Speaker alumni

After 10 years working in finance in the US and London, Steven relocated to Sydney in 2002 where he launched and sold several successful businesses. 

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After realising that there was a genuine gap in the Australian market for fresh, clean Mexican food, Steven founded the first Guzman y Gomez restaurant in Newtown, Sydney. His vision was to build a restaurant business that had the speed and convenience of fast food but to re-invent the fast food category by never compromising on the quality, only using the freshest and best ingredients. Today GYG is one of the world’s fastest growing QSR businesses with plans to open 40 restaurants per year and operates 202+ restaurants in Australia, Singapore, Japan and the US. 

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In October 2023, Steven appointed Hilton Brett as Co-Ceo of GYG. Steven remains the Founder and co-CEO of the business globally and is firmly focussed on maintaining GYG’s unique energy and culture. He is a committed philanthropist raising millions of dollars and actively supporting Mision Mexico, a charity in Mexico dedicated to ending poverty for the youth of Mexico.

Bob is a seasoned investor in global markets and has been refining his quality growth process for more than 27 years.

Zimbabwean born, Bob has lived and worked in Africa, the UK and Australia. He started his career with Anglo American and Fleming Martin in Africa, before joining Seilern Investment Management in London in 2002 as a Portfolio Manager and Head of Research.

He joined Claremont Global in 2012 as Senior Research Analyst and in 2017 was appointed Head of Claremont Global and Co-Portfolio Manager.

Bob leads Claremont with an egalitarian approach, empowering the team to individually play to their strengths within a highly collaborative environment.

He holds a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Western Australia and is a CFA Charterholder.

Dr Heidi Beadnall finalised her clinical neurology training by completing a fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Brain and Mind Centre (BMC), the University of Sydney. She is currently undertaking a PhD, through the University of Sydney, in the area of Multiple Sclerosis neuroimaging and clinical correlations. Her main interests are Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology, but she also practices as a general neurologist.

Kieran Moore joined Munro Partners at its inception in July 2016.

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Kieran is responsible for championing stock ideas and managing these positions within the portfolio. Kieran has specialised in global growth equities for the last 10 years. Over his career, Kieran has undertaken additional functions within the investment team, including risk management, portfolio analytics and trading.

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Key career highlights include, 10 years working in funds management, Senior Investment Analyst at Munro Partners (2017-18) and Investment Analyst at K2 Asset Management (2014-16).

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Kieran is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, with majors in Finance and Economics, and also a Juris Doctor Law Degree from the University of Melbourne.

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Qiao Ma joined CI in July 2017. Prior to this, she spent seven years investing in the technology and consumers sectors in Asia and the US. Most recently she was the Head of Asia for Jericho Capital, a multi-billion dollar global investment fund based in New York. Qiao has also previously worked at Coatue Management, a New York based investment fund specializing in global technology and consumer sectors and a spinoff of Tiger Management. From 2006 to 2008 Qiao worked in the Financial Institutions Group in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers.

Qiao Ma has been the Portfolio Manager for Asian Equities since May 2018.  She is also an equity holder of firm, and part of CI’s future leadership team.  Prior to joining CI in July 2017, Qiao spent nearly a decade investing Asian and Global Equities for large US hedge funds based in New York, including Jericho Capital and Coatue Management. Born in China, Qiao moved to the United States as a teenager.  She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS from University of Virginia.

Tom Naughton is the CIO and Managing Partner of Prusik Investment Management LLP. He joined Prusik in 2010 to launch the Prusik Asian Equity Income Fund (PAEIF) which, since launch, has outperformed the index by 4x, resulting in him winning multiple awards. PAEIF follows a research based, value biased approach to identify stocks that can sustain and grow their dividends over time, which means the upside potential is significant relative to downside risk.    

Before joining Prusik, Tom was the CIO for Equities at PMA Investment Advisors in Hong Kong – a multi-strategy hedge fund. Tom received a BSc in Mathematics with Economics from University College London and has completed several ultramarathons across the globe.

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Tom and his wife, Amanda, set up a Global Health Fund with the UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) and they also fund a Mathematics Scholarship to enable students in financial need to pursue their postgraduate studies.

