Market Insight - September 2025

Don’t Die Wondering – A Valuable Life Philosophy Being Embraced By Many

Looking over a truly bumper edition of our Insight I had the above life statement ringing in my head. Even with - or maybe as a result of - a low deal environment we seem to be witnessing an increasing trend of professionals embracing this mantra.

On the lower end of the risk spectrum we’ve seen many move from boutique firms to full service IB or vice versa, while others are moving from sell side to principal (fund or corporate) in search of career enrichment.

Those of a more adventurous nature have taken to setting up their own fund or advisory firm, launch their own business or perhaps even roll the dice and go overseas in pursuit of fame and fortune. We’ve also seen those make complete career shifts to follow a particular passion or to scratch a career itch, with examples including some who have retrained to pursue careers in healthcare or education.

We’ve even witnessed a couple of talented young finance professionals give up their highly sought after advisory roles to give being a touring DJ a go - and why not when it’s rumoured that the top DJ’s can earn tens of millions of dollars!

As they say don’t die wondering 🤔

“Movers & Shakers”

BANKING & MARKETS

Investment Banking / Advisory

• Mark Lewkovitz has founded Asymmetry Capital, a boutique corporate advisory firm. Mark was most recently Managing Director with Stanton Road Partners.

• Alvina Galstian has joined Morgan Shaw Advisory as a Director from Latimer Partners.

• Jack Ryan most recently with UBS, has joined Barrenjoey as a Director in the technology team. Maurice Sayegh will also be joining the team as a Principal in the technology team from Deloitte.

• Thomas Stevens has joined JP Morgan as an Executive Director from Cadence Advisory.

• Deren Bozdag previously in London with TH Global Capital as a Senior Advisor, has joined Parable in Sydney as an Associate Director.

• James Taylor is relocating from Rothschild New York to join Gresham as Vice President.

• Joseph Lee previously Investment Manager with 248 Growth Partners, has rejoined Bank of America. Nathan Brown has also joined the firm’s TMT team as an Investment Banking Associate from Greenhill & Co.

• Sam Murphy, ex Evercore New York has joined Jarden Sydney as an Associate in the General Industrials team.

• Lachlan McRae previously Investment Banking Associate in Macquarie’s infrastructure & energy team, has joined BCG as a Junior Consultant.

• Bilal Ibrahim most recently with Greenhill & Co, has joined Jefferies as an Associate. Joseph Blackburn has also joined the firm as an Investment Banking Analyst in the FIG team from Allunga Advisory.

• Genevieve Morris has joined Azure Capital as an Associate from KPMG’s deal advisory team.

• Amber Sun prior with Cbus Super Fund has joined Adamantem Capital as a Senior Associate, Sustainability. Whilst Lucas Wong from Kearney has joined as an Investment Associate.

• Oliver Henderson previously Senior Associate with Azure Capital, has joined Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure & energy transition team as an Associate.

• Charlotte Cockerill has moved across to Miles Advisory Partners in Sydney as an Associate, from Lincoln International London. Alexander Hooper has also joined the firm from PwC as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Brian Ko, ex Lendi & Challenger, has joined Nomura as an Executive Director in the FIG team. Meggie Mai, ex KPMG has also joined the bank as an Investment Banking Associate in the Technology, Media & Services team.

• Ella Vu, ex Luminis Partners, has joined JP Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Will Condon, Analyst with Nash Advisory & Capital & Tom Harris Analyst M&A with Deloitte have both joined Flagstaff Partners.

• Yousef Alameddine previously Senior Analyst, M&A Valuations with Deloitte, has joined AE Advisors as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Dylan Cannon has joined Lazard as an Investment Banking Analyst from William Buck.

• Greg Sang, ex MA Financial Group, has joined Genesis Advisory as an M&A Analyst.

• Tania Aghrel most recently with Deloitte has joined MA Financial Group’s technology team as an Analyst.

• Amy Shi, ex MA Financial Group’s technology team, has joined Greenstone Partners as an Investment Banking Analyst.

• Cassandra Friedman has joined Equion Capital as an M&A Analyst from FTI Consulting.

• Angus Briggs has joined Grant Samuel as an Analyst from TCA Partners.

