Hik Chadirchi has worked at the firm, which has $18.6 billion in assets under management, for 17 years and states he intends to retire at the end of July 2024.
With Chadirchi’s departure, distribution for wholesale and institutional will be covered by Ausbil’s global head of distribution Adrian Amores. Amores joined Ausbil in October 2023 following eight years in the institutional team at Magellan Financial Group.
An experienced specialist will be appointed in due course, the firm said, in order to manage Ausbil’s relationship with research houses, independent consultants, and platforms to maintain its fund ratings and positioning in managed accounts.
In the interim, research house relationships will be handled by senior manager for global institutional distribution Fawaz Rashid.
Ausbil will also work closely with its affiliate companies within the parent New York Life company to grow its market share in the US, Asia, and Europe.
Chief executive, Mark Knight, said: “Hik has done a great job for our clients in Queensland and has directed the wholesale business development team with success over a number of years.
“Both our institutional and wholesale markets are important to us. We believe a single, fully integrated distribution function comprising specialists in the various market segments, will drive synergies for our clients. We wish to remain easy to do business with.”
This is the second senior departure from Ausbil in recent weeks as head of Australian equities John Grace announced he will be exiting the firm at the end of 2024 after 23 years.
Grace is the co-head of Australian equities and portfolio manager for the Australian Emerging Leaders Fund, and has worked at the firm since 2001. David Lloyd has been appointed as portfolio manager of the Australian Emerging Leaders Fund and will work alongside Grace until his departure to form an orderly transition.
As a result of the move, the firm has made several internal changes to its Australian equities management which will take effect from 1 July.
Nicholas Condoleon has been appointed as deputy head of equities, Australian long only, and will remain as a portfolio manager on the Ausbil Active Sustainable Equity Fund. Mans Carlsson, head of ESG at the firm, has been appointed as co-manager of the fund.
Gian Pandit has been appointed as deputy head of equities, Australian delta adjusted, and as portfolio manager on the 130/30 Focus and Long Short Focus funds, supported by Chris Smith.
Lloyd and Arden Jennings have been appointed as co-head of emerging companies. Jennings will also jointly manage the small and micro-cap strategies with Andrew Peros, and have Tom Cutler as co-portfolio manager and Beyhan Irmako as equity analyst on small and micro-caps.
Chris Smith has been appointed as head of equities research in an oversight capacity, with Stella McMullen as his deputy on the day-to-day stock research and earnings models.
