Speaker alumni

Dr. Eliana Marino is the head of the Immunology and Diabetes Research Group at Monash University. She completed her PhD from New South Wales University in 2010, and worked for five years as a research officer and group leader between The Garvan Institute for Medical Research in Sydney and Monash University in Melbourne. She has been awarded with a Career Development Award from JDRF and with the distinguished Type 1 Millenium Award from Diabetes Australia – the largest allocated funding in Victoria. Her latest work has recently been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Immunology, showing her research is at the cutting edge of the field. Dr. Marino’s lab is one of the leading groups worldwide studying the role of diet and the gut microbiota on the development of type 1 diabetes and associated inflammatory complications. She is a contributor to the Athena Swan at Monash University and an enthusiastic South American soccer fan. She is currently investigating innovative dietary technology that boost the good gut microbiota and modulate the immune system to tackle type 1 diabetes. She can be contacted at eliana.marino@monash.edu or on Twitter at @ElianaMarino.

Prof. Samuel Harvey is a leading academic psychiatrist with international standing in clinical and population mental health research. He is committed to addressing the human cost of mental illness and suicide and has a passionate determination to create positive change on a global scale. Originally from Adelaide, Sam initially trained and worked as a GP, before pursuing his passion for mental health and training as a psychiatrist at the internationally renowned Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience in London. He completed his PhD at the University of London in 2011, and in the decade since has continued to practice as both a clinical psychiatrist and researcher.

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Since returning to Australia in 2012, Sam has established new programs of research focused on workplace mental health, models of care for depression, and the overlap between physical and mental health. His research is internationally recognised, with agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) looking to him for advice on how to create more mentally healthy workplaces.

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Most recently, he led the development, delivery, and evaluation of mental health services for Emergency Service workers who responded to the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bush Fires (the Bush Fire Support Service).

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Sam commenced in the role of Executive Director and Chief Scientist with the Institute on 1 November 2021. 

Professor Patrick McGorry (MD, PhD, FRCP, FRANZCP) is the Executive Director of Orygen, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and a Founding Director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace). He is a world-leading researcher in the area of early psychosis and youth mental health, and has been directly involved in research and clinical care for homeless people, refugees and asylum seekers.

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His work has played a critical role in the development of safe, effective treatments for and innovative research into the needs of young people with emerging mental disorders, notably psychotic and severe mood disorders. He has also played a major part in the transformational reform of mental health services to better serve the needs of young people with mental ill-health.

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Professor McGorry was a key architect of the headspace model and has been successful in advocating with colleagues for its national expansion. He has successfully advocated for the establishment of a national early psychosis programme based on the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre model. He is frequently asked to advise on early intervention and youth mental health policy both nationally and internationally.

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Professor McGorry has published extensively in the specialist literature and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Early Intervention in Psychiatry. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. He is current President of the International Association of Youth Mental Health and past President of the Society for Mental Health Research (2013-2017) and the Schizophrenia International Research Society (2016-2018).

John Pearce joined UniSuper as Chief Investment Officer in July 2009. UniSuper is the superannuation fund dedicated to people working in Australia’s higher education and research sector. With more than 410,000 members and $50 billion in net funds under management, is one of Australia’s largest super funds. UniSuper has about 35 investment professionals involved in allocating funds and investing directly across all asset classes both domestically and globally.

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John has over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry both in Australia and Asia. He has held several senior positions including Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Investments of Australia’s largest asset management company, Colonial First State, from 2000 to 2006. From 2006 to 2008 John was the Head of Global Asset Management for Ping An, which is China’s second largest insurance company.

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Tim is Portfolio Manager and Head of Mining Investments at Regal. Prior to joining Regal in January 2018 he spent almost 8 years at Glencore, where as Executive General Manager - Business Development & Strategy, he was Global Head of M&A for the largest division and led a series of landmark transactions. Prior to this Tim spent almost 5 years as an investment banker specialising in mining takeovers & acquisitions as well as capital raisings.