• Kristen Karamoutsos from Wilsons Advisory has joined E&P Financial Group as an Investment Banking Analyst.

Corporate Banking / Debt Products / Risk Management

• Samantha Ridler has been appointed as Managing Director & Head of FIG ANZ with Natixis CIB. Samantha was most recently with Macquarie as Director, Group Funding Investor Relations & Sustainable Finance.

• James Park leaves Bank of America as a Director to join JP Morgan as Executive Director, Global Corporate Banking.

• Erin Clarke previously with MA Financial Group as Investment Director, has joined Macquarie as Director & Deal Lead in the corporate & institutional bank.

• Nick Janes has joined Faraday Associates to lead their Debt Advisory practice. Nick was most recently with Archibald Capital.

• Chrissy O’Brien most recently with the Department of Regional NSW as Senior Investment Manager, Clean Economy, has joined ING as Director, Real Estate.

• Alok Jhingan who was Head of Leveraged & Acquisition Finance with Citi has joined Standard Chartered as an Executive Director / Head of Investors Coverage.

• Shruti Sudhakaran has joined DBS Bank as a Vice President in the energy, renewables & infrastructure team from ARENA.

• Swei Tang previously with Westpac, has joined Commonwealth Bank as an Associate Director, in the private equity financing team.

• Andrew Clements earlier with Scotiabank, has joined UOB as First Vice President.

• MUFG sees the addition of Vivian Yeoh (ex NAB) & Jordan Smith (ex Barclays London) as Vice Presidents, Financial Institutions.

• Thiago Amaral, ex Commonwealth Bank, has joined Bank of America as Vice President, Syndicated & Leveraged Finance.

• Angus Buckland previously with Nomura, has joined Barclays as a Vice President in the leveraged finance team.

• Will Scribner previously with Aurecon’s infrastructure advisory, has joined Green Giraffe as an Analyst.

Global Markets (FICC & Equities) / Treasury

• James Cornell has been appointed as Head of Equity Sales ANZ with Goldman Sachs, departing from RBCCM. Joining the Melbourne equity sales team is David Welsh. David has prior experience with UniSuper.

• Jonathan Ng previously with Societe Generale, has joined Credit Agricole as Director, DCM.

• Stephen McCabe has joined ANZ as Head of Structured Capital Markets from NAB where he was Executive Director, Securitisation.

• Kelly Davidson has joined BNP Paribas as Associate Director, Credit Sales. She joins from HSBC’s multi-asset solution sales team.

• Sally Adams previously with Barclays London, has joined Bank of America’s Sydney DCM team.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

Private Equity / Family Office / Venture Capital

• Robin Lowe has been appointed as Head of North America with Regal Partners. Robin joins from 33 Capital Management New York.

• Samuel Green has been appointed as Managing Director, Real Estate with Goldman Sachs. He was previously Principal with Apollo Global Management.

• Neil Stanford has joined Escala Partners as an Investment Specialist, Alternatives. Neil has prior experience Consulting for CEFC as well as having been Head of Private Equity with Hostplus.

• Patrick Rodden of EQT Group has joined Five V Capital as a Managing Director. Gemma Bishop most recently with Wollemi & Max Hastings most recently with Affinity Equity Partners are also joining the Five V team.

• George Wroe previously with Wesfarmers, is joining Anchorage Capital Partners as a Director.

• Andrew Spence most recently CIO with Qantas Superannuation, has joined Omnia Capital Partners as Partner & CIO.

• Nicola Forrest’s family office Coaxial has seen the appointments of Richard Harris (from Afterpay) as CIO as well as Sameer Vij (from Aveo) as CFO.

• Jaan Piirlaid who was Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Australian Head of Risk, Structuring & Execution has joined Alceon.

• Michael McCormack previously with Liverpool Partners, has joined Glow Capital Partners as an Associate Director.

• Jordan Jeffery has left GrainCorp where he was a Strategy Manager, GrainCorp Ventures & is joining Artesian as a Principal.

• Dana Liu, ex Bowmark Capital London & Crescent Capital Partners, has joined Advent International as a Vice President. Helen Wang, ex Macquarie has also joined the team as an Associate.

