Our people

Chairman of the Investment Committee.

Mr Myer was elected to the Board in January 2000 and appointed Chairman in 2020. Currently, he is President of The Myer Foundation, Chairman of the Yulgilbar Group and a Director of Mutual Trust Pty Limited and The Myer Family Company Ltd. Mr Myer was formerly Deputy Chairman of Myer Holdings Ltd, Director of Diversified United Investments Limited, eCargo Holdings Limited and Healthscope Limited.

Member of the Investment Committee. Managing Director of Australian Investment Company Services Limited (AICS).

Mr Freeman became Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director in January 2018 having been Chief Investment Officer since joining the Company in February 2007. Prior to this he was a Partner with Goldman Sachs JBWere where he spent 12 years advising the Investment Companies on their investment and dealing activities. He has a deep knowledge and experience of investment markets and the Company’s approaches, policies and processes. He is also Managing Director of Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited, Djerriwarrh Investments Limited and Mirrabooka Investments Limited.

Member of the Investment Committee.

Dr Auster joined the Board in February 2021. Dr Auster is currently Strategic Advisor to the global CEO at Uber and a non-executive director of Australia Post. Prior to this role, she led Uber Eats across Asia Pacific as the Regional General Manager. Previously, Dr Auster was a Director of Customer Operations and Vice President of People for Thumbtack in San Francisco, and a consultant for Bain & Company in Australia. Jodie has extensive experience working with global technology platforms and has led several start up businesses to achieve scale.

Member of the Investment Committee.

Mr Brown was appointed to the Board in February 2014. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of ARB Corporation Limited. He was the Non-Executive Chairman of the Company from 2016 to 2022. Mr Brown also held the position of Executive Chairman of the company from 1987 to 2016.

Mr Brown has wide experience as a CEO and Director and brings to the company a wealth of knowledge from ARB Corporation’s involvement in the automotive industry in Australia and overseas.

Chairman of the Audit Committee. Member of the Investment Committee.

Mr Hirst joined the Board in January 2019. He is a Director of Board of Adelaide Airport and its subsidiary companies, AMP Limited, GMHBA Limited and Deputy Chairman of Racing Victoria Limited. He was formerly a director of Butn Limited. He was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd from 2009 to 2018. He previously held senior executive and management positions with Colonial Limited, Chase AMP Bank Limited and Westpac Banking Corporation. He is an honorary member of the Business Council of Australia and was a member of the COVID Commission.

Member of the Audit and Investment Committees.

Mr Webster was appointed to the Board in November 2016. Mr Webster was a partner of Allens practicing in the area of mergers and acquisitions for over 30 years and was a Board member of Allens for 12 years. He is a Trustee of the R E Ross Trust, a Director of Hillview Quarries Pty Ltd and an independent member of ASIC’s Audit & Risk Committee. Jon was a Senior Fellow of the Law School of The University of Melbourne for over 20 years. He is a former Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Northern Land Council and of the Corporations Committee of the Law Council of Australia. He is also a former Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, a former member of the ASX’s Listings Advisory Panel and of the Federal Government’s Consultative Group to the Corporations Law Simplification Task Force.

Member of the Audit and Investment Committees.

Ms Dwyer joined the Board in June 2023. Paula is Chairman of Blackmores Limited (a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Co Ltd) and Chair of Allianz Australia Limited and Elenium Automation Pty Limited. Paula is a Non-Executive Director of Dexus Funds Management Limited, Lion Pty Limited and Lion Global Beverages, where she is Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance committees. She is a member of the Committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Paula has been a Non-Executive Director for over 20 years following an executive career in investment banking and funds management. She has significant experience across financial services, investment management, healthcare, energy, utilities and infrastructure, gambling entertainment, property and construction, corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions.

Previous roles include as Non-Executive Director of ANZ Banking Group Limited (where she was Chair of the Audit Committee), Suncorp Group Limited, Astro Japan Property Group Limited, Fosters Group Limited, David Jones Limited and Promina Group Limited. Paula was formerly Chair of Tabcorp Holdings Limited and Healthscope Limited and Deputy Chair of Leighton Holdings Limited.

Mr Driver joined the Company in January 2003. Previously, he was with National Australia Bank Ltd for 18 years in various roles covering business strategy, marketing, distribution, investor relations and business operations. Mr Driver was formerly Chairman of Trust for Nature (Victoria).

Mr Porter joined the Company in January 2005. He is a Chartered Accountant and has had over 25 years experience in accounting and financial management both in the United Kingdom with Andersen
Consulting and Credit Suisse First Boston, and in Australia where he was Regional Chief Operating Officer for the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of CSFB. He is a Director of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) and a Director of the Anglican Foundation. Mr Porter is a former Chair of The Group of 100 (G100), the peak body for CFOs.

Mr Rowe joined the Company in July 2016. He is a Chartered Secretary with over 18 years of experience in corporate governance with a particular focus in listed investment companies. He was previously a corporate governance advisor at a professional services firm which included acting as Company Secretary for three ASX listed companies. Prior to that Matthew was the Company Secretarial Manager for a Funds Management Company based in the UK.

Kieran has over 18 years’ experience with the group, having commenced in 2001, initially in an Accounting role. He relocated to London to continue working in the financial services industry in 2005.

Upon his return in 2006, Kieran commenced his current focus on researching emerging and midcap companies. He progressed to Portfolio Management responsibilities in 2018.

Kieran holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University, and is a CPA and CFA charterholder.

David commenced with the group in 2018 as a Portfolio Manager. David has 15 years portfolio management experience having co-founded Concise Asset Management in 2007, which was a specialised midcap Australian equities manager.

David holds a Bachelor of Business and a Masters of Applied Finance.

Brett joined the group in October 2019 as a Portfolio Manager.

Brett has over 18 years of Investment Experience. Prior to joining AFIC, Brett spent 14 years at Antares Capital (previously called Portfolio Partners and Aviva Investors) as a Portfolio Manager and Analyst.

Brett holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and is a CFA Charterholder.

Jaye joined the group in 2021 as an Investment Analyst and has 9 years of industry experience. Prior to joining, Jaye most recently worked as an Investment Analyst at Myer Family Investments focussed on Australian equities and Asian fund/equities.

Jaye holds a Master of Applied Finance from Monash University and a Bachelor of Applied Finance and Bachelor of Business (Property) from University of South Australia.

Olga joined the group in 2018 as an Investment Analyst and has 7 years of industry experience. Prior to joining, Olga most recently was an Investment Analyst at Ralton Asset Management focussed on Australian equities.

Olga holds a Master of Finance from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance from Warsaw School of Economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Stuart has over 17 years in financial services. He joined the group in 2016 and prior to that he spent 2 years as an analyst and PM at JM Financial and previous to that was 10 years in Institutional Research Sales at Bell Potter and Austock.

Stuart holds a Bachelor Commerce - University of Melbourne, Graduate Diploma Applied Finance and Investment – FINSIA.

Jeremy has 20 years in industry experience, joining the group in 2001 in the finance and operations team. He transferred into the investment team working originally as an investment analyst for several years before becoming the Dealer for the 4 LICs.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Economics and Graduate Diploma Applied Finance and Investment - FINSIA. He has also completed ASX accredited derivatives courses and has many years of experience in the options markets.