Zac Leman

JANA Investment Advisers (JANA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Zac Leman as General Manager, Wealth.

Zac’s appointment reflects strong growth and momentum in JANA Wealth, with total wealth client funds under advice or management of ~A$15bn, including more than A$3.4bn in managed accounts. It also underscores JANA’s continued investment in senior leadership to support scale, innovation and strong client outcomes.

The appointment comes at a time of significant structural change across the wealth and advice sectors, as clients increasingly seek institutional-quality insights to meet growing portfolio, governance and implementation complexity.

This move reinforces JANA’s ongoing focus on expanding its wealth capability, building on sustained growth and long-established expertise across advice, research, portfolio construction and implementation.

Zac will lead JANA’s Wealth business strategy, strengthening advice, investment, operational and implementation capabilities to support continued growth in the Wealth segment. Michael Karagianis will continue to lead JANA’s Wealth consulting relationships.

The appointment follows the recent strengthening of JANA’s investment leadership with the appointment of Matt Wacher as Chief Investment Officer, reinforcing alignment across investment strategy and client delivery as the business continues to scale.

Lauren O’Neill, General Manager, Strategy & Innovation at JANA, said: “Zac’s appointment strengthens our leadership at a time when clients are seeking more sophisticated, institutional-quality capability that’s delivered to meet their needs. Drawing on his deep understanding of the wealth and advice landscape, Zac will play a key role in expanding access to our investment expertise, and delivering consistent, high-quality advice and implementation outcomes.”

Zac Leman said: “JANA’s client-first philosophy, purpose-led approach and its depth of investment capability strongly align with how I think about delivering value to clients. The business has built real momentum in the wealth segment, and I’m excited to be joining at a time of opportunity and growth.

The wealth sector continues to evolve, with increasing demand for more sophisticated, outcome-focused solutions. I’m looking forward to working closely with clients and partners to build on JANA’s strengths and deliver advice and implementation that supports long-term value creation.”

Zac was most recently Head of Managed Accounts and Direct Equities at BT Financial Group and has also held senior roles at Mason Stevens and Next Financial. He officially commenced his role at JANA on 4 May 2026.

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Zac Leman

BT has launched the Drummond Private Markets Separately Managed Account (SMA) – the first managed account on the BT Panorama platform that is dedicated to private markets. Innovatively structured, the SMA gives high-net-worth (HNW) clients easier access to a mix of private equity, private debt and real assets.

Zac Leman, Head of Managed Accounts, BT, said: “Many high-net-worth clients are interested in gaining exposure to private markets, to add to their existing portfolios which are predominantly invested in traditional asset classes. Drummond’s new product caters to that client demand, while also giving advisers the benefits that come from utilising a managed account structure.”

Tom Schubert, Managing Partner of Drummond Capital Partners, said: “Our managed account solution addresses many of the hurdles that advisers and clients tend to face when investing in the private market sector – accessibility, liquidity, complexity and transparency.

“We’re proud to have developed an innovative, differentiated solution that has been the culmination of our investment team’s experience in the managed account sector and strong heritage in the high-net-worth and family office segment. We have chosen to launch this first on BT Panorama because of the mix of investors on the platform – which includes a sizeable high-net-worth segment – and the BT team’s managed account capabilities.”

Private market investments have been traditionally the reserve of the ultra-HNW, with existing private equity or venture capital funds typically setting minimum investment thresholds in the $5m-$10m range.

In comparison, the minimum investment in the Drummond managed account is $100,000, making the product accessible to clients who are classified as sophisticated investors (defined as having minimum net assets of $2.5m or a minimum income of $250,000 per year for the past two years).

Investors also benefit from the product’s managed account structure which offers professional management, diversification and transparency of underlying investments across private markets asset classes.

Drummond selects and manages a portfolio of private markets managers with a focus on liquidity management. The portfolio provides access to funds with the majority allowing monthly redemptions; some have daily or quarterly redemptions. In comparison, some private markets funds typically require a long-term commitment, with investors’ funds “locked up” or inaccessible for around 10 years.

