Perhaps the assumption that markets are still anchored by predictable economic policies needs to be challenged. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, political volatility – once background noise – is potentially reshaping investment risk at a structural level.
Despite authorities taking their foot off the environmental, social and governance pedal and recent volatility in equities and bonds, the benefits of Artificial Intelligence and improved investor transparency are just beginning.
Thomas Murray lifts Australian presence
(Pictured: Brian Keogh)
Thomas Murray IDS, the specialist international custody consultant, has re-established a Melbourne office with the recruitment of two experienced executives formerly from NAB and will part company with Peter Katz, who has represented the firm for the past five years from his base in Wellington, New Zealand.
Brian Keogh and Adam Zani will staff the Thomas Murray Melbourne office. Keogh was previously general manager of sales, marketing and relationships for financial market services within NAB’s products and markets devision. He more recently worked for NAB in New York for about 15 months. Zani was a relationships manager at NAB, working with fund managers, insurance funds and super funds.
Thomas Murray last had a Melbourne office from 2007 to 2010, staffed by Karen Bignell, who resigned to join JP Morgan.
Katz, who worked for Thomas Murray in London for two years before returning to Wellington and New Zealand to take up the role of marketing Investor Data Services and custody monitoring in Australia and New Zealand in 2010, previously had about 30 years of central bank experience including involvement in more than 25 IMF missions to developing countries.
Nick Bradley, the chief executive, said from London: “As part of this reorganisation, our association with Peter Katz, who has worked for Thomas Murray in London and in the region for seven years, will end, although I am pleased that he has agreed to stay on for a time to help with the transition. Peter has been a stalwart for TMIDS for a number of years and we are grateful for his productive work and dedication over these years helping us to build a successful business in the region.”
Thomas Murray is well known for a strong process for assessing and monitoring domestic or sub-custody services. It is also well known for its unusual tender process, which includes a “Star Chamber” whereby senior executives of custodians are grilled under tight conditions. It ran the last tenders for the region’s two sovereign wealth funds, New Zealand Super and Future Fund – both won by Northern Trust.
