communications across financial services for over twenty years.

Sophia Rahmani, CEO of Maple-Brown Abbott, said the promotions reflect the growth of Maple-Brown Abbott’s business, demand for its strategies and the high quality of people in the distribution team.

“The Maple-Brown Abbott distribution team has evolved with the changing external environment, and we have built a high-quality team of distribution professionals.

“Distribution remains a key area of focus for the firm, and we are seeing strong momentum across the business. The new appointments position our business for ongoing success,” Ms Rahmani say

The post Maple-Brown Abbott makes senior promotions across distribution team appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Emma Pringle

Maple-Brown Abbott has launched the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Sustainable Future Fund, focussed on playing an active role in supporting positive outcomes for people and the planet.

Emma Pringle and Chris Hotop are co-portfolio managers of the fund, formerly the Maple-Brown Abbott Responsible Investment Fund.

CEO and managing director Sophia Rahmani said the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Sustainable Future Fund leverages the firm’s resources, expertise and track record in Australian equity investing and long history and focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

“We believe investors can help shape a better future. The challenges facing our society –including climate change, resource management, financial inequality and disparity in living standards – require purposeful capital investment to enable solutions and support positive outcomes for people and the planet. The Australian Sustainable Future Fund looks to play an active role in that process.

“We believe we can help deliver a positive impact by supporting companies we consider to be making a positive difference by giving them access to capital they need to invest, by not supporting those that hinder social progress, and by engaging with companies to influence their behaviour. We also believe that this doesn’t have to come at the expense of strong financial returns.

“Maple-Brown Abbott recognised the significance of the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment early and become a signatory 15 years ago. We consider ESG factors across all investment strategies, and launched our first responsible investment fund in 2009.”

Ms Pringle said within the Australian Sustainable Future Fund, it is a requirement that all portfolio holdings have a positive environmental or social impact.

“We are interested in knowing the likely real-world outcome of the companies we invest in, how they are contributing to solutions that will help create a better Australian future. We apply a positive screen across the investment universe to identify companies that make a positive contribution to one or more of our sustainable investment themes, which are informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“When assessing companies, we consider the degree to which revenue is derived from products and services that support our sustainable investment themes. We also assess a company’s future ability to support those themes, recognising that to be truly sustainable we need to consider the needs of both present and future generations. This is particularly evident in investing for a low carbon future, for example, where the needs of an energy system in transition will be different in the future than they are today,” Ms Pringle said.

“To bring this to life for investors, our reporting includes visual representation of the degree to which the Fund is contributing to each of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The Fund also applies a negative screen to exclude businesses that have material involvement in activities that detract from a sustainable future.

Mr Hotop says an active management approach is key to success in sustainable investing.

“Identifying companies that will positively contribute to a sustainable future, as well as deliver strong risk-adjusted returns over the long term, requires stringent active management.

“The fund uses the value-driven approach of Maple Brown Abbott’s Australian Value Equities team to invest in listed Australian companies that contribute to positive environmental or social outcomes. It takes a ‘bottom up’ stock selection process, driven by in-depth fundamental analysis from our investment team, to identify stocks that have been undervalued by the market and that we expect to deliver income and long-term capital growth to investors,” Mr Hotop said.

The Maple-Brown Abbott Sustainable Future Fund provides investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio constructed of Maple-Brown Abbott’s highest conviction opportunities which we expect to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns over the long-term. It invests across a broad selection of companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and will typically hold 25-40 stocks. The minimum initial investment is $20,000.

The fund has been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

Emma Pringle has been head of ESG at Maple-Brown Abbott since 2020, and became co-portfolio manager of the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Sustainable Future Fund in December 2022. She joined from BT where she was head of customer governance and sustainability across superannuation, investments and insurance. During her 14 years at BT, she also held strategy and operations roles in its private wealth, superannuation, investments, platforms and advice divisions. Ms Pringle has also served as co-chair of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI) technical working group on meeting community expectations.

Christopher Hotop joined Maple-Brown Abbott in 2013. He has been the portfolio manager of the Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Sustainable Future Fund (formerly the Maple-Brown Abbott Responsible Investment Fund) since 2018. Prior to joining Maple-Brown Abbott, he was an investment analyst with the Australian equities team at CP2 for eight years, where he covered building materials, financials and retail sectors.

The post New Maple-Brown Abbott says new fund is aimed at helping ‘shape a better future’ appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sophia Rahmani

Maple-Brown Abbott has launched a global emerging markets equity fund, managed by John Moorhead.

The Maple-Brown Abbott Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund is invested in companies listed across global emerging and frontier markets and is actively managed. The Fund is managed on a ‘benchmark unaware’ basis, provides exposure to a concentrated portfolio of companies most likely to benefit from cyclical and structural change and typically holds 30–40 stocks. The Fund aims to outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Index (AUD), after fees, over a five-year period.

