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.
Loftus Peak appoints first chief executive
Loftus Peak, a boutique equities house, is expanding its remit with the appointment of a professional funds management chief executive. Rick Steele has had a long career in the industry, including several senior roles at both big and small companies.
Alex Pollak, the Loftus Peak founder, a former finance journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald who went on to become a celebrated media analyst on the sell-side, said: “At the outset I took on the combined role of CIO and CEO, which was appropriate for a firm in its infancy. Now we are approaching $100 million in client funds under management, the firm requires a dedicated CEO. Rick’s appointment is an important step in the development of the company.”
Rick Steele said: “The funds management landscape is changing rapidly in Australia and Loftus Peak’s independent positioning and sound investment process means the firm is well placed to be a global equity manager of choice. I am looking forward to the challenge the role offers.”
Steele is a founding director of Loftus Peak (in 2014) and is well known in the funds management industry, having been a key member of the BT Funds Management team for over a decade, as well as former CEO of the small-cap manager Eight Investment Partners and a director of Spectrum Funds Management.
At Loftus Peak, he has joined a well-known fund manager, Paul Davis, with whom he launched a fintech investment company in the early 1990s. Davis is still one of the big names in the Australasian fintech industry. At Loftus Peak, he is a research advisor.
– G.B.