Since the formation of Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Marks has been responsible for ensuring the firm’s adherence to its core investment philosophy; communicating closely with clients concerning products and strategies; and contributing his experience to big-picture decisions relating to investments and corporate direction.  

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From 1985 until 1995, Mr. Marks led the groups at The TCW Group, Inc. that were responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities.  Previously, Mr. Marks was with Citicorp Investment Management for 16 years, where from 1978 to 1985 he was Vice President and senior portfolio manager in charge of convertible and high yield securities.  Between 1969 and 1978, he was an equity research analyst and, subsequently, Citicorp’s Director of Research.  

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Mr. Marks holds a B.S.Ec. degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in finance and an M.B.A. in accounting and marketing from the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago.  He is a CFA® charterholder.  Mr. Marks is an Emeritus Trustee and Advisory Member of the Investment Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  He is a member of the Investment Committee of the Royal Drawing School in London.  He also serves on the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of Duke Kunshan University and is an Emeritus Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, where from 2000 to 2010 he chaired the Investment Board.

Sumit Gautam started Scalar Gauge in 2017 and has been the portfolio manager for the fund for over 7 years.

Prior to Scalar, he was a Partner at Hirzel Capital, ~$1.3B AUM long/short equity hedge fund based in Dallas, where he focused on investments in the technology sector for 4 years. He also has significant private equity investing experience, having worked as a Vice President at Audax Private Equity Fund, which is a $20B+ AUM PE fund based in Boston. Prior to Audax, he was a Senior Manager / Principal at Bain & Company's private equity group. In his 4 years at Bain, he worked with some of the largest PE funds in primary due diligence for LBO targets.

One of Sumit’s differentiation is direct operational experience in technology companies – having worked at a VC funded tech startup in silicon valley which later got acquired by Dell for ~$700MM. Sumit started his career as a management consultant at Mckinsey & Company in Silicon Valley.

Sumit is a CFA charterholder, has a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, and an MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Adam Gilmour is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Gilmour Space Technologies, an Australian-owned company that is leading the development of sovereign space capabilities in launch vehicles, satellites, and access to space. Founded in Queensland, Gilmour Space is today the largest space manufacturer in Australia with over 200 employees, funding from some of Australia's biggest private investors, and contracts for launch and satellite systems from both commercial and defence customers.

Before starting his career in space, Adam spent over two decades at Citi managing a billion-dollar regional sales business dealing in complex financial products for institutional and corporate clients in the Asia Pacific. An avid space fan, his inspiration for change came in 2004 when the X-Prize was won by Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne, which demonstrated just how affordable spaceflight could be. Today, he is leading a growing team of talented engineers in Queensland, Australia, on a mission to develop and deliver truly low-cost access to space.

With over 30 years of experience in financial markets—two decades of which have been in global equities—Nick Griffin is a founding partner and the Chief Investment Officer at Munro Partners. He developed Munro’s proprietary investment process and is responsible for selecting companies for the firm’s core global growth mandates, including both Absolute Return and Long Only strategies. In his role, Nick also leads the investment team and shapes the direction of the team’s research efforts.
Career highlights include:

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• Head of International Strategy for the K2 Select International Absolute Return Fund from 2005 to 2015.
• Senior Analyst (Global Oil and Gas) at Deutsche Bank UK from 2000 to 2005.
• Manager of Australian Equities for Commonwealth Financial Services from 1996 to 1999.

Another highlight of Nick’s career was when he moved to Edinburgh Scotland, where he had the privilege of working alongside some of the world's best global investors, which fuelled his passion for investing in international markets. These experiences ultimately inspired the founding of Munro Partners, and Munro’s mission to be your global growth investor. When he’s not managing stocks, Nick enjoys fly fishing, hiking, playing golf, and spending time with his family.

Nick is a co-founder and CEO of Endo Axiom. Endo Axiom is a biotechnology company focused on the prevention of autoimmune diseases and improving the quality of life for diabetics. The company develops platforms for the oral delivery of drugs and biologics, and brings these innovations through clinical validation. Endo Axiom's mission includes creating solutions for pharmaceutical challenges such as delivering oral insulin without hypoglycaemia and immune modulation for preventing type 1 diabetes without immune suppression. Nick is also a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and the ANZAC Research Institute at Concord Hospital. His group develops nanotechnology platforms for the oral biologic delivery and inverse vaccinations for prevention of autoimmune diseases.