CEO and managing director Sophia Rahmani says investing in global emerging markets provides investors with the opportunity to gain exposure to some of the largest and fastest growing economies globally.

“In the past 20 years, emerging markets have risen from a quarter of world GDP to now close to half, while its equity markets are still a fraction of the size of those in the developed world.

“After the longest bear market since their inception, emerging markets today appear to be offering an abundance of compelling investment opportunities. Company management teams and business models have been stress-tested in recent years, with many coming through in stronger operating positions, and at attractive valuations.”

John Moorhead, head of global emerging markets, said the core belief underlying the investment strategy for the new fund was the need to focus on both structural and cyclical change as the driver of cash flow, valuations and, ultimately, longer-term share price returns.

“By placing change at the core of our philosophy, we seek to better identify and understand these shifts and how they will play out over our multi-year investment horizon. We believe the ideas capable of having the biggest impact are found at the intersection of our focus on change, our bottom-up, in-house industry research and our proprietary screen.

“When looking at companies likely to benefit from cyclical and structural change, we believe it is important to focus on sustainable returns. For us, this means understanding that the long-term return potential is impacted by the business practices of management teams and owners, including their relationships with all their stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers and local communities.”

Mr Moorhead added the Maple-Brown Abbott Global Emerging Markets Fund may be appropriate for investors who are seeking capital growth with an investment horizon of at least five years, a very high risk tolerance and are comfortable with the risks associated with investing in global emerging markets.

“In our view, a diversified investment portfolio benefits from an allocation to global emerging markets. Emerging market companies provide investors with a unique opportunity to access long-term trends including growing middle class consumption, evolving demographics and the energy transition. Given the wide range in companies, valuations and macroeconomic factors, we believe that active management (that is, active stock picking) is crucial when investing in global emerging markets.”

Ms Rahmani said that while the global emerging market equity strategy was relatively new for Maple-Brown Abbott, there was deep and diverse investment experience in the Asia and Emerging Markets team, including 20 years’ experience investing in Asia and Mr Moorhead having previously worked as Head of Emerging Market Equities at Pictet Asset Management in London, where he worked for 13 years.

“We believe having someone of John’s calibre managing the strategy and our multicultural and multilingual investment team being based together in Sydney gives us an advantage.”

The post Maple-Brown Abbott launches global emerging markets equity fund appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sophia Rahmani

Boutique investment manager Maple-Brown Abbott has entered into an agreement with Hyde Park Investment (HPI) to distribute its UCITS funds in the UK and several countries across Europe including Sweden, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France.

Maple-Brown Abbott CEO and managing director Sophia Rahmani said the partnership with HPI would allow the firm’s UCITS funds to be distributed to a broader range of UCITS fund buyers including wealth managers, family offices and private banks.

This distribution agreement would complement Maple-Brown Abbott’s existing relationship with Douse Associates, which has been a quality partner for 17 years with a focus on institutional investors and their consultants, and some UCITS buyers in the UK and Switzerland.

“We are aiming to build on our existing presence across the UK and Europe for our existing UCITS funds – global listed infrastructure and Asian equity income – as well as funds we are looking to launch in the future such as global emerging markets,” Ms Rahmani said.

“We believe we have compelling and differentiated investment capabilities, which are managed by globally recognised and award-winning teams. This includes the long-standing integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the investment process for all our strategies, with our existing UCITS funds all registered Article 8.

“We are confident that the HPI team is aligned with our culture and values at Maple-Brown Abbott, and we believe HPI’s distribution model, with experienced teams on the ground in the UK, Sweden, France, Italy and Spain and their strong record in raising assets, will broaden our investor base in these markets.”

Commenting on the new agreement, Hako Finckenstein, director, Hyde Park Investment, added, “We are delighted to be representing Maple-Brown Abbott’s UCITS funds in the UK and Europe. This partnership is a natural alignment of our businesses and values, particularly our mutual commitment to ESG. Maple-Brown Abbott has nearly 40 years of excellent investment pedigree and a unique product offering which resonates strongly with the market.

“We are encouraged by the interest our clients have shown already, especially in relation to Maple-Brown Abbott’s integrated ESG capability.”

Ms Rahmani concluded: “As a world class boutique investment manager with a range of differentiated investment strategies, we are excited to be working with two established and well-respected partners to continue to build deeper relationships with existing and future clients in the UK and Europe.”

The post Maple-Brown Abbott partners with Hyde Park Investment in the UK appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sophia Rahmani

Maple-Brown Abbott has launched an Australian small companies fund following the appointment of Phillip Hudak and Matt Griffin to the boutique investment manager in April.

The Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Small Companies Fund is primarily invested in undervalued small companies where the investment team has conviction in medium-term earnings delivery and that are supported by sustainable business models. The fund typically holds 30–50 stocks which score well on combined earnings-based valuation and sustainability measures, with the focus on diversification and stock specific risk management. It aims to outperform the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (Total Return) Index, after fees, over a five-year period.

CEO and managing director Sophia Rahmani says the fund is based on the expertise, philosophy and investment approach of two experienced Australian small caps investors, who previously managed the AMP Capital Australian Emerging Companies strategy.

“Phillip and Matt have an impressive track record and a compelling earnings-based philosophy integrating a sustainability focus that we believe differentiates the strategy. They also have a proven and repeatable investment process, focused on in-depth fundamental research.

“Judging by the early market feedback, history of the team and capacity limits of small caps strategies, we expect this will be a popular offering for institutional and wholesale clients. The fund further diversifies Maple-Brown Abbott’s offering to investors, and we have seen early interest in a small caps strategy run as a boutique within Maple-Brown Abbott,” Ms Rahmani said.

Mr Hudak says he and co-portfolio manager Matt Griffin have worked diligently with the support of the broader Maple-Brown Abbott team to launch the fund within a relatively short period.

“Matt and I are passionate about finding undervalued Australian small companies with idiosyncratic exposures, and we are excited to be able to do what we love in our new home at Maple-Brown Abbott.

“The new fund is based on our existing strategy and core philosophy that earnings drive share prices rather than on any particular investment style. We consider the valuation and where the company is in the earnings cycle. We believe this combined with our focus on sustainability and avoiding short-term downgrades can deliver consistent returns,” Mr Hudak said.

Mr Griffin added it was an exciting time to be launching an Australian small caps fund given the current opportunities.

“The recent market volatility has presented more attractive entry points for companies with strong medium-term earnings expectations and sustainable business models,” Mr Griffin said.

“As part of the team’s research, we focus on non-consensus and proprietary insights and expect to hold over 1,000 company-related meetings per year, including management meetings, site visits, industry expert panels and ESG meetings. The team is highly aligned to client goals through a competitive remuneration framework and each team member having invested into the strategy.”

In just over 12 months, Maple-Brown Abbott has broadened its offering from three investment strategies – broad-cap Australian value equities, Asia-Pacific equities and global listed infrastructure – to five with global emerging markets and now Australian small companies.

“Being a privately owned boutique investment manager with a long history of strong client alignment and quality investment capabilities means that when we identify solutions that align with our strategy and our clients’ interests, we can add them relatively quickly and efficiently. We believe the launch of our Australian Small Companies Fund is a good example of this,” Ms Rahmani added.

The post Maple-Brown Abbott launches Australian small companies fund managed by Phillip Hudak and Matt Griffin appeared first on AdviserVoice.

John Moorhead

Boutique investment manager Maple-Brown Abbott will launch a global emerging markets (GEM) equity investment capability and has appointed John Moorhead to the newly created role of head of global emerging markets. Mr Moorhead is based in Sydney and reports to CEO and managing director, Sophia Rahmani, and CIO, Garth Rossler.

In this role, he will work with senior management to build-out the business’s GEM capability as well as serve as lead portfolio manager and investment analyst. As part of his remit, he will recruit additional investment analysts for the new offering. It is expected that a strategy will be available to investors by mid-2022.

Mr Moorhead was most recently head of emerging market equities with Pictet Asset Management in London, where he led a team of 20 investors managing US$6 billion in assets. He has relocated to Sydney to join Maple-Brown Abbott.

Ms Rahmani said Mr Moorhead’s outstanding track record in GEM equities, as well as his focus on sustainable investing, means he is the ideal person to establish the new capability.

“A key component of our growth strategy is to actively seek opportunities to develop new offerings for investors, both through organic growth of existing capabilities and through acquisition, and GEM is a natural fit for our business.

“We have been managing Asian equities for nearly 20 years and have a deep and diverse investment team. Adding specialist GEM expertise will allow us to broaden our offering to investors, in an asset class where we see significant opportunities.

“Investing in GEM provides investors with the opportunity to gain exposure to some of the largest and fastest growing economies globally. In the past 20 years, emerging markets have risen from a quarter of world GDP to now close to half, while its equity markets are still a fraction of the size of those in the developed world.

“We are thrilled to have someone of John’s calibre and experience joining the Maple-Brown Abbott team and are excited to soon be able to provide a contemporary GEM solution to investors,” she said.

Mr Moorhead said one of the main attractions of joining Maple-Brown Abbott is the long history of investing in Asian emerging markets, backed by a deep and experienced Asian investment team.

“I was also attracted to the culture and institutional grade boutique structure, which provides a strong and supportive platform from which to build a contemporary and high-quality GEM offering.

