Challenger director Matthew Michelini has stepped down from the board with immediate effect.
Michelini was the representative of Apollo Global Asset Management on the Challenger board, but Apollo has since reduced its stake to less than 10 per cent.
In early September, Apollo reduced its stake from 20.1 per cent to 9.9 per cent as it said it intends to redeploy the capital to other growth opportunities.
Challenger chair Duncan West said: “On behalf of the board, I thank Matt for his valuable contribution. Challenger looks forward to continuing to work closely with Matt and the broader Apollo team to deliver long term value for Challenger’s shareholders.”
Michelini, who is head of Asia-Pacific at Apollo, said the two firms remain committed to working together.
He said: “Challenger is one of our most important long-term strategic partners globally and we see meaningful opportunity to continue to support the business as it enters its next phase of growth.
“We are committed to continuing to work closely to provide sources of safe yield via our global asset management capabilities for both the insurance balance sheet and for Fidante to distribute into the local market.”
Since the start of the partnership in July 2021, the two businesses have built a strategic partnership that has included an asset origination and distribution partnership. This has provided Challenger Life with access to Apollo’s direct asset origination capabilities and it has also invested in Apollo’s private market and private equity strategies. Since September 2023, Challenger has distributed Apollo’s Aligned Alternative strategy to Australian retail and wholesale clients.
These initiatives will continue, Challenger said, and are unaffected by the stake reduction.
Challenger CEO Nick Hamilton added Apollo’s re-evaluation of the Challenger business would significantly increase Challenger’s free float and improve trading liquidity.
