Market Insight - June 2026

Respect the Process

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As we hit the half-way point of 2026, JMES have had a positive H1. Post a strong finish to 2025, there was good momentum heading into 2026, so Q1 was strong and with a pleasing amount of 'growth' i.e. new positions either born out of broader strategic goals, increased deal flow and / or investment opportunities, or even adding product or sector functions locally from prior regional hubs - all very positive.

There is no doubt that there remains pressure on costs across the market from Banking to Funds to Private Capital and large Corporates. We are seeing a number of requests to partner alongside / support clients whilst wanting to source directly [or at least to start] – is this cost or branding related? We do understand and respect the ask – but does it send the right message to market?

In a good amount of cases where the right person has not been secured, JMES has been asked to join in and problem solve. As always, we are here to support our clients and candidates.

A clear and committed go-to-market approach provides a strong signal to the market of the client commitment to solving their hiring need – and a clean efficient process - access to seniors, peers, stakeholders for 360 assessment both ways just minimises surprises and any mixed messaging. We have plenty of examples where hiring success [and then tenure] has occurred from this commitment.

Even with a ‘rush’ on the process to have offer / acceptance secured before headcount is paused or cancelled, it is important to Respect the Process. Whilst a level of urgency is always present, managing expectations [timing, compensation, scope of role] and clear communication is key to securing the right hire to your team.

As always please get in touch with the JMES team to discuss.

“Movers & Shakers”

BANKING & MARKETS

Investment Banking / Advisory

·         Calum Crozier of UBS has jumped ship to Co-Head the natural resources advisory team with Bank of America.

·         JP Brennan has joined E&P Financial Group as a Vice President from Raymond James in Canada where he was Vice President, Investment Banking.

·         James Goswell previously with JP Morgan in New York, has joined Gresham Partners as Vice President.

·         John-Louis Irvine (ex Stanton Road Partners) & Jake Beattie (ex Grant Samuel) have joined Morgan Stanley as Investment Banking Associates in the healthcare & FIG team respectively.  

·         Alex Dennis, ex Ord Minnett, has joined Miles Advisory as a Senior Associate.

·         Andy Hua has joined Citi as an Investment Banking Analyst in the real estate team from Grant Samuel.

·         Sanchay Kalra previously with Bank of America, has joined Deutsche Bank as an Investment Banking Analyst.

·         Clare Lei prior with Jarden’s technology team, has joined JP Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst covering sponsors & general industrials.

·         Allegra Dennison (Dexus) & Finn O’Brien (Pitcher Partners) have joined Allier Capital as Analysts.

·         Qasim Bangash has joined JP Morgan's general industrials & sponsors team as an Analyst from UBS.

Corporate Banking / Debt Products / Risk Management

·         Monica Bartolo, Global Head of Transaction Banking, Financial Institutions Group with ANZ, has joined NAB as Executive, Corporate Banking Client Coverage.

·         Simon Brookes most recently with Acenda, has been appointed as Head of Finance with CIC.

·         Leanne McDougall has been appointed to the role of Chief Risk Officer with ING. Leanne has earlier experience as Chief Risk Officer with Suncorp.

·         Victor Pang previously with BNP Paribas, has joined SMBC as Vice President, Trade Finance.

·         Tony Stoilkovski has joined NAB as Client Director, Government, Education & Community. Tony has prior experience with ANZ Bank most recently as Head of Supply Chain Finance Sales for Victoria.

·         Abdullah Hashmi previously with HSBC, has joined ING as Vice President, Global Corporates & Network Sector Coverage.

·         Steve Zeckovic most recently with Commonwealth Bank, has joined Brookfield as Associate, Capital Markets & Treasury.

Global Markets (FICC & Equities) / Treasury

·         Andrew Johnson of Westpac, has joined ANZ Bank as Executive Director within the debt syndicate team.

·         Andrei Stadnik has departed Morgan Stanley for RBC to lead research in diversified financials & insurers. He brings with him his Associate, Daniel Bounpraseuth.

