The Exchange by EW&L Private Wealth

Cameron Blanks, Managing Director at Pacific Equity Partners, shares insights from his extensive experience in private equity and strategic investments. He discusses the explosive growth of private equity in Australia, emphasizing the unique advantages over public markets. Listeners learn about successful transformations, like IntelliHub, and the vital role of thorough research in choosing top-performing funds. Cameron also highlights initiatives that enhance individual access to private equity opportunities, addressing common misconceptions and paving the way for informed investing.

In this episode, Managing Partner Tim Whybourne catches up with two Wall Street stalwarts Jeff Schluze & Michael Testorf from Clearbridge Investments. Jeffrey is a Managing Director and the Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments overseeing capital market and economic research and contributing thought leadership on these topics to the institutional investor and financial advisor communities. Michael is a Portfolio Manager on the Global Growth Equity investment team and co-manages numerous global and international growth strategies. Clearbridge Investments manages over USD$187.9 million (as of 31/3/2024).We talk about everything from clearbridges proprietary recession indicator tool, the anatomy of recession, through to why valuations are as scary as they might look and why investing at the top of the market can still return great results. We discuss the investment case for Emerging markets, Japan, the US and Europe and then explore one of Clearbridges latest equity strategies to be deployed into the Australian market in the Clearbridge Global Growth Strategy.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In this episode, EWL Partner and Wealth Advisor Ryan Loehr, speaks with Gregg Taylor from Salter Brothers.Gregg leads the equities investment team at Salter Brothers, a reputable Australian alternatives investment manager responsible for overseeing $3.5bn of assets for HNW investors and institutions.We have known Gregg across various iterations of his career, which has seen him work across broking, investment banking and portfolio manager roles with leading institutions. Then building and successfully exiting a large media-tech business as well as a funds management business (Bombora) before joining Salter Brothers. In this episode, we dive into some of the key considerations for founders seeking the right investment partner; unpack some of the common challenges these high-growth businesses face; and discuss why the market for these companies has become attractively priced.As active investors, finding value often requires a contrarian approach; and both small and pre-IPO businesses have recently lagged larger indices by a large margin. This episode is well suited to founders thinking about taking on a capital partner and key considerations; or investors wanting to understand some of the underappreciated opportunities in high-growth, emerging Australian companies.  Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In today’s episode managing partner Tim Whybourne catches up with the entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Audeara. In the episode, they cover everything from how James came from a career path as a doctor to the CEO of a listed business that creates and sells headphones for the hearing impaired. We talk about the highs and lows of being a founder and what it is like to run an ASX-listed business.Dr James Fielding is the Founder and CEO of Audeara, the Founder and Director of Robotics Engineering Research Laboratories, Founder and Director of Yumm! Confectionary and Founder and former Director of Field Orthopaedics. He worked in a range of fields before pursuing medicine, including at New York-based hedge fund Bay Harbour Capital and a prominent Hollywood production company. Dr Fielding was based at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital before leaving full-time clinical medicine to focus on the founding and development of his start-up, Audeara. Audeara headphones have the capability to test and re-test the hearing of the wearer over the span of a lifetime. They tailor the sound to the needs of the individual to ensure all people, regardless of their hearing health can enjoy a world-class sound experience. Through his lead, Audera has also taken an active role in promoting awareness of hearing loss and related issues in the community.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In today’s episode Managing partner Tim Whybourne caught up with the founder of Liquid Gold consultants, Susanne Bransgrove who specialises in assisting family enterprises in tackling the difficult issues of succession, next-generation education and integration, governance, and communication. Liquid Gold Consultants create unique solutions, using customised strategies and suitable structures to create better family cohesion, communication, governance, and focus. Susanne is best known for providing strategic guidance to family businesses in the areas of ownership/family alignment, business governance improvements and smoother communication flow across organisations. Growing up in Germany as part of a third-generation family business has provided her with a sound foundation for understanding the range of issues that arise when needing to balance the performance of the family business with the differing needs of multiple generations. In the episode, they cover how they deal with introducing children to wealth without removing their ambition, how to successfully transition a family business leadership from one generation to the next and how families can deal with intergenerational wealth transfer in a considered manner and the discussions we should be having now with our families not waiting for them to hear it for the first time in a will.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In this episode, Ryan Loehr, our Brisbane-based Partner, and Private Wealth Advisor speaks with the founders of Agreus, Tayyab Mohamed and Paul Westall. Also joining them is Pierre Pineau, the head of Agreus in the APAC region. This marks part II of our podcasts with Agreus and is focused on identifying the key considerations for families, considering establishing and resourcing their own family office. We explore the different types of family office models; key planning issues to get right beforehand; minimum running costs; how thematics like Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity are impacting hiring needs; and how to fairly remunerate or internalise family members in the business of the family group.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In this episode, Brisbane Partner and Financial Advisor at EW&L, Ryan Loehr, speaks with one, but two specialists from Ares Management, a leading alternative asset manager responsible for over $600B across credit, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure asset classes.Joining us is Samantha Milner. Sam joined Ares in 2004 and is a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Head of U.S. Liquid Credit Research. Sam is responsible for managing Ares’ US bank loan and liquid credit strategies and has an extensive background in financial restructuring, advising on distressed mergers, acquisitions, and private placements. Sam is based out of LA; United States and we are fortunate to get to spend time with her whilst in Australia.Additionally, we are joined by Teiki Benveniste, Head of Ares Wealth Management Solutions in Australia.  Teiki is the client portfolio manager for Australian investors, and is well-tenured, previously coming from Macquarie group as a senior investment specialist and before Macquarie worked for Société Générale in London as a credit analyst and syndicated loan trader.For regular listeners, Ryan has increasingly spent time covering private and liquid credit from various, leading fund managers. In this episode, Ryan does something a little different, by comparing the different characteristics, the pros, and cons of both private and traded loans, and the role that each can play in client portfolios.  Teiki and Sam provide some invaluable insights, and we hope you enjoy this episode. Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In today’s episode, Managing Partner Craig Emanuel sits down with Craig Blair, Co-Founder and Partner of AirTree Ventures.AirTee are the pinnacle of the Australian venture capital ecosystem. Craig has been a trailblazer in Australian VC, having been investing in startups with a list of successful exits from the 1990’s, prior to founding AirTree in 2014. With $1.3bn funds under management, AirTree’s portfolio includes many of Australia and New Zealand’s iconic technology companies. Craig has led investments in Canva, Pet Circle, Go1 and Employment Hero, which have delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in investor returns at greater than 100x initial investment. Prior to AirTree, Craig was a Partner at Netus, a venture fund that delivered top decile returns to investors for years in succession. Prior to his VC career, Craig was a founder of several startups including Travelselect, Beamly Australia, and the founding chairman of Pet Circle. Craig spent his early career in strategy consulting and investment banking.  Outside of AirTree, Craig is an active philanthropist through the Blair Caffrey Foundation which supports indigenous, women’s and humanitarian causes and the arts. Craig holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Sydney, and an MBA from INSEAD, France.During this podcast, Craig holds an in-depth discussion with Craig on how he sees the Australian VC industry, how AirTree select and manage their portfolio companies, through to the secrets of maintaining the right work/life balance.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

