The Coalition has pledged to give young Australians access to up to $50,000 in their retirement savings to get a toehold in the housing market. Super funds say it will only further inflate property prices.
Listed property, which found investor favour in 2024, is better positioned to weather market volatility with institutions eyeing improving valuations and development opportunities. For overseas players, a weaker Australian dollar is a bonus.
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.