Tim holds a triple degree in Commerce (Finance), Engineering and Laws from the University of Melbourne. He is a CFA Charterholder and completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2016.

Ajay Rajadhyaksha is Global Chairman of Research at Barclays, based in New York. He drives the global macro research and strategy effort, including economics, rates, FX, commodities, emerging markets and asset allocation.

Since joining Barclays in 2005, Ajay has held various positions, including Head of Macro Research, Co-Head of FICC Research and, before that, Head of US Fixed Income Research and US and European Securitised Research.

From 2014 to 2022, Ajay was a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, where he advised the US Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chair on macroeconomic topics.

Mike has held high ranking roles advising the leadership of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense and the intelligence community as well as their international counterparts in the conduct of cyber and intelligence activity across the globe. He helped develop national and international policy with respect to cyber, intelligence, privacy and technology – including extensive work with corporate leadership in the finance, IT, telecommunications and technology –and national security more broadly.
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Mike’s 37 years of naval service culminated in his posting as Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency Director. Prior to his final duties, he also served as Director of Intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Indo-Pacific Command, focusing on issues associated with China and the broader set of global security challenges.
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As a Senior Advisor to Bondi Partners and a board member for multiple private sector companies, Mike leverages his experience for consulting and venture capital initiatives across the globe.

Vihari Ross has over two decades of experience in investment management working across large institutions and boutique investment managers. She is currently a portfolio manager with global coverage at Antipodes Partners, a specialist equities firm managing over $10 billion on behalf of Australian and international investors.

Prior to joining Antipodes, Vihari was a senior investment team member at Magellan Financial Group where she spent over 15 years. She was head of research, responsible for the management of the 30-person global research team prior to her departure, and during this time, she designed the Magellan Core Global strategy and was the Fund’s portfolio manager. Earlier in her career at Magellan, Vihari was sector head of franchises (consumer) and covered the financial and consumer sectors as an investment analyst.

From 2003-2007 Vihari was at Ausbil Dexia, responsible for coverage of the financial and consumer sectors as well as quantitative analysis. She commenced her investing career at Commonwealth Investment Management in a strategy and research role.
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Vihari holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Actuarial Studies and Finance) and a Master of Commerce (Finance) from the University of New South Wales and is an Associate of the Institute of Actuaries.

David Paradice founded Paradice Investment Management in 1999. Paradice Investment Management invests in equities around the world with offices in Australia and the USA. It is a privately owned company with a team of 43 people, with approximately $16.5 billion funds under management.

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David currently sits on the board of The Future Generation Investment Fund a LIC that donates their management fees back to children’s charities.  He supports a number of charities across a number of fields including humanitarian, the arts, environmental, and education. He is Chairman of the Taronga Zoo Conservation Society because of its environmental work especially in the oceans.  He was also assisted in setting the Clean Energy Finance corporation.  In 2017 he  was awarded an AO for distinguished service to the community through philanthropic contributions and charitable support, and to business and commerce in the field of investment management.

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Christina is the founder and portfolio manager of Elephant Asset Management – an investment firm focused on publicly listed small-/mid-cap companies in emerging Asia and Africa. Before that, she was a founding partner and the Chief Investment Officer of Aperios Partners Investment Management, which had a similar investment strategy. Prior to founding Aperios, Christina was a Portfolio Manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (“GSAM”) specialising on international small-/mid-cap companies and China A-shares. In 2004, Christina was selected by the CIO of GSAM as the only non-Chinese national to help establish a Shanghai office and to set up the GSAM A-Share China Fund. She remained in Shanghai until 2008 when she took over GSAM’s International Small-/Mid-cap funds as a co-portfolio manager. Christina began her financial career in 2001, joining GSAM initially as a research analyst before taking on portfolio management responsibilities. She has been a CFA charterholder since 2004 and received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2001.

