Long-term, strong performance delivered by leading investment expertise.
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The CFS
Investment team
CFS’s investment team brings together some of the most experienced and well-respected financial minds in Australia.
Our investment team has an enviable track record of navigating investment market cycles
and partnering with advisers to deliver their clients’ objectives.
Why CFS
Experience
A long and stable track record in helping advisers deliver diversified, professionally managed portfolios for their clients.
Expertise
Responsible for building and managing 26 multi-sector and 24 single-sector investment options across index, enhanced index and fully active products.
Scale
Our 24-strong team of investment experts manage over $57 billion as of October 2023, giving investors better access to institutional-only offerings.
Our philosophy for your clients' super and investments
How we invest on behalf of your clients, our members, is captured under our investment philosophy. Long-term performance is paramount, it is our duty. At CFS, we do this through active management supported by strong governance within a socially responsible investment framework.
"Success for our clients will be dependent on our ability to be nimble and respond to both opportunities and risk in today’s ever-changing landscape."
Jonathan Armitage, Chief Investment Officer
CFS investment philosophy
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Active management of investments to enhance returns and capitalise on opportunities.
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Active management of risk to protect your money.
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Diverse asset allocation to deliver robust investment outcomes in a dynamic market.
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Socially responsible investment framework to deliver sustainable outcomes for our members.
Meet the Investment leadership team
Jonathan Armitage
- Chief Investment Officer
Jonathan Armitage
- Chief Investment Officer
Jonathan is a highly regarded investment executive with nearly 30 years of global experience, having worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and United States. He has a strong reputation as a leader in asset management. Most recently he was the Chief Investment Officer and General Manager of Asset Management at MLC. Prior to that, Jonathan spent 20 years at Schroders, where he held roles including Head of US Equities and Deputy Head of Global Equities.
Al Clark
- Head of Investments
Al Clark
- Head of Investments
Al has close to three decades of experience investing in diversified funds, having constructed and managed multi-asset portfolios for institutional and retail clients since the 1990s. Prior to joining CFS, Al was Head of Investments at MLC Asset Management. His global experience includes Head of Multi-Asset, Asia for Schroders in Singapore and Global Head of Multi-Asset for Nikko in Tokyo. Al has also worked in asset management for local firms including BT and Macquarie.
Robert Graham Smith
- Head of Fixed Income and Alternatives
Robert Graham Smith
- Head of Fixed Income and Alternatives
Robert has over 25 years’ investment experience. He joined CFS in February 2021 as investment manager for our alternatives portfolio, responsible for research and portfolio construction for alternatives and contributing to research for other asset classes. Before joining CFS, Robert was a senior investment analyst at Mine Super, covering liquid alternatives, property and fixed income/credit. Before this he was a senior analyst / portfolio manager in the multi-manager team at Perpetual Investments, and has also worked in London for Deutsche Bank and KPMG.
Benjamin Lam
- Head of Equities
Benjamin Lam
- Head of Equities
Ben joined the CFS Investment team in May 2016, and was a Senior Analyst in the Investment and Research Governance team at BT prior to joining CFS. From 2007 to 2015, he was a consultant and manager researcher at Mercer Investments. In his role at Mercer, Ben had dual responsibilities as an investment consultant and member of the Real Estate boutique as lead researcher for Australian direct property, back-up researcher for REITs and consultant to clients on their property portfolios.
Guneet Rana
- Head of Responsible Investment
Guneet Rana
- Head of Responsible Investment
Guneet previously served as a Senior Investment Manager for CFS’s alternatives portfolio, where she undertook manager research, worked on portfolio construction, and contributed to research across a range of other asset classes. Prior to CFS, Guneet was a senior investment manager at ipac. She was also previously involved in setting up AXA multi-manager portfolios for the Mandatory Provident Fund market in Hong Kong.