“Emerging markets offer fertile ground for active management, where rigorous research and a disciplined investment process allows investors to uncover exciting opportunities.

“I plan to take a concentrated approach to investing in GEM by focusing on those companies with the prospect of generating sustainably strong cash returns on capital, run by shareholder-oriented management teams, and purchasing them at a discount to our estimate of fair value.

“Focusing on sustainable returns and valuations is core to my investment approach. It means investing for the long term and looking not just at the ESG risks that can be so important in emerging markets, but beyond that to those companies that can benefit multiple stakeholders to generate those sustainably high returns.

“A global financial centre like London was a fantastic environment in which to work for so long, particularly when learning to navigate the intricacies of investing in markets like Russia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. I’m looking forward to bringing those global learnings to Sydney, where I can invest from an Asian time zone and be closer to the engine of global growth that is emerging markets in Asia,” he said.

Mr Moorhead joined Pictet in 2008 and held the roles of co-portfolio manager and head of emerging markets research before being appointed head of emerging market equities in 2017. Prior to this, Mr Moorhead was with Macquarie Bank as a research analyst, initially in Sydney before moving to London. He started his career as a mining engineer at BHP Billiton in 2002.

He is a chartered financial analyst and has a graduate diploma of applied finance and investment. He also holds a bachelor degree (honours) of mining engineering from the University of Queensland.

The post Maple-Brown Abbott to launch global emerging markets equities strategy appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Ms Cox joins the firm on 3 August.  Both Ms McNulty and Ms Cox will report to CEO and Managing Director, Sophia Rahmani, and join the Senior Management Team.

Ms Rahmani said: “We are delighted to welcome Wendy to Maple-Brown Abbott and to promote Lata who joined us in March.

“Both Wendy and Lata are exceptional candidates for these roles, with diverse, global experience with a variety of top-tier firms, and exemplify the cultural attributes we seek out.

“These appointments will add further momentum to our strategy to evolve, diversify and grow.”

Ms Rahmani added that Ms Cox’s extensive international experience in a range of finance roles will be of particular benefit as the business enters the next stage of its evolution.

“We are actively seeking to grow our business through organic growth of our existing investment strategies and looking to add new investment strategies, and Wendy’s experience will be vital in setting up and structuring this growth.

“In particular, her experience at Fidante working closely with a stable of boutique fund managers will be particularly relevant to us as we further build our capability in this area,” Ms Rahmani said.

Ms Cox was most recently with RF Capital as finance consultant.  Prior to this, she spent three years with Challenger Limited as financial controller – boutique finance, and has also worked with CBA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Deloitte in the UK, USA and South Africa.

She holds a Master of Finance from Griffin University in Queensland as well as Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  She is a Registered South African Chartered Accountant.

Ms McNulty will transition into her new role in September for an initial six month term.  She will also transition into the role of Company Secretary by the end of the year.

Ms McNulty joined Maple-Brown Abbott in March as the Head of Projects.  She has extensive experience in risk and compliance, most recently at Link Group and RBC Investor and Treasury Services.

The post New appointments at Maple-Brown Abbott appeared first on AdviserVoice.

In the new role, Mr Hodnett is responsible for all Maple-Brown Abbott’s business development, client service, marketing and product strategy activities both in Australia and overseas, across its institutional, wholesale and retail markets.  He is based in Sydney and reports to Sophia Rahmani, chief executive officer and managing director.

Ms Rahmani said that Mr Hodnett’s appointment is a key step in the firm’s ongoing evolution and expansion, and an important investment in the business’s future growth.

“Duncan has a wealth of experience across a range of asset classes which will be fundamental in supporting Maple-Brown Abbott in its long-term growth strategy and as we actively seek opportunities to expand both organically and through selective partnerships.

“Part of his role will be to further diversify our client base across markets both locally and globally.  We already have clients in 24 countries and Duncan’s international experience, strong existing client relationships, and proven track record in leading a distribution strategy and raising funds, while also providing exceptional client service, will be invaluable,” Ms Rahmani said

Mr Hodnett has over 17 years’ experience in financial services in Australian, European and US markets. He joins Maple-Brown Abbott from Pinnacle Investment Management when he was director of institutional sales, with geographic responsibility in Australia and the USA.  Prior to this he spent seven years with Eaton Vance Investment Management, including as head of Europe for the institutional business, and head of Australia and New Zealand.  He has also worked for Macquarie Group, BT Financial Group and Westpac Banking Corporation.

His appointment follows that of Ms Rahmani in late 2019, which was a key step in the firm’s ongoing development by appointing a managing director whose sole focus is managing the business.

Mr Hodnett will commence with Maple-Brown Abbott on Monday 30 March, 2020.

The post New senior appointment supporting global growth strategy at Maple-Brown Abbott appeared first on AdviserVoice.