Leadership is the responsibility to take care of those around us and build constant improvement into our teams. Whether managing portfolios or investor relationships, to governance and risk management, our strong and focused team of women help to contribute to a positive culture and diverse business within Channel Capital and its affiliated investment manager partners.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate our team and share some of the stories that make our women leaders.
Provide a brief background to your career path. What are the driving factors that motivate you in your current role? Has this changed post-COVID?
My professional life began as a lawyer on a traditional path, then branched into retail financial services via business development, investor services and marketing. As Head of Marketing & Client Services at Suncorp Investment Management (as it was known then), I gained exposure to institutional funds management by working closely with asset managers, which after several years and subsequent roles, eventually culminated in co-founding Channel. In my current role as Executive Director for both Channel Capital Pty Ltd and Channel Investment Management Ltd (CIML), prudent governance of both entities is vitally important, and I consider my directors’ duties to be paramount. While an entrepreneurial spirit and achieving business growth are in my DNA, I believe this must be carefully balanced with effective risk management which I’m pleased to say is an intrinsic part of the Channel culture. Our management and Boards have conscientiously dealt with the Covid risk (and will continue to) and it’s great to see our response plans working effectively as they were intended. In addition to my directorships, I am currently based in the UK assessing opportunities in line with our global strategy − exciting times ahead!
How do you inspire others around you?
I do hope that where I find myself today gives other women confidence that they can work and succeed in male-dominated industries. I’d like to think that today’s work environments are more evolved than when I started out and that the path will be a little easier to traverse. That said I believe the determination to succeed and a willingness to make a valuable contribution will never be overlooked – by a company worth working for anyway! It’s wonderful to see my female colleagues thriving at Channel in a culture supportive of their career goals.
What is one key theme or investment idea for the year ahead?
Where possible, our investments in the markets, businesses and infrastructure should have a basis in being ‘responsible’ on both a domestic and global level. In an investment environment where there are 50 shades of green (!), perhaps a simpler way of putting it might be to ‘do no harm’ or to ‘do good’.
The investment industry attracts many of the brightest minds and the world would benefit by harnessing this creative intelligence to reengineer the way capital is deployed to transform the global community rather than destroy it.
The pioneers of the ESG movement via PRI etc and all those who followed since are to be applauded and I’m hoping the foot stays on the pedal until application of the principles goes some way to solving our present-day global challenges.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It represents our evolution as human beings by recognising equality where previously, most of the ‘civilised’ world was mired in the grip of a patriarchal society. There is still some way to go, however, this ‘imbalance’ is slowly being corrected. Women should be purposely recognised in this way to bring balance and from a personal perspective, with two grandsons, I’ll be doing my bit to ensure this equality is recognised! However, one day in the not-too-distant future, I hope we can all simply be valued as ‘people’ regardless of gender on the basis of who we are and our individual contribution.
Provide a brief background to your career path. What are the driving factors that motivate you in your current role? Has this changed post-COVID?
I spent the first twenty years of my career at two central banks in Asia, managing their fixed income portfolios. Then I joined Jamieson Coote Bonds in largely the same role as a portfolio manager and to set up our Singapore office. As a portfolio manager, my role has always been to deliver performance to our investors, within risk parameters. COVID brought back challenging market conditions. I’m proud to say that our team cooperated so well and proved that we can deliver the synergy and the performance in all market conditions. What has changed post-COVID is probably the human side of business. In the beginning of the COVID crisis, we focused on ensuring physical safety of our team, such as procuring masks, when masks were in shortage. We adapted to working with kids at home, kids chiming in during our team calls. Then, as lockdown went on and on, we shifted our focus to supporting each other mentally. Being stuck at home in isolation can really take its toll on you, with or without kids!
How do you inspire others around you?
I enlisted my colleagues to help me answer this question. Their feedback surprised me in a positive way. First of all, seeing a woman in a key decision-making role shows the next generation the enormous possibilities available. I think it’s important to make sure that we have gender diversity all the way to the boardroom. A young female intern recently questioned whether there is a long career path in a male-dominated industry − myself and my female colleagues are proof that there is! I steer my team through challenges and tough times and offer support through positive encouragement and guidance whenever I can.
