Between Meetings with Matt Heine

Hear David Wright, CEO & joint founder of Zenith Investment Partners, as he recounts his 30-year career journey in research and investment analysis, the evolution he has seen in the finance industry and the impetus for starting Zenith over 20 years ago. David shares what he’s learnt from building his own business and why he enjoys the educational aspects of his role the most.  He discusses the trend towards outsourcing investments and managed accounts, and expands on some of the challenges with ESG and its interaction with other investments as well as revealing two major areas of focus with carbon offsets and gender diversity.

Listen to Santiago Burridge, CEO & Co-founder of Lumiant, as he takes us through his financial career, the changes he’s seen in the wealth industry, and what led him to start a new tech company mid-career. Santiago discusses why it’s important for advisers to focus on non-financial family members and to understand the role of life goals and values when providing financial advice. He shares the challenges of establishing a tech-start-up, and what he‘s learnt from the US market, in terms of technology and advice. Santiago also describes how his core values, of caring about what’s important to people and doing what’s right, have led him to this point, and their impact on the rise of Lumiant to become a global company in the short space of two years.

Hear Catherine Robson, Founder of Affinity Private Advisors, discuss why recognising your leadership style, building relationships with staff and harnessing technology is crucial to scaling a business. Catherine reveals the joys and responsibilities of her current roles as non-executive director of Equity Trustees, Greater Bank, and Lumos, as well as the chair of Scale Investors. Reflecting on her path to becoming a non-executive director, Catherine shares her insights as to why not being a subject matter expert can be beneficial and provides advice for those thinking about being a director. Catherine explains the concept of an investment club, her podcast that focuses solely on women raising capital, and what's most important to her when choosing an early-stage investment.

Listen to Kristine Brooks, Head of Australian Business at Milford, as she recounts her journey from the trading floors of Perth to her position today, helping to lead the specialist investment firm with just under $17bn under management. The combination of Kristine’s competitive nature and emotional intelligence saw her, during her time at Zurich, successfully manage the acquisition of Macquarie and OnePath’s life insurance businesses. In this episode, Kristine shares how her people-centric leadership style helped navigate the integration of all three cultures during this time. She also explores the recent Milford report, ‘Financial Advice Reimagined’, which reveals how understanding a client’s emotional relationship with their money can ultimately lead to delivering better advice.

Hear how Jonathan Christie, Managing Director of Oreana Financial Services (Australia), came to create the independent licensee in 2018 and has since overseen its growth from just one client at inception to now having 33 clients and around 3000 advisers under management. Driving their growth has been Jonathan and Oreana’s ability to retain experienced and passionate advisers, as well as their total respect for the power of governance-led strategies, believing that discussions around governance should always occur before discussions on investment philosophies. Jonathan also shares his views on the future of advisory services, the rising trend of segmented investment approaches, and how regulation is impacting platforms’ ability to create technological solutions for faster advice delivery.

Hear how Martin Franc, CEO of Invesco Australia, accelerated Invesco’s performance – and has overseen their assets under management grow from $1bn to $37bn since joining the company over eight years ago. Martin emphasizes the value of connection in creating deeper client relationships and an internal culture that enables the curiosity required to succeed as an adviser or a manager today. This human-centric approach to investment management has driven Invesco throughout its purchase of Intelliflo, an online platform catering to advisers, and the establishment of Invesco Consulting. Looking forward, Martin discusses how the democratisation of advice - in conjunction with ESG going mainstream - may lead to the next generation of affluent Australians becoming more active, conscious investors, utilising emergent technologies now available around the world.

Listen to Richard Milroy, Executive Director of Private Wealth Network (PWN), an independent membership organisation for high-net-worth individuals and family offices, as he describes the opportunities and challenges of family portfolio management. Richard’s background in events and media adds a new perspective to this complex topic, shedding light on the realities of intergenerational wealth transfer and avenues for better engagement within the family office. He also shares some valuable insights into networking, the beginnings of ESG investment, changemaking through finance, and the current gaps in the advisory sector’s approach to servicing ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

Listen to Paul Campbell, Managing Director of Xeppo, as he shares why he founded data and business management platform Xeppo, the important role of data for business efficiency, and how practises can use their data in a more insightful way to unlock opportunities. Paul discusses the structure of advice in the next 3-5 years, common traits of the best firms at tech adoption, how practises can approach their data strategy and what they need to be thinking about as they embark on the next technological roadmap. 

Hear Paul Bassat, Co-Founder at Square Peg (ex-CEO of SEEK and AFL Commissioner), in our first ever live podcast, as he shares how he went from being a lawyer to setting up one of the most successful tech companies in Australia. Paul talks through his experience and global perspective on emerging technology, the future of customer experience and early-stage tech investing. He also discusses what motivated him to set up Square Peg Capital, a venture capital fund with a focus on investing in early-stage tech companies, as well as the challenges of building a strong tech-eco system in Australia, his view on crypto and some tips on getting started.

Kate Temby, Independent Director of Netwealth and Partner at Affirmative Investment Management, shares what drew her into finance, the early years of her high-profile role in New York whilst balancing a family, and the traits of her favourite leaders. Kate discusses why she is passionate about ESG and impact investing, the various shades of green investing and ‘greeniums’, net zero and transition finance, the availability of ESG data and research, and finally how she ended up in Samoa on hit TV series ‘Survivor’.