Evidentia principal jumps to Ascalon; Drummond appoints practice growth head
Ascalon Capital has continued its raid of research houses with three appointments from Zenith, Evidentia and Lonsec, while Drummond Capital Partners has appointed a head of practice growth.
Shailesh Jain has joined as deputy CEO, bringing across a wealth of investment consultancy and research experience as he previously worked at Evidentia, Lonsec, and Zenith Investment Partners.
He will work alongside Aubrey Roga, who was appointed as chief executive in June. Ascalon said Jain will be “instrumental in shaping Ascalon’s ongoing growth and delivering on its vision for the future”.
Prior to joining Ascalon, he worked as principal of asset consulting at Evidentia and as a senior investment consultant at Zenith Investment Partners. From 2009 to 2020, he held a variety of roles at Lonsec, including head of equity fund research and deputy head of active manager research.
Evidentia has been undergoing its own changes in light of a merger with Lonsec Investment Solutions and Implemented Portfolios earlier this year, and has appointed a new executive team.
Roga said: “SJ’s appointment marks a big step forward for Ascalon. He brings deep expertise, proven leadership, and a clear vision for where portfolio consulting needs to go. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
Ascalon has also appointed Mitch Stephens as an associate, David Boyle as a consulting partner, and Sean Currie as a consultant.
Boyle and Currie both join from research houses where Boyle was a portfolio manager at Lonsec and Currie was an investment consultant at Zenith. Meanwhile, Stephens previously held a project analyst role at Netwealth.
These follow the appointment of Ben Davis and Berit Deagan from Zenith as partner and head of business development respectively, and John Burton from Lonsec as head of business solutions. Collectively, the firm has hired at least 10 individuals over the past few weeks.
Meanwhile, investment manager and managed account provider Drummond has appointed Genevieve Frost as head of practice growth where she will be responsible for supporting Drummond practices with their business growth and strategy while driving national client growth.
She joins from Netwealth where she was a senior distribution manager for three years, and previously worked at Insignia and ANZ Wealth.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Despite the year almost at an end, advisers have been considerably active in licensee switching this week while the profession has reported a slight uptick in numbers.
AMP has agreed in principle to settle an advice and insurance class action that commenced in 2020 related to historic commission payment activity.
BT has kicked off its second annual Career Pathways Program in partnership with Striver, almost doubling its intake from the inaugural program last year.
Kaplan has launched a six-week intensive program to start in January, targeting advisers who are unlikely to meet the education deadline but intend to return to the profession once they do.
