GQG Partners has appointed a chief financial officer, 10 months after the departure of Melodie Zakaluk.
In an ASX announcement on 2 January, GQG Partners said Charles Falck had assumed the role of chief financial officer following the previously announced retirement of Zakaluk, effective 1 January 2026.
Zakaluk held the Florida-based position for nearly nine years, having first joined GQG in late 2016.
Falck was appointed deputy CFO in June last year after serving as the firm’s chief operating officer since 2021, where he managed its global operational infrastructure.
He has over 20 years of investment management experience, including a stint as global chief operating officer at Vontobel Asset Management, where he oversaw global infrastructure spanning investment services, product management, risk, legal and business analytics.
Prior to this, Falck held senior roles at merchant banking firm ESAE Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs.
In a statement, GQG CEO Tim Carver praised Falck’s experience at the firm, describing him as a strong fit for the role.
“Charles has deep financial and operational expertise in investment management and a proven track record of leadership at GQG. We are pleased for Charles to assume the role of CFO.”
As of 30 November 2025, GQG had US$166.1 billion under management across pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, wealth managers and other financial institutions.
The monthly update also showed the firm recorded outflows for a fifth consecutive month. While overall funds under management (FUM) for the firm still increased over the year, part of the outflows was attributed to fund underperformance due to bucking market trends and betting against AI.
Discussing its stance on AI, a whitepaper from the firm issued a stark warning on OpenAI’s long-term business viability, arguing the company’s economics are fundamentally unsound despite rapid revenue growth, mass user adoption and its central role in the global AI infrastructure boom.
In Dotcom on Steroids: Part II, it contended OpenAI’s business “appears commoditised” and is “hyper capital-intensive,” with rising compute costs and intensifying competition from both closed- and open-source developers.
“We believe it will struggle to build a sustainable business over time,” the paper stated.
