PEOPLE

 


David WrightDavid Wright
Director
BCom. Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment (SIA)

David Wright is a Director and joint founder of Zenith Investment Partners, the research business he established in November 2002. David has over 19 years investment industry experience, and is heavily involved in all aspects of the Zenith business, including manager research, model portfolio construction and participation in client investment committee meetings.

Prior to establishing Zenith, David held a position as Head of Research at IWL Ltd, an ASX listed company in which he was also a significant equity holder. In his role at IWL (formerly, IWL and AssetWare) David was responsible for managing a team of managed fund and equity analysts with the objective of producing investment research and ratings / recommendations for advisers and members of the firm's retail investment site. Specifically, David was instrumental in building and further developing IWL's managed investment research methodology and process and expanding the group's distribution of research to financial advisers.

Other prior roles included a position as Associate Director and Head of Managed Funds research at Lonsdale Limited, a national financial planning and stockbroking group, and a position as an investment analyst with the Advisor Group, also a national financial planning group. As a result, David has extensive experience researching, assessing and rating all forms of managed investments including, managed funds, property syndicates, tax effective investments and other managed investment schemes. David is also a former practitioner lecturer of the Securities Institute of Australia (now FINSIA).

 

 

David SmytheDavid Smythe
Director
BCom. Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment (SIA)

David Smythe is a Director and joint founder of Zenith Investment Partners, the research business he established in November 2002. David has been in the investment industry for over 16 years and is heavily involved in all aspects of the Zenith business, including manager research, model portfolio construction and participation in client investment committee meetings.

Prior to forming Zenith, David held the position of General Manager - Managed Funds at IWL Ltd, an ASX listed company. An equity holder in that business since its establishment, David played an integral role in its growth, and at time of his departure IWL Ltd was an employer of 120+ staff, the largest provider of adviser software, and a top 3 provider of managed funds research.

David commenced his working career with AXA Funds Management in a role providing research to its institutional client base, before moving to Lonsdale Securities as a Senior Investment Analyst.

 

 

Ben Davis
Associate Director
BBus. Economics & Finance, CIMA (Certified Investment Management Analyst)

Ben Davis is an Associate Director of Zenith Investment Partners and has over 11 years industry experience. Ben joined Zenith Investment Partners in October 2003, and is currently heading up Zenith’s Sector Research division.

Ben is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA). In 2008, Ben was awarded the BlackRock sponsored CIMA Scholarship for Retail Managed Funds and Master Trust Research Analysts.

Since joining Zenith, Ben has been involved in leading manager reviews across a broad range of asset classes including international equities, fixed interest, mortgages, property and alternatives. Ben has completed on-site manager reviews in several of the world’s major financial capitals across the US, Europe and Asia. Ben has also specialised in portfolio construction and the formulation of customised approved product lists for financial advisers, dealer groups and master fund and wrap account providers. This role involved chairing investment committee meetings and presenting portfolio updates to these clients on a regular basis. More recently, Ben has been focussed on structured products research.

Ben previously held a role as a Senior Investment Analyst at IWL Ltd, where he was a pivotal member of the manager review team. Ben commenced his finance industry career in a project management role at Bridge Information Systems, a global financial software provider, where he helped establish the software provider's presence in the Asia/Pacific region.

 

 

Glen Franklin
Associate Director
Graduate Diploma Applied Finance & Investment (SIA)

Glen Franklin is an Associate Director of Zenith Investment Partners and has over 10 years industry experience. Glen joined Zenith in January 2005, following research roles within both the wholesale and retail markets.

Glen is involved in all aspects of the Zenith business, with a particular focus on constructing client model portfolios and chairing client investment committee meetings. Since joining Zenith, Glen has been involved in leading manager reviews across a broad range of asset classes including Australian equities, international equities, property and alternatives. Glen has completed on-site manager reviews in several major financial capitals, including London, Hong Kong, Boston, Chicago and New York.

Glen’s extensive background in financial services has included an Investment Analyst role at Intech Investment Consultants, followed by a Senior Investment Analyst role at IWL Limited, where he was a vital cog within a two member manager research team.

Glen has successfully completed the Level 1 exam of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

 

 

John Nicoll
National Sales Manager
BA, Grad Dip (Hons) Property Investment and Development

John is National Sales Manager and is responsible for developing and servicing the investment research requirements of Zenith's financial adviser client base.

With 20 years experience in sales and marketing, the last seven in the financial services industry, John has worked extensively with financial advisers both as a product provider and in the provision of research support. John joined Zenith from the Macquarie Group where he was a Key Account Manager in their real estate funds management division. Prior to that he was Manager of Client Services at PIR, the independent Property Funds Investment research group. John has a Bachelor of Arts and a graduate diploma in Property investment and development with honours from RMIT.

 

 

Dugald Higgins
Senior Investment Analyst
Advanced Diploma Rural Bus Mgmt, BBus. & Associate AICD

Dugald Higgins is a Senior Investment Analyst at Zenith Investment Partners and has over 10 years experience in the investment research industry, specialising in a wide range of listed and unlisted property funds as well as agribusiness managed investment schemes. Dugald Joined Zenith in January 2009 and is responsible for driving Zenith’s investment research into direct property and agribusiness funds.

