OpenDoor Securities, J. O. Hambro Capital Management and newly named Pelican also have People Moves news.
TA Associates Backs Aussie-Focused Investment Capabilities and Fund Platform
TA Associates, a private equity firm, reports that it has signed a definitive agreement to back a management buyout of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Australian-focused investment capabilities and fund platform.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by year-end, Boston-based TA Associates says, adding that the company will “rebrand accordingly.”
GSAM’s “core offering is its Fundamental Australian Equities product set, consisting primarily of long only concentrated strategies,” according to a TA statement. “The firm’s fixed income capabilities include Multi-Asset and Hybrid strategies. The Company serves the Australian institutional and retail markets, and it also distributes Australian investment products overseas, including in Japan. The Company has more than A$8 billion [USD 6.1 billion] in assets under management.”
The GSAM senior management participating in the buyout includes Dion Hershan, who will be managing director of the new entity, and will “continue to lead the Australian Equities investment team, focusing on large cap equities”; Katie Hudson, who will “co-lead the Australian equities team, focusing on the small and mid-cap universe”; and Roy Keenan, who will be fixed income portfolio manager, TA says.
TA Associates, with offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong, spotlights the “more than 460 companies around the world” in which it has invested and the $24 billion in capital it has raised.
OpenDoor Hires Treasury & Banking Veteran
Michael Paulus, senior managing director, OpenDoor
OpenDoor Securities, which will launch its proprietary trading platform in Q4 2016, has appointed Michael Paulus senior managing director.
Paulus, a U.S. Treasury markets and global banking veteran with more than 34 years of industry experience, will be responsible for strengthening relationships with central banks and expanding OpenDoor’s footprint beyond those already on-board the platform, the company says.
Paulus, who will report directly to President Rob Grillo, also will be responsible for “interfacing with regulatory institutions around the world to discuss the challenges stemming from the reduction of liquidity in the off-the-run (OFTR) Treasury and TIPS [treasury inflation protected securities] markets, to insure OpenDoor’s solution remains aligned with market oversight,” according to the OpenDoor statement. “In addition, he will leverage and expand his relationships with both public and private sector clients globally with particular focus in Asia-Pacific.”
Most recently, Paulus was the managing director and head of public sector for JPMorgan in Hong Kong, “where he was responsible for the creation of the bank’s Public Sector Group in the Asia Pacific region,” according to OpenDoor. “Prior to joining JPMorgan, Paulus held the same position at HSBC and Citigroup in Hong Kong. Before moving to Hong Kong, he was Managing Director and Head of UK Investor Sales in London for Citigroup.”
In addition to Paulus, OpenDoor has added Matt Corsaro as a director of sales and Kam Hing Wong as vice president, straight through processing and trade support.
Aussie Firm Makes Senior Management Moves
Equity investment boutique J. O. Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM), owned by Australian-listed fund management group BT Investment Management Ltd. (BTIM), reports the following international-growth-focused senior management changes:
Gavin Rochussen, group CEO of JOHCM and BTIM group executive
Gavin Rochussen, currently group CEO of JOHCM, has been appointed BTIM group executive, international, a newly created post, at which he will be “responsible for implementing BTIM’s growth strategy outside Australia, with a focus on growing the JOHCM business in the United States and Asia, in particular identifying new investment teams,” according to JOHCM’s statement. “He will continue to report to BTIM Group CEO Emilio Gonzalez and will remain based in JOHCM’s head office in London.”
Rochussen will be replaced as group CEO of JOHCM by Ken Lambden, the former chief investment officer at Baring Asset Management, who was also global head of equities at Schroders for 10 years, according to the statement.
Since joining JOHCM as Group CEO in November 2008, Rochussen has overseen growth in assets under management from £2.5 billion to £21.7 billion (as at 30 June 2016), per the company.
ACE Software Solutions Rebrands as Pelican, Appoints Advisory Board
The formerly known ACE Software Solutions has rebranded as Pelican, and has appointed a new advisory board made up of senior leaders in payments and fintech, company officials say.
Pelican officials say the new, internal advisory board will now include:
- Alain Falys – co-founder and CEO of mobile payment provider Yoyo Wallet and Partner for start-up seed funder Firestartr;
- John Quamina – global payments practice leader at IT services and consulting firm Wipro;
- Clare Walsh – Consultant and Co-founder of leading research and information source for the global fintech community, Finextra
The appointments come as the company completes a major rebrand to support its ambitious expansion plans and the expected growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for payments, Pelican officials say. The vendor’s flagship platform offers support for transaction banking, regulatory compliance and corporate payments solutions for financial institutions, banks and corporates.
“This is not just a simple re-brand, it is a re-affirmation of our 20-year dedication and focus in developing innovative solutions for the global financial sector that incorporate artificial intelligence,” says Parth Desai, CEO at Pelican, in a prepared statement.
The vendor will be promoting a new industry standard called Intelligent Payments Management (IPM) that is “a mixture of natural language processing (NLP), knowledge-based systems and machine learning,” Desai adds. The new advisory board members will work closely with Desai and the other senior team members, including Bill North, global head of sales, and recently appointed Senior Product Manager Tristan Blampied.
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