Kimon Kouryialas, the Melbourne-based global co-head of distribution for equities specialist Martin Currie, is to end his association with the firm after more than14 years. He has resigned from parent Franklin Templeton and will finish up this month.
Kouryialas, 54, was pivotal in establishing the Edinburgh-based Martin Currie’s business presence in Australia and expanding into Asia, setting up the Melbourne office in 2008. He was recruited, ironically, from US-based Legg Mason, where he was a managing director and head of distribution for Australia.
His career path provides a graphic illustration of the pace of M&A activity in funds management over the past 20 years, alongside the growth in popularity of the multi-affiliate business model.
Legg Mason, a multi-affiliate manager, acquired Martin Currie in 2014, after 133 years of independence from institutional ownership. The former Legg Mason Australian Equities 14-person team, led by Reece Birtles, which then had $3 billion under management, became part of Martin Currie. It now manages more than $6 billion.
Legg Mason lifted Martin Currie’s New Zealand profile, launching an NZ PIE for its US affiliate Brandywine in 2018 and expanding its Martin Currie retail range in Australia. Then in turn, Franklin Templeton, a larger multi-affiliate firm also based in the US, acquired Legg Mason in 2020.
For much of his time at Martin Currie, Kouryialas reported to Andy Sowerby, group head of sales and marketing in Edinburgh. But in 2016, Sowerby transferred to new parent Legg Mason and moved to Melbourne to ramp up the firm’s Australasian business.
Sowerby left on completion of the takeover by Franklin Templeton and has subsequently established an Australian and APAC presence for Allspring Global Investments (formerly Wells Fargo Asset Management). He is head of the international client group for the firm.
Kouryialas started in funds management with J.P. Morgan’s Melbourne back office in 1992 and, after a year’s backpacking in Europe, then joined NAB Asset Servicing in a senior sales role.
He has often said that time spent in asset servicing, such as custody, is a big help in building relationships and having the right temperament for investment management. Asset servicing partnerships tend to be much longer term than investment management mandates. The asset servicing team also tends to have more touch points with the client funds and an intimate knowledge of their workings.
He has also spoken of the importance of getting the backing of the investment managers to participate as much as possible in client interactions. He is known to have had close relationships with Birtles and his Melbourne team as well as the emerging markets team, led by Alastair Reynolds, and global equities (long-term unconstrained) team headed by Zehrid Osmani, both in Edinburgh.
Martin Currie manages about $4 billion for Australian investors in its emerging markets and global long-term unconstrained equities strategies. As co-head of global distribution, Kouryialas was also responsible for Asia and the Middle East.
He first moved from asset serving into investment management sales in 2002, joining Citi Asset Management. Citi’s Australian business was acquired by Legg Mason in 2005, where he was appointed a joint managing director, distribution, before being headhunted for the Martin Currie role. Apart from Australia, he was also key to establishing a presence for Martin Currie in Asia during a two-year stint in Singapore from 2014.
Martin Currie was a pioneer among foreign fund managers dealing with mainland China. It was the first European-owned fund manager, for instance, to obtain a Chinese QFII license, required at the time by foreign investors to trade on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. One of the Chinese sovereign wealth funds, with whom Kouryialas developed a relationship, remains an important client.
Kouryialas told Australian clients and consultants of his decision to leave the Franklin Templeton affiliate late in January and early February. He is understood to have said he intended to have a long break before deciding on his next career move. He was unavailable for comment last week.
Greg Bright, Australian correspondent