Australian asset managers make board changes
GSFM and Australian Ethical have both made changes to their boards which will take effect this month.
GSFM has appointed Robert Johanson as its new chair, following the retirement of Andrew McKinnon. Johanson was previously the chairman of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank for 12 years.
McKinnon founded GSFM and has been its executive chairman since 2017.
Chief executive Damien McIntyre said: “We welcome Robert to the board and are looking forward to working with him to continue to grow the GSFM presence in the Australian market. He has over 30 years’ experience in corporate finance and investment banking, and he has been involved in a wide array of capital markets transactions for several leading corporations.
“On behalf of GSFM, I extend our thanks and appreciation to Andrew. He has been an integral part of the GSFM business for 17 years, from inception as its first CEO, and ultimately as executive chairman.”
Meanwhile, non-executive director Mara Bun will step down from the board of Australian Ethical Investment and Australian Ethical Superannuation on 31 October. Bun has sat on the board for the past 11 years and is a member of the people, remuneration and nominations committee, and its investment committee.
A search for her replacement on the board is underway, the firm said in an ASX statement.
Steve Gibbs, Australian Ethical chair, said: “The board is sincerely grateful for Mara’s contribution. With her extensive leadership across many sectors and such great passion in responsible investment and sustainability, Mara’s impact over 11 years has been significant.”
Bun said: “It has been a career highlight and privilege to help steer Australian Ethical for the last 11 years. The organisation has gone from strength to strength, becoming a proof point that enterprises with purpose can do good, do well and achieve exponential scale along the way.”
She will remain at the firm as a member of the Australian Ethical Foundation board to help inform its distribution of grants to fund effective ways to combat climate change.
Earlier this year, Australian Ethical announced it had appointed former Pendal chief executive Richard Brandweiner to its Investment board and Fiona Reynolds to its Australian Ethical Superannuation board.
Gibbs added: “Both Richard and Fiona have further boosted the responsible investment expertise on our boards and we are confident that our current process will deliver another great addition.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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