• Samantha Carberry from Pacific Equity Partners is joining Bain Capital’s private equity team as a Principal.

• Lucy McDonald has joined Roc Partners in the role of Chief of Staff. Lucy has prior experience with JP Morgan as an Investment Banking Associate.

• Freddie Grimwade previously of Connaught & Harbourvest Partners in London, has joined Community Capital Melbourne as an Investment Manager.

• Jack Ma has joined PAG’s Buyout Fund in Singapore from LEK Consulting where he was Chief of Staff.

• Stephanie Chan, ex Samaipata London has joined Whiteoak as an Investment Manager.

• Lizzie Durack previously Goldman Sachs London, has joined KKR Sydney as Principal, Client Solutions.

• Ben Scott is joining River Capital as an Associate, Strategic Investments from Alchemy Partners.

• Potentia Capital bolsters the team with the additions of Kyle Solterbeck (ex Bain & Company), Sachin Samarawickrama (ex Folklore Ventures) & Kojin Minorikawa (ex Bain & Company) as Investment Associates, as well as Bryony Lowe (ex Clearwater UK) as a Sourcing Associate.

• Rohan Costello (ex Citi) has joined Allegro Funds as an Associate.

• Tom Brand, ex Rangatira Investments has joined Tasman Capital Partners as an Investment Associate.

• Arthur Huang has joined the Whiteoak team as an Investment Associate from Partners in Performance.

• Lan Do (ex Jefferies) & Henry Waterhouse (ex Houlihan Lokey) have joined Liverpool Partners as Investment Associates.

• Dean Psihoyos prior with Macquarie as an Investment Banking Associate, has joined EQT Group as an Associate.

• James Baraceros, ex Point Capital has joined TPG Angelo Gordon as an Associate.  

• Dean Nathanson most recently from Citi as an Investment Banking Associate, has joined SecondQuarter Venture’s investment team.

• Grace Dalla-Bona most recently with Barrenjoey, has joined Square Peg as an Associate.

• Anthony Fisher, ex RBCCM has joined Next Capital as an Investment Associate.

• Nick Healy has joined Mercury Capital Investments as an Associate from BCG in London.

• Elaine Yan & Paul Han prior with Bain & Company and Teoh Capital respectively, have joined Genesis Capital as Investment Associates.

• Sinead McCraith (ex LEK Consulting) & Edward Jiang (ex BCG) have joined Crescent Capital Partners as Private Equity Associates.

• Harry Head joined Alceon as a Private Equity Associate from Jefferies.

• Divine Aaron, ex Software Combined is joining Folklore as an Investment Associate.

• Leo Liu, ex RSM has joined Roadnight Capital as an Investment Analyst.

• Lucas Lin previously with McKinsey & Company has joined IFM Investors as an Investment Analyst.

• Nick Ryan has joined Quadrant Private Equity’s strategic equity fund as an Investment Analyst from Crescent Capital Partners.

• Ashley Torrington prior with EY, has joined Future Now Capital as an Investment Analyst.

• Kriti Maheshwari, ex Transurban & UBS, has joined StepStone Group as an Analyst.

• Andrew Meng previously Goldman Sachs NZ, has joined Affinity Equity Partners as a Private Equity Analyst.

• Campbell Thompson prior with Pacific Partners, has joined AVC Enterprises International as an Investment Analyst.

Private Credit / Special Situations

• Cameron Mar prior with Tanarra Credit Partners, has joined HMC Capital’s private credit team.

• David Porter from Qualitas, has been appointed as Head of Institutional Capital with Capital Prudential.

• Luke Jaggar most recently with UBS London as Executive Director, Corporate Lending, has been appointed as Head of Risk, Lending with Centuria Bass Credit Sydney.

• Stanley Hsieh has joined Aura Group as a strategy lead. Stanley was previously with MA Financial Group as an Executive Director.

• Juan Manas of Goldman Sachs has been appointed as Managing Director of Wingate and will lead its private credit venture.

• Paulina Ting, ex Challenger, has joined BlackRock as Principal, Asset-Backed Finance.