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Christina started her career in the medical profession, received her Doctor of Medicine from the Technical University in Munich in 1997 and practiced in various emerging countries across Asia and Africa. Christina also obtained a Doctorate in Psychiatry from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich. She is a member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds.

Dr Stewart read the Natural Sciences Tripos at the University of Cambridge (Girton College), obtaining his BA in 2007 and MA in 2009. Following this, he moved to Sydney to work as a research assistant at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute to gain more extensive research experience. He subsequently embarked on a PhD at the University of New South Wales, graduating in 2012. Since then he has built his own research team to tackle important biological questions and his research has provided novel insights into the function of molecules important to disease.

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Dr Stewart’s research is dedicated to explaining the fundamental mechanisms that govern essential biological processes involved in disease, such as energy conversion and protein folding. His team uses a combination of experimental methods, such as X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and intact mass spectrometry. Only by seeing the machinery of life at the atomic scale can we begin to understand life and disease.

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Dr Stewart has received many prestigious awards for his research and science communication.

Jim Mellon is a British entrepreneur and philanthropist who has gained valuable insights into companies and economies which would become drivers of global growth over many decades. Through his private investment company, The Burnbrae Group, he has substantial real estate investments in Germany and in the Isle of Man, and major shareholdings in banking, commodities, leisure and healthcare.

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One of the most successful investors of his generation, Jim’s philosophy is underpinned by his ability to identify “money-fountains” – market trends which leading to step changes and investment opportunities. His first book Wake Up! Survive and Prosper in the Coming Economic Turmoil, foresaw the global financial crisis of 2007-08, while his more recent collaboration Fast Forward, identified technologies and companies which are reshaping lives.

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Jim’s latest book, Juvenescence is about the ‘money-fountain’ idea of longevity science. It is a result of a year’s research into both the science and companies involved in the field of allowing people to live longer and healthier lives.

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Jim is an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, at University of Oxford and is a trustee of the Biogerontology Research Foundation as well as of Lifeboat.

Ricky founded Eminence Capital in 1999. Today, Eminence is a ~$7.8B global investment management organisation investing client capital across global financial markets. As CEO and CIO of Eminence, Ricky is responsible for setting the firm’s strategic direction as well as directly managing its 20+ person investment team and diversified investment portfolio.

Prior to launching Eminence, Ricky was co-founder and co-general partner of Fusion Capital Management, a firm that managed a global long/short equity fund. Prior to that he was a research analyst at Mark Asset Management, where he began his investing career in 1991.

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Ricky received a BBA in Accounting and Finance graduating with honors from the University of Wisconsin. Ricky developed and teaches a capstone Finance course at Wisconsin, Applied Equity Markets Research, and launched Badgers in Finance, a professional and recruitment network for UW students and alumni across financial services. Ricky serves as an advisor on the Investment Committee for the University of Wisconsin Foundation and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Associate Professor Tim Sargeant earned his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2008. He then undertook two postdoctoral roles at the University of Cambridge from 2008 until 2014. At Cambridge, his studies focussed on lysosomes, which are cellular structures that are essential for recycling damaged materials through a process known as autophagy.

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Since 2015, Tim has been at SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) in Adelaide, Australia where he studies the role of lysosomes in Alzheimer’s disease. His work has revealed key connections between lysosomal function and Alzheimer’s disease, particularly the importance of autophagy in clearing build up of a protein called tau, which is a hallmark of the disease.

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Recently, Tim’s focus has shifted to developing tools for measuring human autophagy, with the goal of advancing this research towards preventing age-related diseases.

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Niki is a co-founder of Blackbird, an investment firm with the dream to be a generational owner of generational companies born from Australia and New Zealand. Prior to Blackbird, he founded Startmate, an accelerator that helps nerds with ideas become great CEOs and build global startups. Earlier, he co-founded two software companies.

Blackbird partners with founders at the very beginning and surrounds them with a community of other founders who have built successful technology companies before. The firm began in 2012 and today manages a portfolio of 100+ technology companies worth over $7 billion, with committed capital across five funds.