Sheila Patel is Co-Chair of Antler’s Advisory Board and Vice Chair of B Capital’s Advisory Board. Sheila brings thirty years of experience in financial markets, most recently serving as Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.  Sheila served on Goldman Sachs’ Firmwide Management Committee, Partnership Committee, Inclusion & Diversity Committee and led ESG and Sustainability initiatives.  She held leadership roles in 2 divisions and on 3 continents.

She is in Milken’s Executive Circle, an Angel sponsor of 100 Women in Finance, and on multiple Princeton University Leadership councils and is a former board member of Pacific Pension & Investment Institute.   

She holds degrees with the highest honors from Princeton and Columbia and was named Investment Woman of the Year by Investment Week in 2020, a Financial News’ 100 Women in Finance in 2019, and a Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Asia in 2015.  She has spoken at some of the most prestigious gatherings, including the Davos World Economic Forum, IFSWF, and the Milken Global Conference, and her views have appeared in influential media outlets, such as CNBC, Bloomberg, the NY Times, WSJ, FT and AFR.

Before starting Verdad, Dan worked at Bain Capital Private Equity and Bridgewater Associates. He is a member of the investment committee of the Trustees of Donations of the Episcopal Church, is the New York Times bestselling author of American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt, and in 2017, was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. Dan is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal and his investment research has been featured in multiple volumes of The Best Investment Writing. Dan earned an AB from Harvard College summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Lt Gen (USAF Ret) Larry D. James is the Strategic Advisor for SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Adelaide Australia and a Distinguished Professor of Space Research and Innovation at Monash University in Melbourne Australia. At SmartSat CRC he provides advocacy, technical advice, and support for SmartSat’s R&D, innovation and educational activities. At Monash he engages with senior university leadership to further space curriculum expansion and development; help build government partnerships both domestically and globally; build research collaborations and opportunities; and support indigenous student development programs.

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Prior to this assignment he served as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2013 to 2024. As the Laboratory's Chief Operating Officer, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of JPL's resources and activities. This included managing the Laboratory's solar system exploration, Mars, astronomy, physics, Earth science, interplanetary network programs, and all business operations.

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Prior to his retirement from active duty in 2013, Lt. Gen. James was the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the Pentagon. He was responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight, and leadership of Air Force ISR capabilities and led more than 20,000 ISR officers, enlisted and civilians across the Air Force ISR Enterprise.

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Lt. Gen. James received his Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering (1978) from the US Air Force Academy (Distinguished Graduate) and his Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics (1983) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. He was also a Draper Fellow at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Catherine Allfrey is a Portfolio Manager and Principal at WaveStone Capital which she co-founded in 2006.  Along with portfolio management responsibilities, Catherine is a specialist across the Banks, Diversified Financials & Media sectors.

Prior to founding WaveStone Capital, Catherine has had various roles in financial services, most recently at Colonial First State Investments which she joined as an investment analyst in the GDP Plus team in 1998 before becoming a Portfolio Manager in 2002, managing a top 20 concentrated Australian fund and a Sector Neutral fund.

Catherine was named Investment Manager of the Year at the 2017 Women in Finance Awards and was the first woman inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Australian Fund Manager Awards.

Josh Resnick is the founder and managing partner of Jericho Capital, a hedge fund focused on investing in the global technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors. 

Prior to founding Jericho Capital, Josh was a key principal at TCS Capital, a global TMT hedge fund that he joined shortly after its launch in 2001. Prior to TCS Capital, he was a Managing Director at KPE Ventures, a media, entertainment and technology venture capital fund based in New York. Prior to KPE Ventures, he was a member of the business development group at Fox Entertainment Group in Los Angeles. Josh began his career as an analyst in the media and entertainment investment banking group at Bear Stearns. 

Josh graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Economics from Emory University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Child Mind Institute in New York City.