• Tom Watson has joined Qualitas as Director, Origination from Payton Capital where he was a Relationship Director.

• Sam Sullivan has joined Capital Prudential as a Business Development Manager from 360 Capital.

• Sam Humphry has joined Pacific Equity Partners’ capital solutions team as an Associate. Sam joins from Ellerston Capital.

• Clare O’Donnell has joined amicaa as an Analyst, Private Debt from Commonwealth Bank where she was an Analyst, Corporate Origination.

• Teresa Jiang has joined Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the private credit & hybrid capital team from Deutsche Bank.

• Alex Jarmyn previously with Macquarie’s investment banking team, has joined Parc Capital’s investment team.

• Alexander Fontana previously Associate Director with Rothschild & Co. has joined Keyview Financial Group as an Investment Associate.

• Jae Park has joined Metrics Credit Partners as an Associate Director in Structured Credit Originations from NAB. Razin Malek has also joined the firm as an Investment Analyst from Findex’s corporate finance team.

• Anupam Nahar has joined the leveraged finance / fixed income credit team with Challenger Investment Management. He was previously with CBA.

• Rebecca Chong has joined IFM Investors as an Associate, Debt Investments from Commonwealth Bank’s private equity & leveraged finance team.

• Greta Bennett, ex Bank of America, has joined PEP’s Capital Solutions team as a Senior Analyst.

Real Assets - Infrastructure / Renewables / Energy / Real Estate

• Charlie Reid Managing Director and Head of APAC Renewable Infrastructure Investment for BlackRock Alternative Investors, has been hired by PAG.

• Mary Zhu previously with Brookfield Asset Management, has joined EQT Partners as Director, Infrastructure.

• Josh Peel of JP Morgan, has been appointed as Head of Capital with Wentworth Capital.

• Julian Babich who was Head of Infrastructure, Australia with Jefferies has moved to KKR and will be reporting to Head of Infrastructure, Andrew Jennings.

• Camille Anderson has been appointed as the region’s Managing Director for Iris Capital Investment. Camille joins from KPMG where was Director, ECM.

• Kay Stuart of APA Group, has been appointed to lead Future Fund’s energy transition strategy team. Alex Karroum has also joined the firm as Director, Infrastructure from CPP Investments.

• Andy Powell previously Director with Green Giraffe Advisory, has joined JLL as Head of Energy & Infrastructure, ANZ.

• Karl Marschall joins AustralianSuper at the end of the month as a Director in their Real Assets team from JP Morgan, where he was an Executive Director in the infrastructure & utilities team.

• Danton Hui has joined Brookfield Asset Management as Vice President, Global Data Centres from CPP Investments.

• Harrison Emms has joined Igneo Infrastructure Partners as a Senior Associate from Barrenjoey where he was Founding Principal, Corporate Finance.

• Gabriel Lipinski, ex Westpac Senior Associate, Project Finance, has joined Capella Capital as an Analyst.

• Natasha Mawjee previously with Wesfarmers’ health division, has joined Jagen as an Investment Associate.

• Kimberley Hince previously Senior Associate with Azure Capital has joined Stonepeak.

• Emma Donovic has joined QIC as Associate, Energy & Utilities from UBS.

• Tom Scholes, ex Jarden has joined Charter Hall as Analyst, Investments.

• Sam Merrick has joined Energy Bay as an Analyst, Strategy from UBS.

FUNDS MANAGEMENT

Investments & Distribution

• John Moorhead has been appointed as Public Equity Strategist with Australian Retirement Trust. John was prior with Maple-Brown Abbott as Head of Global Emerging Markets.

• Violeta Kelly has joined PIMCO as an Institutional Account Manager from Tanarra Capital where she was a Managing Director.

• Nathan Parkin, ex Perpetual, has joined Australian Ethical as their Head of Equities.

• Matthew Griffith, ex JANA Investment Advisers, has been appointed as Head of Investment Oversight at Channel Capital.

• Linda Trusler, ex Legal Super, has joined JANA as a Senior Consultant.

• Matt Willis, ex Vanguard & Aware Super has joined HUB24 in the newly created role of EGM, Platform Growth.

