Payton adds big four bank muscle to new QLD team

Melbourne-headquartered investment firm Payton Capital has announced the addition of two new investment directors to its recently launched Queensland office, with a former Westpac Private Bank executive joining the new office.

Phil Heissenbuttel, who has notched up more than 30 years in the wealth management sector – the last 14 of which within Westpac Group’s private banking arms supporting ultra-high-net-worth and family office clients – will join Payton as the firm grows its interstate presence.

Payton recognised Heissenbuttel’s “intricate knowledge of sales, relationship management and leadership roles across diverse segments such as agribusiness, commercial and corporate banking”.

Chris Bevans, a fellow Westpac Private Bank alumnus and ex-NAB Private Wealth member, has also joined Payton’s Brisbane-based investor services team as an investment director.

Across a more than 16-year career in the wealth sector, Bevans has worked extensively within ultra-high-net-worth private banking and wholesale markets.

“His [Beavans’] time working with major banking institutions and large family groups has provided him with detailed expertise and understanding of wholesale investors and debt markets across various asset classes,” Payton wrote in a statement.

The firm added: “He brings a strong acumen in relationship management, risk and compliance, and stakeholder engagement.”

The pair will work closely with high-net-worth families and investors through the firm’s pooled or select funds options, “introducing… exciting opportunities that exist in this growing market as well as [expanding] the Payton brand through Southeast QLD”, Bevans wrote on his LinkedIn.

“Payton Capital offers considered, high-appealing yield options through flexible debt funds that are measured through a rigorous due diligence process,” he added.

Most recently, Bevans served a four-year term as a board member and treasurer of St John’s Crisis Centre, a Gold Coast-based crisis support charity organisation, where he continues as a member of the fundraiser sub-committee.

The pair join Payton’s Queensland office following its opening in late 2023.

Payton’s head of investment Craig Schloeffel welcomed his latest senior recruits, noting their extensive backgrounds in Queensland’s private banking sector and “exemplary” local expertise and networks.

He added that Payton’s business needs to be “suitably prepared with well-credentialed staff” to take advantage of growing opportunities in the lending market, particularly for non-bank lenders.

“We know a lot of opportunities will present themselves for investors in this asset class in the coming years. Our recently commissioned report on the CRE Debt market has shown that CRE Private Debt will double in the next five years” Schloeffel said.

“These appointments further mark our commitment to growing our business in line with the expansion of this asset class.”