At his core, Hamish loves helping people create futures they never thought possible. As a coach, mentor, and co-founder of TDM Growth Partners, he brings a multitude of experience from top-tier investment firms as well as from his hiatus as a school guidance counsellor. Hamish’s innate leadership skills, broad life experiences, and full-throttle approach to life have been a driving force to the TDM culture of success. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Somnomed (ASX:SOM) and Tyro Payments (ASX: TYR) and has significant experience in investing in fast-growing software and FinTech businesses.

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TDM Growth Partners is an global investment firm, investing in fast growing companies run by passionate management teams. TDM’s unique and flexible mandate allows investment in public and private companies, with a highly focused approach of  no more than 15 businesses globally.

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Madeleine Beaumont has been serving as a Senior Portfolio Manager of Australian Fundamental Equities at BlackRock Asset Management Australia Limited since joining the firm on 1 June 2015.

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She began her career in the stock-broking industry, and then transferred to the buy-side at SBC Brinson, where she covered media, food and retail. Madeleine spent 11 years in London, where she broadened her experience, covering the UK and Continental European markets. She worked for SEB and for M&G, the investment arm of Prudential PLC. While at M&G, Madeleine was rated the number 2 Consumer Analyst. She was head of European Equity research and successfully managed a Pan-European Equity Portfolio.

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She is a CFA charterholder and holds a Bachelor’s of Agriculture (Hons). Madeleine is also a Graduate of AICD and is involved as a non-executive director in the not for profit sector.

Nick Moakes is the Chief Investment Officer at the Wellcome Trust, responsible for overseeing the £37 billion endowment at one of the world’s largest charitable foundations. The portfolio is invested globally across a wide range of asset classes.

Nick joined Wellcome in 2007 from BlackRock Investment Management where he was Head of the Asia Pacific investment team and Co-Head of Emerging Markets. He graduated with a first-class honours degree in Modern History and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford and is a CFA charter holder. Prior to joining BlackRock in 1997 he lived in Hong Kong for nine years and is a Chinese speaker.  He started his career in the Diplomatic Service.

Away from Wellcome, Nick chairs the Balliol College Investment Committee. He is also a longstanding member of the Brussels based European Foundation Financial and Investment Officers Group.

Jordan is a partner and senior investment team member of Advent Global Opportunities. Jordan joined AGO in 2015 at the inception of the fund and oversees AGO’s investments in a number of key sectors including aerospace and fintech.  Prior to Advent Global Opportunities, Jordan was a member of the investment team of Belfer Management, a single-family office based out of New York. From 2011-2013, Jordan was an Associate at Crestview Partners, a middle-market private equity firm. He began his career in the investment banking division of JPMorgan. Jordan graduated from Princeton University where he was a member of the men’s rowing team.

Mr Samild joined the Future Fund in 2013 and was appointed to Chief Investment Officer in August 2023. In his former role (June 2022 – July 2023) as Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Strategy, Ben led work on portfolio construction and dynamic asset allocation, the integration of overall portfolio insights with sector specific opportunities, and the development of views on emerging markets. Prior to this, Ben was the Future Fund’s Head of Alternatives with responsibility for the investment of over $30 billion of capital across a range of hedge fund and other skill based absolute return strategies.

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Before joining the Future Fund he had a ten-year career in the hedge fund industry, and four years as Head of Investment Strategy at Industry Super Fund LUCRF Super. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne majoring in behavioural finance, psychology and history. He also worked as a research fellow while completing a Masters in Applied Finance.

Responsible for leading our investment team, Chris has served as a Director and Portfolio Manager of Ellerston since 2005 and has over 39 years investment experience.

Prior to joining Ellerston, Chris co-founded the Melbourne based Investment Management firm Portfolio Partners in 1994, where he held various positions including Director and Senior Investment Manager and was formerly the Head of Equities until January 2003. It was from that point that he gave up his role to conceive and focus on managing the highly successful Elite Opportunities Concentrated Australian Shares Fund.

Prior to Portfolio Partners, Chris worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager, Deputy Head of Equities and Head of Resources Strategy at County Natwest Australia Investment Management where he was responsible for the management of County’s largest specialist equity mandates.

