Energised Russell investment consulting team makes key senior appointment
New senior appointment positions Australian team for opportunities in growing South East Asian government funds space
SYDNEY, February 20, 2008 – Global investment and superannuation specialist, Russell Investment Group, today announced that Jim Franks, CFA, formerly Director of Consulting for Russell Canada, has moved to Australia to take up the position of Director, Investment Consulting.
Russell Investment Consulting is one of Australia’s leading investment advisors with AU$90 billion worth of assets under advice in Australia and AU$2.5 trillion worldwide. Russell's investment consulting business continues to lead the financial services industry globally, with the Nelson 2006 Pension Fund Consultants Survey naming the firm the top ranked consulting firm of 2006. The Australian team services a wide range of institutional clients, including Korea Investment Corp (KIC), GPF Thailand, Funds SA, ACT Treasury, Sunsuper, and Tower Australia.
Mr Andrew Lill, Director of Investment Strategy, Australia, said, “Jim brings fourteen years of experience with Russell in Canada focusing on the consulting needs of large state funds, including the Ontario Pension Board and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, as well as a number of corporate pension funds. He now brings this expertise to state and industry funds in Australia. Canadian and Australian funds lead the investment industry across the world in innovation, size and the use of alternative asset strategies to drive returns. Jim will bring his global experience and knowledge to complement our efforts in providing superior strategic consulting advice to these funds here in Australia,” Mr Lill said.
Mr Franks will work closely with clients in Australia and New Zealand, and leverage his background to take advantage of the robust growth in government fund opportunities taking place in South East Asia. Mr Franks will report to Mr Lill.
Prior to joining Russell, Mr Franks was an asset manager in both North America and the U.K for twenty-five years. His responsibilities have included investment research, fixed income strategy and management, investment policy and asset mix. These activities were undertaken both in an insurance framework, with an emphasis on asset-liability management, and as a manager of third-party institutional assets. His client responsibilities at Russell Canada were wide-ranging, and included the Ontario Pension Board, the CAAT Pension Plan, University of Toronto Asset Management, Alberta Revenue, and IBM Canada. He has worked with many senior boards and fiduciaries on both investment issues and in the area of governance and decision-making. Mr Franks has also served on the investment advisory committee of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).
Additionally, Graeme Bibby, CFA, who is part of the Investment Consulting team in Melbourne, has been elevated from Consultant to Senior Consultant. In this new role, Mr Bibby will work closely with clients in Australia and be involved with additional government fund opportunities taking place in South East Asia. As a Consultant, he advised major institutional clients on all aspects of their investment programs, including investment objectives, strategy, asset allocation, investment structure and manager selection.
Mr Bibby joined Russell in 2007 and had previously been a Senior Associate with Mercer Investment Consulting for four years. His responsibilities at Mercer included providing advice to clients on investment objectives, strategy, asset allocation, investment structure and manager selection, and participation in Australian shares and fixed income manager research. He has an MBA from the University of Newcastle and is an active member of the Investment Management Consultants Association, a member of the Q-Group, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) and is a member of the CFA Society of Melbourne.
Mr Lill emphasised that the Franks’ appointment and Bibby promotion well position the consulting team for future growth. “These moves demonstrate our team’s growth and depth of experience. Our full team is now 22 strong and includes the capital markets research group, who is dedicated to producing cutting-edge research on the challenges and issues facing the industry and recently produced the award-winning research paper on sustainable investing. We are committed to developing the best people internally and attracting from across the Russell global network the talent to provide ‘best practice’ strategic advice and research to our large institutional clients in Australia.”
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