Prior to joining Zenith, Dugald was an Associate Director at Property Investment Research, where he was responsible for the operational management of the business in the research and ratings of A-REITs, unlisted property trusts and syndicates, property securities funds, a wide range of mortgage funds and other property backed debt securities as well as agribusiness funds. Prior to this, Dugald was a Senior Investment Analyst with Adviser Edge Investment Research, a boutique provider of research into the Agribusiness sector.

Dugald comes from an agricultural background and holds an Advanced Diploma in rural business management, a Bachelor of Business and is also an Associate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Dugald’s in-depth knowledge of the property and agribusiness sectors has resulted in him being regularly sought as an industry commentator in a wide range of national media publications and industry journals.

 

 

Daniel Liptak
Head of Alternatives Research
BA (Acc) Uni SA, CPA, Series 7

Daniel brings extensive financial industry experience including 15 years in the hedge fund environment, which started in risk management at the Goldman Sachs prime brokerage desk in London. He then became an associate director of sales and prime brokerage at UBS Warburg.

Daniel later took on a role as head of alternative research at ASSIRT (now Standard & Poor’s) before becoming head of research and portfolio manager for Rubicon Asset Management Ltd.

In 2004, he established LCA Group Pty Ltd, a hedge fund intelligence business that focused on the Australian industry and Australian based products, providing league tables and news to offshore and domestic investors. Daniel and his business partner sold LCA Group to ICAP Australia (a subsidiary of ICAP PLC) in 2006.

Daniel’s work assessing the qualitative and quantitative strengths and weaknesses of hedge funds helps portfolio managers construct quality fund of funds while also encouraging greater awareness of hedge funds within the community.

Daniel has contributed to various research studies by Australian government bodies including the Reserve Bank of Australia and to various international magazines.

Daniel is currently enrolled and undertaking the CFA program.

 

 

James Tsinidis
Senior Investment Analyst
BCom.

James joined Zenith Investment Partners in December 2004 and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from La Trobe University. James is currently undertaking the Master of Applied Finance course at Macquarie University.

In the role of Investment Analyst, James holds a central position within the Zenith sector review team. James has reviewed and completed product assessment reports on an array of investment products within a number of asset classes including Australian equities, international equities, property, fixed interest, mortgages, diversified and alternatives.

 

 

Andrew Cassar
Investment Analyst
BBus. Financial Risk Management & International Trade

Andrew joined Zenith Investment Partners in June 2008 and holds a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in Financial Risk Management and International Trade from Victorian University. Andrew is currently enrolled as a Level 1 candidate in the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

Andrew’s prior industry experience included roles at IOOF Investment Management Ltd and Victorian Teachers Credit Union as a paraplanner servicing Financial Advisers from various Dealer Groups. In these roles Andrew was responsible for constructing Statements of Advice (SOA) covering Centrelink, Retirement Planning, Wealth Creation and Debt Management. As a result, Andrew has an excellent understanding of the financial planning process and overall portfolio construction. Andrew’s paraplanning experience has also provided him with strong analytical skills and sound product knowledge of funds and fund managers which is invaluable in his research role.

 

 

Steven Tang
Investment Analyst
BPharm. Graduate Diploma Applied Finance & Investment (FINSIA)

Steven joined Zenith Investment Partners in June 2008 as an investment analyst in his first role in the financial services industry. Previously Steven worked in the retail pharmacy industry as a practicing pharmacist.

Steven has extensive academic qualifications including a Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Commerce, Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment and has successfully completed the Level 2 exam of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program and is currently enrolled as a Level 3 candidate. As such, Steven brings deep analytical skills and knowledge to his role at Zenith.

 

 

Graeme Miller
Investment Analyst
BBus.Com

Graeme joined Zenith Investment Partners in February 2009 and holds a Bachelor of Business and Commerce degree majoring in Accounting and Banking and Finance from Monash University.

Prior to joining Zenith, Graeme spent 3 years as an Investment Analyst with Jeena Limited, where he gained extensive experience in completing portfolio reviews for HNW clients, actively monitoring funds on the Recommended Product List, and providing input as a member of the Investment Committee. Graeme was also a regular contributor to the firms investment market summaries and investor communications.

Graeme is currently enrolled as a Level 1 candidate in the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) program.

 

 

Nicholas Busst
Investment Analyst

Nicholas Busst joined Zenith Investment Partners in December 2008 and is currently completing the third year of his Bachelor of Business degree.

Employed in a data analyst role, Nicholas is responsible for all fund manager data collection, population of proprietary internal databases, production of risk and return analytics and general fund manager communication and liaison.

Nicholas also assists other members of the investment team with various analytical tasks pertaining to the fund manager review process.

 

 

Trudy Greeves
Office Manager

With over 15 year’s administrative experience, half of which has been within the financial services sector, Trudy joined Zenith in November 2007, providing day to day administrative support to the Investment Team.

Trudy previously worked for IWL Ltd as General Manager Administration and provided Executive Assistant support to the CEO. Prior to this, Trudy was employed within the food industry and held various roles, most of which supported high level executives, at Ricegrowers’ Co-operative (SunRice) and ICM Australia Pty Ltd (Uncle Toby’s and Berrivale Orchards).