Our people

Chairman of the Investment Committee. Member of the Nomination Committee. Director of the Company’s associated entity, Australian Investment Company Services Limited (AICS).

Mr Paterson is a company Director who was appointed to the Board in July 2002, appointed Deputy Chairman in September 2009 and appointed Chairman in October 2013. He is also Chairman of Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited (AFIC). He also Chaired the Investment Committee of the Salvation Army Southern Region from 2003 to 2020. He was formerly a Director of Goldman Sachs JBWere and is a former member of the Board of Guardians of Australia’s Future Fund.

Managing Director and Member of the Investment Committee. Managing Director of the Company’s associated entity, Australian Investment Company Services Limited (AICS).

Mr Freeman was appointed as Managing Director in January 2018 having been Chief Investment Officer since joining the Company in February 2007. Prior to this he was a Partner with Goldman Sachs JBWere where he spent 12 years advising the Investment Companies on their investment and dealing activities. He has a deep knowledge and experience of investments markets and the Company’s approaches, policies and processes. He is also Managing Director of AFIC, AMCIL Limited and Mirrabooka Investments Limited.

Member of the Audit and Investment Committees.

Dr Edgar joined the Board in March 2015. Dr Edgar’s initial training was in Economics. He spent the majority of his business career at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. He retired as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Bank in 2009. He is a Non-Executive Director of La Trobe Financial Services. He also serves as the Chairman of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and was a former Chairman of Federation Centres Limited. He was also previously a Non-Executive Director of Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd, NuFarm Limited, Asciano Limited, Transurban Limited and three Asian Banks connected with the ANZ Group.

Chair of the Nomination Committee and Member of the Investment Committee.

Ms Fagg joined the Board in May 2014. Her executive and professional roles have been broad and diverse. She started her career as a petroleum engineer. She became a management consultant and then held a number of senior executive positions in the banking, steel and logistics industries across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Ms Fagg is currently Non-Executive Chair of Boral, Deputy Chair of CSIRO and a Non-Executive Director of National Australia Bank Limited. She is Chair of the Breast Cancer Network Australia, Inaugural Chair of Watertrust Australia Limited and is a Board Member of the Grattan Institute, The Myer Foundation and Champions of Change Coalition. Ms Fagg was previously a Board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Chair of Parks Victoria, President of Chief Executive Women, Chair of Melbourne Recital Centre and Non-Executive Director of Incitec Pivot Limited. She also has a number of other significant interests including as a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Kathryn has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of New South Wales in Business and in Chemical Engineering by the University of Queensland.

Member of the Investment and Nomination Committees. Non-Executive Director of the Company’s associated entity, AICS.

Mr Goldsmith was appointed to the Board in April 2013 and Deputy Chairman in May 2020. He is Chairman of SEEK Limited, Deputy Chairman of Gandel Philanthropy and a Panel Member of Adara Partners. Mr Goldsmith is a former Vice Chairman and a former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Australia, and its predecessor firm Goldman Sachs JBWere. He was also previously the Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology and a former Non-Executive Director of Zhaopin Limited.

Chair of the Audit Committee. Member of the Investment Committee.

Ms Williams was appointed to the Board in May 2010. Ms Williams is a Director of Defence Health, Mercer Investments (Australia) Ltd and Tobacco Free Portfolios.

She was formerly a Director of Cooper Energy, Equity Trustees Limited, Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC), Port of Melbourne Corporation, Guild Group, Airservices Australia, State Trustees Limited, Western Health, the Australian Accounting Standards Board, Telstra Sale Company, V/Line Passenger Corporation and Barristers Chambers Limited. She previously held senior management positions in the financial services sector including NM Rothschild and Sons (Australia) Limited and JP Morgan Australia and is a former member of the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

Member of the Audit and Investment Committees.