Chris has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne and is a Senior Associate of the Financial Services Institute of Australia.

Chris was inducted into the Australian Fund Managers Foundation Hall of Fame in 2018 in recognition of his contribution to the industry.

Jason graduated from University of Melbourne Medical School in 1994, and then undertook residency and cardiology training at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Jason then completed a PhD at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) in Sydney in 2007, followed by a postdoc at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. He then moved to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, where he established his research program focusing on vascular diseases, while also practicing as a clinical cardiologist.

After over a decade in New York, in 2020 Jason returned to Australia to become Institute Director and CEO of the VCCRI. He now holds the position of the Robert M. Graham Chair and Professor of Cardiovascular Research at University of NSW and is also Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.

He is the President of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA), and Co-Chair of the NSW Chapter of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI).

Michelle Simmons is CEO and Founder of Silicon Quantum Computing and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology in Sydney.

She is internationally recognised as the creator of the new field of atomic electronics. For over a quarter century, she has pioneered new technologies to manufacture computing devices in silicon atom by atom. Her work led to the invention of the first single atom transistor in 2012, and to the world’s first integrated circuit in silicon manufactured at the atomic-scale, which is now being commercialised as the basis for a new generation of quantum computers. Michelle’s discoveries are powering the transition from the digital to the quantum age, placing Australia at the forefront of the global race to develop a quantum computer. 

Michelle has received over 30 globally recognised awards over her career to date and is a passionate advocate and mentor for young scientists in Australia.

Beeneet Kothari is the Managing Partner and Principal Portfolio Manager of Tekne Capital Management, a global fund manager he founded in 2012. Prior, he was a Managing Director at PointState Capital and Duquesne Capital, a global macro hedge fund founded by Stan Druckenmiller.

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Tekne Capital is a global Technology investment manager based in New York with a footprint across several global Emerging Markets. Tekne manages over USD$1 billion, and their investment focus is exclusively on tech-related businesses with a heavy tilt towards non-US/emerging markets in a concentrated portfolio with multi-year holding periods. Their flagship fund remains highly focused on owning a concentrated and diversified group of the leading non-US technology companies globally, where growth remains robust while public market valuations remain depressed.

Eric is part of the founding team at Varda Space Industries where he is the Chief Revenue Officer. Varda Space Industries develops small reentry vehicles that are used both for the commercial development of pharmaceuticals in microgravity, as well as a test system for all manner of reentry related technologies. 

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Varda is currently in partnership with NASA Ames, NASA Langley, and multiple branches of the US Defense Department, as well as the commercial pharmaceutical industry. Varda recently completed their first end to end reentry mission and the W-1 capsule was the first commercial spacecraft to ever land on US soil.

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Prior to his work at Varda, Eric worked in similar roles at the drone logistics company Zipline International, operating mass-scale delivery drones in sub saharan Africa, and the payment processing company Stripe. Eric has a degree in Physics from Colgate University.

Anthony is the Chief Executive Officer and former Chief Operating Officer of Proto Axiom, a multi-stage life sciences investment firm with a strong focus on incubation.

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Previously, Anthony co-founded Applecart, a platform generating over $30 million in annual revenue, which helps advertisers connect with high-value business decision-makers. He has also held roles working with Malcolm Turnbull, the Tony Blair Institute, and on the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and John Kasich.

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Anthony serves as Chairman of the St. Vincent’s Hospital Discovery and Innovation Fund. He holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford (2020) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Pennsylvania (2014).

Simon Lucey Ph.D. is the Director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) at the University of Adelaide, Australia’s largest machine learning research group. His previous appointments were at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI) in Pittsburgh USA, autonomous vehicle company Argo AI and CSIRO  
(2009-2014).

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He has received various career  awards including an ARC Future Fellowship (2009-2013). He has published over 300 articles, has over 18,904 citations with an h-index of 61. He has also registered 11 patents in computer vision.

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Simon’s research interests span computer vision, machine learning, and robotics. He enjoys drawing inspiration from AI researchers of the past to attempt to unlock computational and mathematic models that underlie the processes of visual perception.

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