What is one key theme or investment idea for the year ahead?
Bond markets began the year with the reflation and fiscal stimulus theme. The direction of higher bond yields is a healthy re-pricing of yields, which is to be expected as we switch from pandemic to recovery, if not global synchronized growth. The manner of getting there needs some tactful adjustment, as positions are capitulated, generating volatility in rates that we have not seen in sometime. As US inflation is supposed to peak at 3% in April and Australian inflation will also likely peak at 3% mid-year, we should soon see the peak in bond yields sometime in the second quarter. We definitely have pent-up demand globally. What is a bit more unclear is the inflationary pressure from how soon the supply chain can bounce back right after the pandemic. If supply turns out to be more inelastic, then inflation can persist a bit, that is, months not years. Structurally, multi-year horizon factors such as an aging population, technology, or higher debt levels have not changed our broader outlook on yields.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women’s Day is a time to recognise women’s contribution to the world and is a reflection of equal rights in our society. This year’s theme highlights women in leadership. The pandemic has given female leaders the opportunity to excel through the crisis, from Angela Merkel who has been the anchor of the European Union to Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, and Taiwan’s Prime Minister, Tsai Ing-wen just to name a few. Simultaneously, I’d like to highlight leadership at home, women who are the primary homemakers, as my mom is, or single mothers who have to manage the busy demands of both work and children. All jobs, great or small, are worth some appreciation. I am also supported by friends who are of the LGBT community. I’d like to see a future where we can appreciate one another and have equal opportunity to succeed professionally and in society, regardless of gender.
Provide a brief background to your career path. What are the driving factors that motivate you in your current role? Has this changed post-COVID?
After finishing university, I joined the Graduate Program at Colonial Ltd where I gained invaluable insight into various key corporate business functions, one of which involved being a member of Colonial’s M&A strategic team. This gave me the opportunity to travel to the UK where I carved out an opportunity to work in the Group’s International Funds Management business. As a result, my investing career started in London, 20 years ago, where I worked as a global equities generalist for large corporates including First State Investors and Aviva Investors plc. After ten years I moved back to Australia where I found my opportunity at Bell Asset Management and where I have been since working as a Senior Global Equities Analyst. At Bell Asset Management I have primary research responsibilities as a global small and mid-cap (SMID) equities generalist and I co-lead the consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors. The factors that motivate me today are the same as 20 years ago, including a passion for learning and discovering investment stories around the world. The old cliché is true, where every day in this industry you learn something new or something that tests your knowledge and improves on it. In many regards COVID has not changed this, rather it has continued to deepen my experience in this industry.
I look back to my time working through September 2001 and the GFC whilst working in London, and am able to draw upon these significant market disruptions to navigate through the current market dynamics in an attempt to continue to find pockets containing the next exciting and sustainable investment story.
How do you inspire others around you?
Our team has a very flat and inclusive culture where the team are encouraged to present and debate investment ideas and work collaboratively on research projects. As a senior member of the investment team, I foster this culture by encouraging open dialogue and offering guidance and support to my colleagues.
What is one key theme or investment idea for the year ahead?
A major investment theme for the year ahead is the strong role the consumer will play in a post COVID world. Of particular interest is how this impacts the consumer discretionary sector given the amount of stimulus and discretionary dollars sitting in the hands of the consumer; a consumer that represents close to 75% of the US economy. This is creating a lot of pent up demand, that is still yet to be realised, in a number of sectors. In addition, when you consider the changes in consumer behaviour that we’ve seen over the last year, where people are now valuing their home and their own domestic ‘backyard’ differently, this creates a very powerful dynamic. As a result, we expect to see for some time, more of these discretionary dollars go towards the home, more local travel and outdoor experiences. We believe this will continue to strongly support many of our SMID names, which are quite unique and operate in these niche and growing areas of the global market.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It is a wonderful way to acknowledge the contribution of women in society and the progress that has been made towards equality. However also a reminder that while we have come a long way, there is still much work to do to ensure work cultures are truly inclusive and allow women the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Provide a brief background to your career path. What are the driving factors that motivate you in your current role? Has this changed post-COVID?
