CFS announces further strategic hire

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

22 August 2023

Colonial First State (CFS) has appointed former AustralianSuper portfolio manager, John Iles, as its new Head of Cash Management & Derivatives.

The second key appointment after Al Clark joined as Head of Investments from MLC Asset Management in April, Iles brings experience managing equities at AustralianSuper with a derivatives exposure over $35 billion.

“John brings a wealth of experience in derivatives, balance sheet and cash optimisation and exposure management,” Jonathan Armitage, Chief Investment Officer at CFS, said.

“His appointment is a key part of our strategy of building out our capabilities in active risk and portfolio management in our investment options. He will also focus on building out a cash management capability to ensure we are efficient in the way we manage cash across our multiple investments.”

Iles’ previous roles include managing global and quantitative strategies for UniSuper, working at ASB in New Zealand and Colchester in the UK

“It is a pleasure to be joining CFS at such an important time for the group and the industry,” Iles said.

“As more Australians transition into retirement and interest rates remain elevated, it is an exciting time to be managing risk and portfolios alongside Jonathan and his team.”

In addition to Iles and Clark’s appointments, CFS also made several internal promotions with Ben Lam promoted to Head of Equities and Chetan Soorkea and Ramali De Zoysa promoted to Senior Investment Analysts.

“Al brings 25 years of experience across Australia and Asia,” Armitage said.

“In addition to his time at MLC, Al has held roles including Global Head of Multi-Asset with Nikko Asset Management and Head of Multi-Asset for Asia Pacific with Schroders Investment Management, based in Singapore, and Head of Multi Strategy at BT,” he said.

“This strengthening of our investment team will enable better decision making and better investment outcomes for our customers.”