Devon grabs high profile CIO from bank

Devon Funds Management has appointed a new chief investment officer who has for many years been with one of its competitors.

Monday, August 21st 2017, 6:01AM

Mark Brown has taken on the role of CIO at Devon after spending many years as Head of Australasian Equities at ANZ.

Devon chairman Paul Glass says he is one of New Zealand’s most experienced investment managers, having enjoyed a long and successful career at ANZ.

"Mark will have specific responsibility for Devon’s New Zealand-only equity funds, and will assist portfolio manager Chris Gaskin with management of the Devon Australasian portfolios when he joins Devon in January 2018."

Devon managing director Slade Robertson will also resume the role of Investment Committee Chair until Brown joins Devon. "Robertson is one of New Zealand’s most experienced and respected investment professionals and has previously held the role of Investment Committee Chair," Glass says.

Robertson said Devon is committed to delivering superior investment performance for its investors. "We are confident that these appointments will ensure we remain well placed to do so.”

Richard O’Brien, previously Head of Investments at Sovereign Insurance, has joined the wider group in a senior management role. O'Brien has previously had responsibility for several billion dollars in funds on behalf of ASB and Sovereign, and had management responsibility for over 25 staff.

Mark Brown was appointed Head of Equities at ANZ Investments in December 2011 and became Australasian Head of Equities in March 2014. As well as having final responsibility for the overall domestic equity proposition, he manages the Australasian equity strategy.

He joined ANZ in 2002 as an investment analyst in the equities team. He was promoted to Head of Research in 2005, and in 2006 he became an Investment Manager, responsible for ANZ Investments’ Trans-Tasman equity mandates.

Previously, Brown was Director at HSBC Asset Management. He started his career as a financial controller in South Africa, later joining Foord Asset Management in 1997.

Tags: ANZ Devon FM equities investment Paul Glass