Success and More Interesting Stuff

It's been 25 years since the first days of Ausbil Investment Management, and Executive Chairman, CIO and Head of Equities Paul Xiradis is still one of the first to arrive at the office.  The self-confessed "market animal" lives and breathes investing. But few know the making of X, as he is now universally known.  The eldest son of Greek immigrants, Xiradis always knew the value of entrepreneurial spirit - having keenly watched his father run several fish shops growing up. While Xiradis admits these years were "never easy", they instilled in him a desire to one day run a business of his own.  "I was an ok student, I wouldn't say I was outstanding. But equally, I didn't have a lot of time to devote to my studies either. I was helping out the family businesses most afternoons and weekends. In fact, all weekends were spent helping the family," Xiradis recalls.  "So when I left school, it was an opportunity for me to really excel and work for myself in the sense of achieving my own results."  And excel he would. Xiradis, unlike many Australian fund managers today, has truly worked his way up the ranks of the industry. He started out as a bank teller and would go on to gain experience in nearly every facet of finance - including personal banking, investment property, equities, fixed income, and broking.  Unsurprisingly, this early education has shaped the investor Xiradis is today. For instance, during the crash of 1987 (Black Monday), when several of Xiradis' colleagues left him "holding the baby", he grasped one of investing's greatest lessons.  "I learnt that you really want to be managing the portfolio rather than the portfolio managing you. And what I mean by that is if you are forced to sell, or the liquidity or quality isn't there, it just ends in disaster," he says. "I have never been able to achieve it since, but I outperformed the benchmark on a 12-month basis by over 30% because I was invested in quality [companies] and no penny dreadfuls." This focus on quality, on both top-down and bottom-up analysis, has helped Xiradis and the Ausbil team achieve truly eye-watering returns over the past 25 years (his flagship fund has beat the benchmark by more than 2% since 1997) - and has transformed $10 million of seed funding into a nice $15 billion in funds under management today.  In the final episode of SAMIS, you'll learn all about Xiradis' journey from Bankstown to Sydney's Bridge Street, as well as some of his best learnings from a career of consistently beating the market.  Time codes 0:00 - Intro 4:19 - Early life 8:06 - Early exposure to business 10:13 - Challenges growing up 12:52 - Unconventional career beginnings 15:50 - Mentors in finance 18:38 - Lessons from the crash of ‘87 24:05 - Striking out independently 30:20 - Early days of Aubil 36:15 - Growing pains of Ausbil 41:32 - Portfolio management lessons 46:17 - Future of Ausbil and Paul

For 25 years, Paul Xiradis has been the CIO and Head of Equities at one of Bridge Street’s most famous money managers - Ausbil Investment Management. Xiradis is the last link to the original foundation group of Ausbil. And as executive chairman, he’ll continue to have plenty on his plate from a leadership perspective when CEO Ross Youngman retires later next year. But Xiradis’ story is far more than his 25 years at Ausbil. It’s a story of migrant triumph, hard work, and persisting on when others have fallen by the wayside.  Now, in this final episode of the current series of Success and More Interesting Stuff, the veteran investor shares insights from his life before and during an illustrious career in the markets.

Dawn Kanelleas has always been academically competitive. The daughter of socially progressive Greek immigrants, she knew, even from a young age, that she was destined to break the social norms of the time.  And so, she decided academics would be a suitable path, donning a laboratory coat for a degree in the male-dominated world of science and later a research position at Oxford University. Luckily, for many of her investors today, this didn't stick.  Backed with a PhD in rare earths, Kanelleas would go on to hold a litany of positions over nearly 15 years before becoming a senior portfolio manager at Colonial First State during the GFC. Today, she heads up First Sentier Investors' small and mid-cap coverage and oversees billions of dollars in the process. But it's her desire to "win" that has truly helped her succeed in the world of finance. Over the past decade, Kanelleas has delivered staggering returns in the small-cap arena, far outperforming the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index. In this episode of SAMIS, you'll learn all about Kanelleas' journey to where she is today, her  scientific strategy for success in small caps, as well as the other passions that have shaped the woman she is today.  Time codes 0:00 - Introduction 3:34 - Early life 12:35 - Journey into academia 21:50 - Return to Australia 25:25 - Starting in finance 36:45 - Financial lessons 52:00 - Passions outside finance

If I asked you to describe the background of a professional investor, I’m willing to bet you would not have picked someone who has a PhD in chemistry. But that’s exactly who Dawn Kanelleas is.  After running through the full gamut of the University of Sydney’s prestigious science program, she pivoted to a career in finance. But it wasn’t smooth or consistent sailing - and one look at her LinkedIn could tell you that. In this edition of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Kanelleas sits down with me to discuss the transition from science and academia to finance and finally her current role - small and mid cap investing at First Sentier Investors.