My door to the finance industry first opened during my last year of university when I joined Kapstream Capital as an intern, where I had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from some of the most respected fixed income investors in the industry. Following this I worked at Challenger as a fixed income portfolio analyst, and also several years at JANA Investment Advisers consulting investment strategy to institutional clients across Australia and New Zealand before re-uniting with the co-founders of Revolution Asset Management and joining the team as an Associate Portfolio Manager. At Revolution Asset Management, we specialise in private debt transactions. Most of the work I focus on is leveraged buy-out loans, which may sound exotic but in fact what we do is simply helping Australian medium-sized businesses to grow. Being able to see the direct impact is incredibly motivating. It is exciting to ‘see our work in the streets’ as these businesses thrive locally or expand internationally. Furthermore, our investments would often go into portfolios of everyday Australians, either directly through their investment portfolios or indirectly through their superannuation funds, so the impact is twofold where we are simultaneously positively contributing to their retirement savings!
How do you inspire others around you?
I love what I do! And I believe that passion is a powerful tool to do it well and to inspire others around. We spend most of our lives working, so doing what we are genuinely interested in is incredibly important not just for a job well done but also for a happy life and the positive impact we make along the way.
What is one key theme or investment idea for the year ahead?
The obvious key theme that has been with us for a while and continues to be at the forefront of investors’ minds is the low interest rate environment we’re in. And that’s what will drive investment ideas for the year ahead. In a world where traditional fixed income assets and cash earn investors negative real yields and equity market valuations are at all-time highs, thinking about portfolio construction becomes more important now more than ever. Private markets have been gaining popularity and will be in the spotlight in the year ahead and beyond, as investors look to diversify away and earn additional yield through illiquidity premium.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
Celebration, awareness, and inclusion. On one hand we are celebrating women’s achievements here in Australia, on the other we are also reminded that there are parts of the world where women still don’t enjoy the same rights.
International Women’s Day celebrates women's rights and accomplishments, motivates young women to pursue their goals, raises conversations about global gender inequality and brings people together to consider what they can do to make the world an equal and inclusive place.
Provide a brief background to your career path. What are the driving factors that motivate you in your current role? Has this changed post-COVID?
I’ve been in financial services my whole career. I started out in financial planning, sitting across from clients, but soon saw the light of back-office and transitioned into a Compliance role and have spent the bulk of my career in funds management compliance, risk and governance roles. I love being able to make a positive difference in an organisation and I also love helping people. Governance, risk and compliance management are fundamental in organisations – they are a “must-have”. The role of compliance is to provide assistance to people, helping them do their job better, and ultimately making our business more successful, not acting like the company police officer, handing out breach notices for not complying with company policy. In a post-COVID world, it has been hard not being able to interact with people as easily as before. As society adjusts to a “new-normal” we have come up with ways to ensure we are still connecting with our colleagues on a regular basis and delivering value.
How do you inspire others around you?
Work needs to be enjoyable – if you don’t love what you do people can tell, it’s hard to be inspired by someone who appears to just be “getting-by” at work or begrudges their role in an organisation. I’m passionate about compliance and people, and I’m very fortunate to have found this career so early in life. You also need to have fun! It so important to not take yourself or your work too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, compliance is very serious work and it has numerous challenges. It’s for that reason it’s important to laugh and enjoy what you do.
What is one key theme or investment idea for the year ahead?
Self-care and positivity – in order to be the best version of you, you need to prioritise yourself in the long list of to-do’s that women tackle every day. I have found in my own life, that as I take care of me, I’m more productive at work and still have extra left at the end of the day for my family and friends. Also, we need to change our mindset and our language. Women are incredible creatures who are capable of so much! More women need to believe in themselves!
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It’s a chance to stop and recognise the contribution women make in every area of life – at home, in the workforce and in society generally. Times have changed dramatically for women over the decades and many people overlook the numerous, and often heavy hats that women wear, and the ability women have to wear those hats with style and grace. To all the women who give of themselves everyday to their work, their families and their community – I tip my hat(s) to you today!
Get our latest updates and investment manager performance reports