Vyas Balasubramanian
- Head of Investment Risk
Vyas Balasubramanian
- Head of Investment Risk
Prior to joining CFS, Vyas worked at MLC as a Senior Risk Partner within the Asset Management division. Before that, Vyas set up a quantitative hedge fund At RF Capital, the private family office of the Roberts family (Multiplex founders). He was also responsible for research and trading, and covered asset allocation for the family’s investments. Vyas has also worked at UBS Investment Bank in the equities research division as a quantitative analyst.
John Iles
- Head of Cash and Derivatives
John Iles
- Head of Cash and Derivatives
John brings 20 years of global investing experience to CFS. Prior to joining the business, he worked as a Portfolio Manager at AustralianSuper for six years implementing investing decisions in the equity asset class. He also worked in the Global Equity and Quant Team at UniSuper for eight years managing an internal global equity portfolio. John started his career in boutique fixed income asset management companies in London before moving to New Zealand and converting to equities.
Karen Fox
- Head of Investment Services
Karen Fox
- Head of Investment Services
Karen has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance, unlisted infrastructure and funds management. Prior to joining CFS in 2014, she worked at BT Investment Management launching fixed income products and was an investment analyst in the private equity teams at Sydney Capital Partners and Lazard. Her earlier experience includes working in the Perpetual group strategy team and was a portfolio manager in its unlisted infrastructure team. Karen has also worked was an analyst and associate in the Sydney M&A team at Salomon Smith Barney. She started her career at the New Zealand Treasury in the Debt Management Office responsible for credit risk policy.
Chloé Brayne
- Head of Private Equity and Unlisted Asset
Chloé Brayne
- Head of Private Equity and Unlisted Asset
Chloé has over 16 years of combined experience in investing, mergers and acquisitions and asset governance, including at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and AustralianSuper. Prior to this, Chloé spent six years in Paris, France, where she worked at a global infrastructure contractor focussing on PPP bids, execution and delivery across Northern Europe. Her expertise is in leading teams in private markets transactions as well as bringing strategic, financial and governance principles to broader asset management. Chloé is also an experienced company director and has held directorships on the boards of Westconnex, Plenary, Port of Brisbane, Sydney Metro and Transurban Queensland.
Our expertise
The leaders of CFS’s Investment team have all been in the investment business for a long time. And while financial markets never lose their capacity to behave unpredictably, there are few scenarios our team hasn’t previously navigated firsthand.
Many of CFS’s investment experts have successfully steered client portfolios through the peaks and troughs of challenging market cycles over decades.
Diverse experience
The CFS team combines insights gained from working at investment banks, super funds, asset managers, global consulting firms, hedge funds and high net worth family offices in the UK, US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and New Zealand, as well as in Australia.
Dynamic outlook
Investment markets and client expectations can rapidly evolve, and so do we – for example via our proprietary asset allocation review process to identify new opportunities, or our climate commitment to net zero by 2050 and 30% emissions reduction by 2030 for our investment portfolios.
Creativity
As well as our in-house capabilities, we’re experts in finding, evaluating and partnering with some of the world’s best fund managers, and in creating the optimum blend of styles and investment approaches for our diversified client portfolios.
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Market Updates, news, and insights
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Get in touch
For technical enquiries contact us
Standard Operating Hours
8:30am to 6pm (Sydney time)
Holiday Period
CLOSED public holidays (25 to 26 Dec & 1 Jan)
23 Dec 2024 to 3 Jan 2025, 9am to 3pm (Sydney time)
6 to 10 Jan 2025, 8:30am to 5pm (Sydney time)
Adviser use only
Information on this webpage is provided by Avanteos Investments Limited ABN 20 096 259 979, AFSL 245531 and Colonial First State Investments Limited ABN 98 002 348 352, AFSL 232468. It may include general advice but does not consider anyone’s individual objectives, financial situation, needs or tax circumstances. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statements (PDSs), Investor Directed Portfolio Service Guides (IDPS Guides) and Financial Services Guides (FSGs) before making any recommendations to a client. The PDSs, IDPS Guides and FSGs can be obtained from www.cfs.com.au or by calling us on 13 18 36.