Ms Wood was appointed to the Board in July 2016. Ms Wood is the Chair of South 32 Limited and a Director of the Library Board of Victoria. She is a former senior executive of BHP. During her executive career with that company she served in a number of global roles including as Group Company Secretary, Chief People Officer and President, Corporate Affairs. She retired from BHP in 2014. Following her retirement she chaired the BHP Foundation until 2019. She served on the Takeovers Panel from 2000 to 2012.

Mr Driver joined the Company in January 2003. Previously, he was with National Australia Bank Ltd for 18 years in various roles covering business strategy, marketing, distribution, investor relations and business operations. Mr Driver was formerly Chairman of Trust for Nature (Victoria).

Mr Porter joined the Company in January 2005. He is a Chartered Accountant and has had over 26 years experience in accounting and financial management both in the United Kingdom with Andersen Consulting and Credit Suisse First Boston, and in Australia where he was Regional Chief Operating Officer for the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of CSFB. He is the immediate former Chair of The Group of 100 (G100), the peak body for CFOs and remains on the Board, is a Director of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB)and a Director of the Anglican Foundation.

Mr Rowe joined the Company in July 2016. He is a Chartered Secretary with over 15 years of experience in corporate governance with a particular focus in listed investment companies. He was previously a corporate governance advisor at a professional services firm which included acting as Company Secretary for three ASX listed companies. Prior to that Matthew was the Company Secretarial Manager for a Funds Management Company based in the UK.

Brett joined the group in October 2019 as a Portfolio Manager.

Brett has over 18 years of Investment Experience. Prior to joining AFIC, Brett spent 14 years at Antares Capital (previously called Portfolio Partners and Aviva Investors) as a Portfolio Manager and Analyst.

Brett holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and is a CFA Charterholder.

David commenced with the group in 2018 as a Portfolio Manager. David has 15 years portfolio management experience having co-founded Concise Asset Management in 2007, which was a specialised midcap Australian equities manager.

David holds a Bachelor of Business and a Masters of Applied Finance.

Kieran has over 18 years’ experience with the group, having commenced in 2001, initially in an Accounting role. He relocated to London to continue working in the financial services industry in 2005.

Upon his return in 2006, Kieran commenced his current focus on researching emerging and midcap companies. He progressed to Portfolio Management responsibilities in 2018.

Kieran holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University, and is a CPA and CFA charterholder.

Jaye joined the group in 2021 as an Investment Analyst and has 9 years of industry experience. Prior to joining, Jaye most recently worked as an Investment Analyst at Myer Family Investments focussed on Australian equities and Asian fund/equities.

Jaye holds a Master of Applied Finance from Monash University and a Bachelor of Applied Finance and Bachelor of Business (Property) from University of South Australia.

Olga joined the group in 2018 as an Investment Analyst and has 7 years of industry experience. Prior to joining, Olga most recently was an Investment Analyst at Ralton Asset Management focussed on Australian equities.

Olga holds a Master of Finance from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance from Warsaw School of Economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Stuart has over 17 years in financial services. He joined the group in 2016 and prior to that he spent 2 years as an analyst and PM at JM Financial and previous to that was 10 years in Institutional Research Sales at Bell Potter and Austock.

Stuart holds a Bachelor Commerce - University of Melbourne, Graduate Diploma Applied Finance and Investment – FINSIA.

Nga has over 18 years’ experience in the investment industry. Nga began her career with HSBC Securities in 1998 before joining JBWere, which later became Goldman Sachs, covering a range of large and small cap sectors. In 2013, Nga joined the group’s investment team.

Nga holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Graduate Diploma of Finance.

Jeremy has 20 years in industry experience, joining the group in 2001 in the finance and operations team. He transferred into the investment team working originally as an investment analyst for several years before becoming the Dealer for the 4 LICs.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Economics and Graduate Diploma Applied Finance and Investment - FINSIA. He has also completed ASX accredited derivatives courses and has many years of experience in the options markets.

Nicky started as a graduate with the group in March 2021, after completing her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne (Accounting and Finance Major). During her studies Nicky has also interned at Deloitte (Operations Consulting) and PwC (Audit).