Investor interest in private markets has grown recently, as the number of Australian HNWs has continued to climb, and information about the sector has proliferated due to opportunities arising from technological disruptions and emerging markets. Further, the number of companies delisting from the Australian Stock Exchange and privatising has increased.^[1] Funds allocated to alternative assets have been increasing, and around 17% of HNW investors in Australia are utilising alternative assets.^[2]

Drummond Capital Partners developed their new SMA in collaboration with Ironbark Asset Management.

Alex Donald, CEO, Ironbark Investment Solutions, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Drummond as the responsible entity for this new managed portfolio solution. We look forward to collaborating closely with Drummond and BT now, and in the future, on this expanding asset class.”

Managed accounts growth on BT Panorama

BT’s managed accounts offering has grown to a total of over 400 products, with funds under administration increasing by 31% to $16bn in the 12 months to 30 April 2024 (excluding Adviser and Tailored Portfolios).

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Zac Leman

BT’s managed accounts offering has reached a milestone, with the total number of managed portfolios on BT Panorama pushing past 400, and funds under administration in these products reaching $16 billion.^[1]

So far this calendar year, new products that have launched on the platform include those managed by Vanguard, Watershed Funds Management and Quilla Consulting. The range of additions includes diversified options, which are open to all advisers and clients. Managed accounts that are tailored for certain advice practices, as well as new ESG (environmental, social, governance) options, have also been introduced.

Zac Leman, Head of Managed Accounts, BT, said: “We continue to build our offer for advisers on BT Panorama, to meet adviser demand for managed account solutions. The new additions just from this year demonstrate the breadth of products that are available on the platform.

“In particular, the various risk profiles of the diversified options cater to the needs of advisers who are looking for an efficient way to manage the investments of a wide-ranging client base.”

Managed accounts can help advisers introduce greater efficiencies in their business and, according to Investment Trends, 63% of advisers surveyed said that using managed accounts result in substantial time savings.^[2]

In the 12 months to 30 April 2024, BT added 94 managed portfolios on BT Panorama. Further, BT’s managed accounts offering grew to a total of over 400 managed portfolios, with funds under administration increasing by 31% to $16bn during this period (excluding Adviser and Tailored Portfolios). FUA in BT’s managed portfolios now represent 14% of the total $111.3bn FUA on BT Panorama (also as of 30 April 2024).

Vanguard Diversified Managed Account Strategies launching this week

Launching this week is Vanguard’s Diversified Managed Account Strategies, a multi-asset portfolio construction solution, available on BT Panorama’s full menu as well as its low-cost Compact menu.

Compared to the BT Panorama full menu, the Compact menu offers a narrower range of products, at a lower price – a fixed dollar fee of $180 and a yearly asset-based administration fee of 0.15%.

With four risk profiles available, Vanguard’s Diversified Managed Account Strategies make multi-asset portfolio construction simple and efficient for advice practices.

The strategies offer low-cost exposure to over 16,000 securities across a range of asset classes. Vanguard Australia was recently awarded Fund Manager of the Year – Multisector at the 2024 Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence in Australia, in recognition of its quality multi-sector investments that have delivered long-term returns for investors.

“We are excited to make this announcement, as the addition of our Diversified Managed Account Strategies on BT Panorama represents a significant expansion of Vanguard’s managed account offer via new distribution channels,” said Rachel White, Head of Financial Adviser Services, Vanguard Investments Australia.

Ms White added: “Most importantly, it reflects the growing demand from advisers for gaining greater access to our diversified solutions.”

Tailored solutions for advice firms

William Buck Wealth Advisers recently launched a suite of three diversified portfolios on BT Panorama.

Adrian Frinsdorf, Director, Wealth Advisory at William Buck, said: “We’ve dealt with BT for decades. The team has shone, assisting us with the implementation of our portfolios, and working very collaboratively to provide a great solution for us and our clients.”

