Photo: Brett Chatfield, new CIO of Cbus
Brett Chatfield
Lots of changes at the $48.6 billion* Australian
fund, Cbus, as the fund has been promoting internal achievers to higher
leadership positions. Brett Chatfield has been appointed the new chief
investment officer of the fund, and Kristian Fok,
who had been acting CEO as well as CIO, has officially been appointed CEO of
the fund. Marianne Walker has been appointed deputy CEO.
Chatfield held several senior
positions at Cbus for more than a decade, most recently serving as the fund’s acting
Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Chief Investment Officer.
Chatfield will head the expansion of
internal investment capabilities, which has seen over 38% of the Fund’s assets
brought in-house, which the fund attributes to helping to save members of more
than $500 million since 2017, according to a Cbus press release.
Prior to joining Cbus in 2013, Chatfield worked as an investment consultant at
Frontier, institutional investment management at UniSuper, a senior investment
analyst at Lonsec, and as a senior accountant at KPMG, among other roles. .
Cbus CEO Fok said, “Brett Chatfield has been integral in the development of
Cbus’ highly successful investment model, which has generated incredibly strong
long-term returns for our members.
I look forward to working with Brett as he leads the investment of our
members’ retirement savings and cements the strong links Cbus has through our
investments in the real economy and jobs.”
Chatfield said, “Cbus is an innovative, global, long-term investor with a focus
on investing in the real economy and I look forward to leading our world-class
investment team. I’ll be leading a team attracted to working in a Fund that
invests in a way that resonates with the membership and that link to our
industries – that powerful connection with jobs, the built environment and the
economy.”
Cbus reported a June 30 return of 8.9% this week.
Kristian Fok
Before becoming CEO, Fok was acting CEO and held the CIO position for the
last 10 years. He had a close association with the fund as an asset consultant
for a decade before that. As CIO, he led Cbus’ aforementioned hybrid internalization
strategy, investment strategy and worked
closely with the Investment Committee of the Board on investments and
governance.
The appointment comes on the heels of new
board appointments, when stalwarts of Anne Donnellan and Frank O’Grady retired
in December of 2022, to be replaced by AMWU National Legal Coordinator Abha
Devasia, and retiring CFMMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan who
returned to the Cbus Board to replace O’Grady.
Board chair Wayne Swan noted on LinkedIn,
“Under
Kristian’s investment leadership the fund has grown from $12 billion (AUD) in funds
under management to $80 billion (AUD). Kristian embodies the best of the
profit-to-member model and has an unwavering determination to achieve the best
possible retirements for our members.” Fok has been at the fund since
November of 2012, and, according to Swan, is only
the sixth person to hold the position in 40 years.
In
a press release, he noted, “He
innately understands the fund, its heritage, and our connection to the built
environment sector. Kristian is devoted to the profit-to-member model that
underpins industry super funds and the Board looks forward to working with him
to continue delivering for members.”
Andy Greene
TTC Pension Plan in
Toronto essentially created a chief investment officer role for Andy Greene
recently. He has been at the plan since 2017, most recently as managing director of investments. He
is also chair of the investment committee of United Church of Canada and sits on the Investment Committee of
York University Pension Plan. Previously, he held roles running the bulk of
public market investments at OPTrust, and was a vice president of Northern
Trust Corporation in Toronto.
At its inception, when TTC spun out
and became a separate entity, Greene started at the fund as the sole person on
the investment team for the first two years, and slowly built the platform to include a team of investment
professionals to manage its assets and build the framework for the Investment
Policies that reported to the Board of Directors and the Investment Committee. For him, it was a similar
structure to OPTrust, but it also included private investments.
In the future, Greene plans to add three more
people to the investment team over the next 18 months. Its 10-year annualized
return has achieved 7.3%. Its highest returning asset in 2022 was real estate
(much of which is a direct investment in Canadian land), global infrastructure,
and private debt. Greene is currently
increasing allocations to private markets (targeting 40%) and considering geographic
diversification strategies for the portfolio, among other things.