·         JP Morgan has added to their equity research team with the appointment of Henry Meyer of Goldman Sachs as Lead Analyst & Executive Director for energy & utilities, as well as Junior Analysts, Connor Eldridge (ex Bell Potter) in REITs & Branko Skokic (ex E&P) in mining.

·         Tiffany Chung previously Associate Director, Loan Syndicate with Commonwealth Bank, has joined Bank of America as Vice President, DCM Syndicate.

·         Tayla Coulson, ex Westpac, has joined Barrenjoey as Principal within their DCM team.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

Private Equity / Family Office / Venture Capital

·         Daniel Kearns most recently with Blackstone, has been appointed as Managing Director with KKR, covering Asia Private Equity.

·         Michael Calabrese has been appointed as Partner, Strategic Equity Fund with Quadrant Private Equity, he was previously Director with Ellerston Capital. Philippa Henry has also joined the firm from Bain Capital. She joins as Associate Director in the Growth Fund.

·         Paul Davidson of UBS, has joined Ellerston Capital as Investment Director in their JAADE Fund.

·         Lauren McCullagh has been appointed as Head of Investor Relations with Quadrant Private Equity. Lauren joins from Shenkman Capital Management.

·         Michael Hruby & Andrea Burmeister have joined Cheviot as Executive Director and Head of Investor Relations & Operations respectively. Michael was previously with Quadrant Private Equity & Andrea with Macquarie Asset Management & Wollemi Capital.

·         Leo Pinto previously of Citi, has been appointed to the role of Head of Capital Formation with Airtree.

·         Karina Bradley previously with Stafford Capital Partners, has joined Pacific Equity Partners’ (PEP) buyout team.

·         Ben Sheehan previously with Lone Star Funds in London has joined PEP as Associate Director, Private Equity.

·         Yoo-na Kim from BCG has also joined PEP’s private equity team as an Associate.

·         LVP has seen the additions of Tim Haden (previously Director with ABGF), Luke Blackman (previously with Jefferies) & John Russell (previously with GigaComm as Group Executive, Strategy & Growth) to the team.

·         Zac Ballantyne, ex Nomura has joined Colinton Capital Partners as an Investment Associate.

·         Oscar Wynne (ex Macquarie’s principal finance team) & Lawrence Failla (ex Greenhill & Co.) have joined Black Kite Partners as Investment Associates.

·         Brandon Amaral most recently with Bain & Co, has joined ABGF as an Investment Associate.

·         Cedric Mais joining Vision Invest as an Investment Associate, Private Equity from Friday Capital.

·         Ana Ancuta, ex LVP & Riya Minocha, ex Jefferies have joined EQT Group as Associates.

·         Varun Narayanan has joined Quadrant Private Equity’s growth team as an Investment Analyst from UBS.

·         Sean Montgomery previously with EY, has joined Allier Capital as an Analyst.

·         Oliver Lawrie, Associate Director with VCF Capital Partners has joined Parc’s investment team.

Private Credit / Special Situations

·         Leo Feldman has joined Rixon Capital as Head of Distribution from Russell Investments where he was Director, Key Accounts & Platforms.

·         Rahul Srivatsa previously Investment Director with Alpha Wave Global, has joined Longreach Credit Investors as Director, Origination & Capital Partnerships.

·         Aaron Muller has joined FC Capital as a Director from Muzinich & Co.

·         Tara Collender has joined Longreach Alternatives as a Senior Financial Accountant from Challenger.

Real Assets - Infrastructure / Renewables / Energy / Real Estate

·         Damian Secen has been appointed as Senior Advisor, Energy Transition with HMC Capital.

·         Nathan Thomas of Jarden, has joined Growthpoint Properties as CIO.

·         Iwan Tirta previously with Windlab & Perpetual, has been appointed as Head of Investments with Octopus Australia.

·         Kim Kitchen previously Head of Distribution, Private Capital with Barrenjoey, has been appointed as Co-Head Private Wealth, Private Capital & Private Funds with CapitaLand.

·         North Harbour Clean Energy has seen the addition of Kris Lynch (previously of Brookfield) & Clare McCarrick (ex ZEN Energy) to the team.