The Australian commercial property sector was in a mess in the mid-1990s. The industry was stuck in illiquid structures and investors were unable to withdraw their money.  Then, budding investment banker Andrew Pridham entered the picture. He believed listing property assets was the best way out of the disaster. It worked. At just 28 years old, he was a managing director and head of global property at UBS in London. Pridham returned to Australia seven years later to set up his own shop. That company was eventually bought by Wall Street behemoth JP Morgan. And being the restless person he is, Pridham pivoted again just as his 30s gave way to his 40s. This time, he convinced a former American UBS colleague Ken Moelis to create Moelis Australia with the two becoming the largest shareholders. Moelis Australia would expand rapidly beyond investment banking to become a mini-Macquarie Bank. Today, it’s worth $818 million and is listed on the ASX. Now retired for good, he joins me on the latest episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff to discuss his life in investment banking and what matters next.  Time codes 0:00 - Intro 4:24 - Early life 12:49 - Early career in finance 16:32 - Risk in financial markets at the time 19:07 - Recession and investement banking 22:47 - Coming out of a recession, and into the golden era of property 25:58 - Moving to the international scene 30:34 - Joining the swans, and lessons in leadership 35:18 - Striking out independently 51:13 - Listing on the ASX, and the future of MA Financial 1:01:18 - Values of the Swans 1:09:31 - Outro

Not many investment bankers can claim to have a Wikipedia profile, but Andrew Pridham can. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Pridham has covered everything from M&A at J.P. Morgan to real estate investing at UBS. Since 2009, he’s run his own shop in conjunction with US-based Moelis & Company and since 2013, he has served as chairman of the Sydney Swans. Now, Pridham sits down with me on the latest edition of Success and More Interesting Stuff to discuss his lifetime in financial markets and how joining the board of Swans helped shape the way he leads his investment team.

How’s this for an honours list? Winner of the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the Year Senior Australian of the Year Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia Author of 11 books Star of multiple cooking shows Order of Australia (AM) Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) Public company name with multiple products to her credit Maggie Beer is an icon of the Australian food industry. Her larger-than-life personality and likeability have endeared her to a range of Australians from budding chefs to aged care occupants.  Maggie has backed her own skills and played an important role in encouraging people across this country to try their hand in the kitchen. She also can take credit for introducing the verjuice to the Australian kitchen. She also happens to be the only Australian with a self-named public company. Not bad for someone who left school at 14 years old. Now, Beer sits down with me for the latest edition of Success and More Interesting Stuff. We discuss her life before food, those first years operating the (now) world famous Farm Shop in South Australia, and what lies ahead for this Australian treasure. TIME CODES 0:00 - Intro 3:00 - Early life 18:40 - Early career 28:20 - Entrepreneurship in the food industry 38:40 - Transition to the financial world 48:10 - Other passions

Cooking from the heart is the humble and simple philosophy of one of Australia’s most well-known personalities. In a career spanning four decades - and in spite of zero formal training - Maggie Beer has become a beloved figure on our screens and gained a presence in many an Australian kitchen or bookshelf.  Even I was surprised to learn this first lady of Australian food’s career did not begin until she was in her 40s! Now, Beer sits down with me for the latest edition of Success and More Interesting Stuff. We discuss her life before food, those first years operating the (now) world famous Farm Shop in South Australia, and what lies ahead for this Australian treasure.

Leo Barry was everywhere during AFL Grand Final week this year. With a Sydney Swans scarf draped around his neck, you could be mistaken for thinking he is employed full time in the club’s marketing department. In truth, Barry always has a lot on his plate. From the moment he was drafted by the Swans, he has been on the run. The Swans relocated him to Sydney, placing him in boarding school out of the limelight of Melbourne. Soon enough, he cracked the big time, becoming a premiership player and an All-Australian defender. But away from the football pitch, “Leaping Leo” was preparing for his next career. A career that has ultimately led to him part-managing some $500 million in funds across the ASX small cap universe. In this edition of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Leo and I discuss what happened next and how he transformed himself from a football legend to a finance superstar. TIME CODES 0:00 - Intro 1:54 - Move from football to finance 6:53 - Early life 14:22 - Lessons from a career at the swans 24:05 - Beginning of career in finance 33:36 - Lessons from a career in finance 47:40 - Future of Leo and Fairview 51:21 - Outro

The full episode comes out on Wednesday 28th December.