Meanwhile, investment manager Quilla Consulting has partnered with Cygnet Financial to create three diversified managed portfolios that are tailored for the dealer group.

Watershed Funds Management products open to all advisers

Watershed Funds Management has launched four new portfolios, which are available to all advisers and their clients. The new managed accounts have exposure to Australian shares, international shares, emerging markets and income-focused allocations.

“It’s been a busy start to the year,” Mr Leman said, “and with a strong product pipeline, we expect to see continued growth in managed accounts.”

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Notes:
[1] As of 30 April 2024.
[2] 2 According to Investment Trends, 63% of advisers surveyed said that managed accounts help them save 17.1 hours on average in a typical work week. SPDR/ETFs / Investment Trends Managed Accounts Report 2023.

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Zac Leman

The newly launched Schroder Concentrated Australian Equity Portfolio has been added to the BT Managed Portfolios available through the BT Panorama platform, in response to adviser demand for a separately managed account (SMA) with an objective to outperform the S&P/ASX 200 Total Return Index over the medium to long term.

Head of Client Group at Schroders Australia, Ray Macken, said: “Advisers can confidently recommend to their clients a professionally managed and benchmark-aware portfolio of select Australian equities.”

The portfolio offers an actively managed concentrated portfolio of between 18-26 investments in Australian shares, and is co-managed by Adam Alexander and Ben Chan, two experienced and proven investment professionals. They have established a seven-year track record in running Australian equities SMAs, with top quartile performance*, since co-managing a similarly structured SMA from 2016.  They are part of the stable, award-winning and highly-rated Schroders Australian equities team, headed by industry stalwart Martin Conlon.

Mr Alexander said: “Schroders’ 11-strong Australian equity team is one of the largest and most experienced in the Australian market. The size and scale of the team allows for waterfront stock coverage across the ASX 200 and into the ASX 300 without having to compromise on breadth or depth.”

“Stocks are valued using the Schroders investment process, which helps to avoid confirmation bias. The team of portfolio managers also have the advantage of being able to draw on the insights of Schroders’ worldwide investment team, as well as a collection of proprietary investment tools that provide us with a competitive edge,” Mr Chan said.

Mr Macken said advisers are increasingly recognising the benefits of SMAs for themselves and their clients.

Mr Macken said: “Investors receive the benefits of direct share ownership, but with the important added advantage that the stocks are selected by an investment process that has been honed over 25 years’ experience of managing Australian equities.

“The result is transparency and flexibility for clients, who can see what selected stocks they hold, but with none of the administrative and compliance burdens associated with managing direct shares for advisers.”

Zac Leman, Head of Managed Accounts, BT, said demand for managed accounts remains strong.

Mr Leman said: “Funds under administration (FUA) in managed portfolios on BT Panorama increased by 18 per cent in the year to 31 August 2023, with managed portfolios now comprising over 13 per cent of total platform FUA.

“Schroders’ new SMA is a welcome addition to the platform. It will appeal to a broad range of advisers and their clients who are seeking an Australian equities solution that offers transparent portfolio management, efficient rebalancing, and swift execution of transactions.”

The Schroder Concentrated Australian Equity Portfolio has a Recommended rating from Lonsec**.

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[1] Top quartile performance as measured by Zenith Investment Partners in the Performance Update Report dated 30 June 2023 for the portfolio managers managing the Evans & Partners Australian Equities Growth Separately Managed Account. Performance is measured against the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index. Inception is April 2011.
[2] The rating issued October 2023, is published by Lonsec Research Pty Ltd ABN 11 151 658 561 AFSL 421 445 (Lonsec). Ratings are general advice only, and have been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider your personal circumstances, read the product disclosure statement and seek independent financial advice before investing. The rating is not a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold any product. Past performance information is not indicative of future performance. Ratings are subject to change without notice and Lonsec assumes no obligation to update. Lonsec uses objective criteria and receives a fee from the Fund Manager. Visit lonsec.com.au for ratings information and to access the full report.

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