In today’s episode, Managing Partner Craig Emanuel sits down with Mario Giannini, Co-Chairman of Hamilton Lane. Established in 1991, Hamilton Lane is one of the World’s largest and most respected Private Markets managers, directly managing more than $ 1.3 trillion AUD in assets globally.During this podcast, Craig holds an in-depth discussion with Mario about what attracted Mario to private markets from an early age, revisiting the bad old chainsaw and leverage days, the firm’s Investment committee process, the pressures in the current environment to deploy capital, through to some crystal ball gazing by Mario. 2024 may in fact prove to be one of the best vintages to invest in.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.

The environment for global liquid or traded credit has changed dramatically over the past 10-15 years. Sub-investment grade debt has increased its quality – leverage is significantly lower than historical levels, and the volume of BB quality credits (one rank below IG) in the sub-IG universe is very high. Roughly 50% in the US and 60% in Europe. While some argue that spreads are not wide enough, in this episode we unpack the often-overlooked opportunities available across a range of different security types; where and how KKR can access favourable terms and why investors should be considering this asset class as part of their more aggressive fixed-income portfolios, or as a substitute to some of their equity allocation.Disclaimer: The information in this podcast series is for general financial educational purposes only, should not be considered financial advice and is only intended for wholesale clients. That means the information does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider if the information is appropriate for you and your needs. You should always consult your trusted licensed professional adviser before making any investment decision.