• Caitlin Leopold has joined Wollemi as a Fundraising Manager. She has experience with RBC’s ECM team both in London & Sydney.

• Carlo Ramirez has joined Aware Super as Senior Portfolio Manager, Macro Strategies. Prior experience with Eisler Capital Management in London, Segantii, BAML & Credit Suisse.

• William Taylor has been appointed as COO with ETF Shares from Global X ETFs where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager.

• Charles Brooks joins Atrium as a Client Portfolio Manager. He previously held roles with Platinum & IFM.

• Rachael Boyte, ex Aware Super & Macquarie, is now a Portfolio Manager at PIMCO.

• Cathie Catalan Wilson has joined MA Financial Group as a Distribution Associate from Pacific Equity Partners.

• Oliver Coombs has joined Samuel Terry Asset Management as an Analyst from JP Morgan.

CORPORATE / GOVERNMENT / C-SUITE

• John Banfield from illion has been appointed as CEO of GROW Inc.

• Alice Tang who was COO & Managing Director, Asset Management with MA Financial Group, has been appointed as Co-CEO with Amplify AI Group.  

• Hayden O’Kelly has joined Lighthouse Service Partners (backed by Alpine Investors) as Head of M&A from Arcus Partners where he was an Investment Director. Benjamin O’Brien who was Associate Director, M&A Advisory with Deloitte, has also joined Lighthouse as Head of Partnerships.

• Nicholas Mant, ex NAIF CRO has gone to NRFC as CRO.

• Susan Looi has been appointed as CRO with AIA Australia. She was most recently General Manager Enterprise Risk with ANZ Bank.

• Natalie Alford previously with Equip Super has been appointed as CRO with HESTA.  

• Pretar Caroline Harris has joined Housing Australia as CIO from Brookfield where she was Senior Vice President, Real Estate Investing.

• Raveen Sritharan previously with HSBC, has been appointed as a CRO with NAIF.  

• Simon Beavis has joined Ord Minnett as COO. Prior he held COO roles at UBS & Credit Suisse.

• Kevin Martin previously of Jefferies, has joined Allegro Funds as their COO.

• Katia Khvatova previously Partner, Leader of ANZ Technology Media & Telecom with McKinsey & Company, has been appointed as COO & Partner with Potentia Capital.

• Jeanette Royce has been appointed as CFO of VicGrid from Macquarie where she was a Division Director.

• Andy Hubbard previously Director, Global Financial Advisory with Rothschild & Co has joined Coles Group as Head of Corporate Development.

• Neeraj Aggarwal previously with Australian Impact Investments, has joined the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation as a Director.

• Byron Gordon has joined Kingsgate Consolidated as Head of Corporate Development & Strategy from Wilsons Advisory where he was Head of Debt Advisory.  

• Boris Borisov most recently Business Development Manager, Commercial with Wesfarmers, has joined IGO as Head of Growth based in Perth.

• Liezel Preller previously Head of Quality & Simplification with Westpac, has joined The GPT Group’s risk & compliance team.  

• Jason Mabee, ex Alinta Energy, has joined Ampol as General Manager, Group Strategy & Corporate Development.

• Robert Foulkes prior with workforce.com & Palisade Investment Partners, has joined CIMIC Group’s Corporate Development, Strategy & Investment team.

• Peter Nazareth has joined Fortescue as Lead Corporate Development. He was most recently with Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia & prior with Orora.

• Scott Norman, ex Liverpool Partners, has joined Coda Carbon as a Senior Commercial & Strategy Manager.

• Crystal Shen from 333 Capital, has joined Telstra as a Mergers and Acquisitions Manager.

• Ed Johnston has joined Ausgrid as an Assistant Group Treasurer. Ed was most recently with Consolidated Press Holdings.  

• Govind Singh, ex Ampol has joined AirTrunk as an Associate Vice President, Energy Strategy.

• Primal de Silva, ex Magellan Financial Group, has joined Lighthouse Service Partners as an M&A Associate.

• Elise Marcun who was with Barrenjoey has joined Guzman y Gomez as an Analyst, Investor Relations.

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

The content or this document is not to be copied or reproduced without the prior consent of the Directors of JMES.