·         Heidi Petroff previously of HESTA, has joined Palisade Impact as a Principal.

·         Rob Di Iorio most recently Executive Director with Wingate, has joined Qualitas as Senior Director, Origination.

·         Kanishka Ghoshal previously with Enel Green Power, has joined Indigenous Business Australia as Senior Investment Manager, Direct Investments.

·         Sam Harrison of Barrenjoey, has joined CBRE and will be leading the Victorian capital markets office.

·         Rupert Blunden most recently with Monark Property Partners, has joined MaxCap Group as Director, Investments.

·         Nicholas Lee previously with Morgan Stanley’s real estate investing team, has joined Rava Partners as a Vice President.

·         Aran Anandakumar has joined Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners as a Private Equity Associate, he was previously with Macquarie’s TMET team.

FUNDS MANAGEMENT

Investments & Distribution

·         Adam Quaife has been appointed to the role of Country Head Australia & New Zealand with UBSAM. He was previously Chief Distribution Officer with Perpetual.

·         Craig Keary of Keyview Financial Group, has been appointed as CEO of Raiz Invest.

·         Camilla Love previously of Alpencrest Capital, has joined RBC BlueBay Asset Management as Head of Australia & New Zealand.

·         John Caldwell of Australian Unity, will be joining Alexander Funds as CEO in September.

·         Simon Brinsmead who has prior experience as Challenger’s General Manager, Solutions Group has joined Barrenjoey’s private capital team.

·         Richard Brandweiner, formerly of Pendal, joins Future Fund as CIO.

·         Michael McQueen joins First Super as their as Head of Investments.

·         Simon Aboud, ex Allianz Retire+, is now Head of Strategy at BT Financial.

·         Stuart James is now Head of Distribution for U Ethical Investors. Prior he held senior roles with Apostle Funds Management & Lakehouse Capital. 

·         Kate Misic has been appointed Head of Portfolio Design for HESTA, joining them from Telstra Super. 

·         Rosie Malcolm joins Fidelity as a Portfolio Manager, Global Equities.  Prior she held roles with Magellan and AFIC.

·         Bruna Mazziotti most recently with Westpac, has joined Clean Energy Finance Corporation as Director, Investment Risk.

·         Ivy Hoang & Oliver Arter have joined Aware Super as Investment Analysts Ivy joins from Barrenjoey’s financial services & technology team & Oliver joins from EY-Parthenon.

·         Lisa Pearce who was Head of Distribution & Marketing with Totus Capital, has joined Anacacia Capital’s investor relations team.

·         Mai Platts, ex Bennelong, has joined Natixis Investment Managers as Director, Client Service.

·         Sophia Nadenbousch has joined Salter Brothers as a Distribution Associate. She was previously with AVC Enterprises International.

CORPORATE / GOVERNMENT / C-SUITE

·         Anthony Attia has been appointed to the role of CEO with the ASX. Anthony was Global Head of Derivatives & Post Trade with Euronext.

·         Louise Watson has taken on the CEO role at Evidentia Group, joining them from Natixis Investment Managers.

·         Bruce Nicholson has joined IWS Group as CEO. Bruce was previously Group CEO & Managing Director of Fleetwood.  

·         James Allaway, Chief Strategy Officer of FleetPartners, has been appointed as CFO with L1 Capital.

·         Andrew Kitchen has joined stablecoin issuer AUDC as CFO.  Prior he held senior finance roles with Westpac, IAG & Macquarie.

·         Kate Thompson most recently BDM with Wesfarmers, has joined Guzman Y Gomez as Head of Investor Relations & Strategy.

·         James Curll prior with PwC, has joined DyFlex Solutions as a Corporate Development and FP&A Manager.

·         Caroline Flynn prior with Partners in Performance, has joined Birch & Waite as Innovation Program Manager.  

·         Richard Jiang has joined BlastOne from BAI Communications as APAC Finance Manager.

·         Ashley White, ex Quadrant Private Equity, has joined Wesfarmers as a Project Principal.

We are keen to hear your feedback or should you require further information, please contact us on 02 9235 9400 or nfoster@jmes.com.au

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