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Adam Spencer was completing a PhD in Pure Mathematics when he won the national Triple J Raw Comedy championship in 1996. A television/radio career beckoned and Adam completed 15 years as one of Australia’s most respected radio commentators across Triple J and ABC 702.

His dexterity at being both mathematical - authoring eight best-selling books - and verbal - voted best debater in the world at the 1996 World Championships - makes him a curious customer indeed.

Adam is the Ambassador for Science and Mathematics at the University of Sydney, and a celebrated author of seven books, his latest is Maths 101, for Dumb Dads and Desperate Mums.

James Thomson is the senior Chanticleer columnist at The Australian Financial Review. Previously he was the Companies & Markets editor at the AFR, the editor of BRW, the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and a senior editor at Business Spectator. He writes on the Australian corporate sector, markets and global business.

Associate Professor Jill Newby is MRFF Career Development Fellow and Clinical Psychologist at the Black Dog Institute and UNSW. Jill is a leading expert on the technology-based treatment of depression, anxiety and chronic health conditions in adults, and leads a program of research into e-mental health, smartphone apps, and virtual reality interventions.

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Her research aims to improve the lives of people living with depression and anxiety and those at risk, through developing new and improved treatments, focusing on holistic approaches to mental health care, and improving access to affordable, effective treatment.

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Michael Messara is the Co-Chief Investment Officer at Caledonia and sits on the Board of Directors of Caledonia (Private) Investments Pty Limited. Michael joined Caledonia in 2006 after spending five years with UBS AG in Sydney. While at UBS, Michael held a number of roles in equity research with a particular emphasis on the materials, healthcare, media, gaming and small caps sectors. His most recent role before joining Caledonia was Director, Emerging Companies, heading a team of analysts covering Australian listed companies outside the S&P/ASX 100. Michael attended Bond University on a Business School Scholarship and completed a Bachelor of Commerce in 2001, majoring in Finance, Accounting and Economics. Michael is a Non-Executive Director of Arrowfield Pastoral Company.

Fleur has over 25 years investment experience and is portfolio manager and analyst for the Global Equity strategy. Fleur joined Northcape in 2018 and is in our Sydney office.

Before joining Northcape, Fleur was a Managing Director at UBS in Sydney. Having joined UBS in London in 2004 as a European Special Situations Analyst she progressed to Pan European Equity Sales and Account Manager for a range of fundamental hedge funds and long only institutions before returning to Australia with UBS in 2011. Initially Fleur established the business of European and US Equity Sales to investors based in Asia, then took over Global Sales to Australian based investors before eventually running the wider APAC Global Equity sales team. Before moving to the UK Fleur spent five years as a Generalist Equity Research Analyst at Capital Partners (now CP2), a boutique independent research advisory firm with expertise in the infrastructure sector.

Fleur holds a Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours in Finance) from the University of Sydney and is a CFA® Charterholder. In 2017 she completed not-for-profit directorship training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors under The Observership Program®.

Professor Kathryn North AM is Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the David Danks Professor of Child Health Research at the University of Melbourne.

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Professor North is trained as a paediatric physician, neurologist and clinical geneticist and in 1994, was awarded a doctorate for research in neurogenetics. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Harvard Genetics Program.

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Professor North is a national and international leader in the implementation of genomic technologies into clinical practice. She has received a number of awards including the GSK Australia Award for Research Excellence (2011), Ramaciotti Medal for Excellence in Biomedical Research (2012), Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to medical research (2012), and Foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (2014). Professor North chaired the NHMRC Research Committee from 2012-2018, and currently chairs the International Advisory Board of the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UK).

Ian Narev is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). He was appointed to this role in July 2011, with effect from December 2011.

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Ian joined CBA in May 2007. Until January 2009, he was CBA’s head of strategy. From January 2009 until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Ian ran one of CBA’s major operating divisions – Business and Private Banking division.

