Australasian asset consulting firm, JANA, has lured long-time NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) senior investment strategist, Chris Worthington across the Tasman to assume the newly created role of head of quantitative analysis and risk.
Worthington, a 10-year NZS veteran, has shifted to Melbourne to take up the JANA job as part of a leadership remodeling at the consultancy business that included four internal promotions.
Prior to joining NZS in 2012 he spent five years as a senior economist at Gareth Morgan Investments (bought by Kiwibank in 2012) following three years at related consultant business, Infometrics.
JANA chief, Jim Lamborn, said Worthington “brings a new perspective to our fast-growing quantitative risk team”.
The move also brings him into the same firm as former NZS colleague, David Surridge, who served as senior investment strategist at the sovereign wealth fund from 2014 to 2016.
Based in Sydney, Surridge was named as head of NZ for JANA last November following a five-year stint as senior investment consultant at the firm.
JANA has several NZ clients including BNZ, Trust Waikato and the prize community trust role at the $1.6 billion Foundation North, a gig it picked up at the end of 2020.
In addition to the Worthington hire, JANA also promoted a batch of four existing employees to new head-of-department positions, including:
- Andrew Cassar – head of Australasian equities;
- Iain North – head of alternatives;
- Courtney Wilder – head of portfolio design; and,
- Gary Wilson – head of capital markets group.
“Our clients will be well-serviced by this combination of elevating our existing staff into new leadership roles, who have many decades worth of experience and are fully embedded into JANA’s research-first philosophy,” Lamborn said in the release.
JANA is part-owned by the ASX-listed IOOF (now known as Insignia Financial), which picked up the stake after completing the purchase of the National Australia Bank wealth management arm last year. However, JANA employees retain a majority shareholding in the business.
Also heading across the ditch, NZX chief strategy delivery officer, Hamish Macdonald, has left the business after eight years in senior roles for the local exchange.
Macdonald has shifted to Brisbane for family reasons, leaving a space at the NZX senior leadership table. He previously held the titles of NZX general counsel and head of external relations.
In the just-released annual report, NZX chief, Mark Peterson said: “I want to sincerely acknowledge Hamish’s part in our success – through his contribution to our Leadership Team and in the leadership roles he has played more broadly.”
At the same time, NZX head of communications, David Glendining, has also exited the business.