Mercer makes CIO appointment

Mercer makes a permanent appointment to its chief investment officer role.

Monday, August 22nd 2022, 1:39PM

Mercer has appointed Padraig Brown (Paddy) as its chief investment officer, having held the role in an interim capacity since May.

Brown will be taking on permanent responsibility for the New Zealand investment management team and all Mercer funds in New Zealand.

The permanent appointment also sees Brown promoted to Partner.

Pacific chief investment officer Kylie Willment said it was clear throughout the recruitment process that Brown’s track-record and expertise stood out from the talent pool.

“Paddy has been a key leader in the Pacific Investments team and a great partner for our clients for many years. In his previous role as head of real estate for Australia and New Zealand, he made a strong contribution to building high quality, high performing direct property funds which have outperformed their benchmarks by some margin over all time periods,” Willment said.

“He has provided exceptional leadership locally and globally. I have every confidence that our New Zealand funds will reach new heights under his direction,” she said.

Brown has worked extensively overseas, previously employed by Blackrock, JLL and Credit Suisse in London. He then joined Mercer in Sydney in 2011 before returning home to Auckland in 2018.

Brown’s appointment comes at a time of strong growth within the Mercer New Zealand investments business, with three new hires in recent months and client demand for investment solutions rising amidst a challenging economic landscape.

"We are in an extremely challenging period for investment markets with macro dynamics that we haven’t experienced in recent decades and we are ensuring that these risks are prudently managed,” Brown said.

Tags: Mercer