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During Ian’s time as Chief Executive Officer, CBA has continued its long-standing customer focus. Ian’s priorities have included strengthening diversity and values among CBA’s leaders, building an innovation culture, applying technology to improve customer experience and productivity, and adapting CBA’s businesses to global regulation.

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Prior to joining CBA, Ian was a partner of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm.

David is a founding director of Lanyon Asset Management, a value-oriented equity fund manager established in 2009.

David co-manages both the Lanyon Australian Value Fund and the Lanyon Global Value Fund. Since inception in 2010, the Lanyon Australian Value Fund has generated compound returns of 17.4% whilst maintaining average cash balances in excess of 50% of fund assets.

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Prior to founding Lanyon, David was previously Head of Equities at institutional fund manager, CP2 (formerly Capital Partners). He has over 18 years of funds management experience working for firms in Australia and the UK.

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David has an Economics degree from the University of Adelaide, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (Finsia) and is a CFA charterholder.

Josh co-founded Lux Capital to support scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time in order to lead us into a brighter future. The more ambitious the project, the better—like, say, creating matter from light.

Josh is a Director at Aera Therapeutics, Cajal Neuroscience, Eikon Therapeutics, Impulse Labs, Kallyope, Osmo, Variant Bio, and helped lead the firm’s investments in Anduril, Echodyne, Planet, Hadrian, Osmo and Resilience. Josh is a Westinghouse semi-finalist and published scientist. He previously worked in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney and in capital markets at Merrill Lynch.

Josh is a term member at The Council on Foreign Relations, a Trustee at the Santa Fe Institute, and Chairman of Coney Island Prep charter school, where he grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Economics and Finance.

Geoff Wilson has over 37 years’ direct experience in investment markets having held a variety of senior investment roles in Australia, the UK and the US. Geoff founded Wilson Asset Management in 1997. Geoff created Australia’s first listed philanthropic wealth creation vehicles, Future Generation Investment Company and Future Generation Global Investment Company. Geoff is Chairman of WAM Capital, WAM Leaders, WAM Research, WAM Active and WAM Microcap. Geoff holds a number of additional directorships with investment companies and non-profit organisations.

Paul is the Managing Director of CommSec. CommSec is Australia’s leading online broker providing retail and wholesale clients access to online broking, investment products, advisory services, cash management and gearing solutions through its two businesses; CommSec and CommSec Adviser Services.

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Paul is a Director of the Stockbrokers and Financial Advisers Association and a representative on Commonwealth Bank’s Diversity and Sustainability Councils. Paul holds a Commerce degree and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

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Eric Wong is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Stillpoint Investments, with over twenty years of experience in China’s capital markets. He previously spent more than a decade at Blue Ridge Capital, the hedge fund founded by John Griffin, where he served as Managing Director and led Asia research from Beijing and New York. In addition to overseeing public equity investments, he also led the divestment of the firm’s private equity holdings in China.

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Eric began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley China. He is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and an Asia Society Asia 21 Fellow, and serves on the boards of the American Mandarin Society and Global Women Asia. He holds a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Wong Kok Hoi is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of APS Asset Management Pte Ltd (APS). Established in 1995, APS currently manages USD2.9 billion* in assets. APS’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, foundations, endowments, financial institutions and family offices. Mr. Wong has over 35 years of investing experience in Asia Pacific equity markets.

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Mr. Wong was a Senior Investment Officer, Asia Pacific Equities Department, at GIC from 1981 to 1985. He was CIO of Cititrust and Banking Corporation, Japan from 1986-1990. He was consultant to the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2000 to 2001. He helped the National University of Singapore set up Singapore’s first endowment fund and served on its first Endowment Investment Committee. A Japan Mombusho scholar, he obtained his Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Hitotsubashi University and attended Harvard University’s Investment Appraisal and Management Program. He is a CFA charter holder.