Realindex Investments team

Andrew Francis was appointed Chief Executive of Realindex Investments in late 2008. Andrew has 30 years’ experience in funds management, consulting and investment banking. Prior to joining Realindex, Andrew worked at Perpetual Investments as General Manager of global equities and Head of Institutional Sales, as well as roles at Mercer Investment Consulting and Macquarie Bank. Andrew has a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from FinSia and a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance from the University of New England.

David has 25 years’ experience in funds management. Prior to joining Realindex, David held various roles including Chief Investment Officer at RF Capital, Head of Investments at Acadian Asset Management, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at BGI Australia, as well as Head of Research at SSgA Australia. Before entering the finance industry, David spent 8 years in academia in addition to roles in engineering. He is currently the Chairman of the Salvation Army Eastern Territories Advisory Board. David holds a PhD in Finance, a Post-graduate diploma in Mathematics, and a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from the University of Western Australia. He also holds a Masters of Business from Curtin University.

Joanna brings 17 years’ quantitative investment experience including senior roles at Acadian, where she was a senior portfolio manager, and Blackrock, where she was a portfolio manager within scientific equities, ran index portfolios and was Head of Sustainable Investment in Australia. Joanna is also a Lecturer at New York University. Joanna holds a CFA accreditation, has a PHD in Economics from Yale University, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship. She has a Bachelor of Laws and Economics (Honours) from the University of New South Wales.

Ron has 20 years' asset management experience. Prior to joining Realindex, Ron held various roles including the Head of Research at RF Capital, Portfolio Manager, Systematic Active Equities at BlackRock, Chief Investment Officer at Callisto Asset Management and Senior Quantitative Research roles at Marshall Wace, Fidelity International and SSgA. Prior to his career in asset management, Ron held a faculty position at UNSW where he lectured in quantitative finance. Ron holds a PhD in Finance and Statistics from the Australian Graduate School of Management, and has completed a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) at the University of Sydney.

Kieran has 17 years’ experience at First Sentier Investors. In his role, Kieran is responsible for index management / enhancements. He manages a range of Indexed Australian equity funds, understanding and improving the investment process and portfolio construction. Since joining First Sentier Investors as part of the graduate program in 2007, Kieran has held a number of positions including analyst roles in the Global Listed Infrastructure team and the Small Companies, Core team. Kieran has completed a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of La Trobe, with majors in Finance and Management.

Wang Chun has 15 years’ experience in financial services. Prior to joining Realindex, Wang Chun has worked as a quantitative analyst at Macquarie Group and Regal Funds Management, and as a senior investment analyst at AustralianSuper. In April 2022, Wang Chun transitioned from being a Quantitative Analyst within the Realindex Research Team to become a Quantitative Portfolio Manager. He has also worked as a lecturer in finance at the University of Queensland Business School. Wang Chun holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Actuarial Studies from the University of Melbourne, a PhD in Finance at the University of Sydney and a Masters in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a CFA charter holder since 2017.

Scott has 30 years' quantitative research experience. Prior to joining Realindex, Scott was a Director of Applied Research at Axioma and spent 18 years at Macquarie Bank where he was a Senior Analyst within Macquarie Securities and the Quantitative Applications Division.  In addition he has been a guest lecturer at Kaplan Professional since 2004. Scott has worked across a number of areas of quantitative research including multi factor alpha  models and optimization, smart beta, index arbitrage, after tax optimization, dynamic currency hedging and database management and has regularly presented at conferences and seminars. Scott has a Masters of Applied Finance and a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours), both from Macquarie University.

Sidney has 25 years’ financial services experience, during which he has been responsible for producing software within stockbroking and asset management arms of multinational investment banks including Ankura Capital and Credit Suisse. Sidney holds a Master of Commerce – Major in Finance and Bachelor of Engineering – Computer Engineering (Honours Class 1) from the University of New South Wales and has been a CFA Charter holder since 2010. 

Andrew has 24 years' quantitative research experience. Prior to joining Realindex, Andrew worked for 17 years in quantitative research roles at Man AHL as a Senior Researcher and Client Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Fellow, and Head of Non-Directional Strategies. His career brings extensive quantitative research experience across equities, currency and derivatives in both long only and long short and across multiple time horizons. Andrew has a Masters in Science in Applied Statistics from Oxford University, and a Bachelors in Mathematics (Honours) from the University of Cambridge. 

Wei has 15 years' quantitative research experience. Prior to joining Realindex Wei completed a PhD in finance. Wei has previously worked as a business analyst and consultant at Capital Market CRC, and as a quantitative analyst at RBS, CIMB Securities and Investment Science Asset Management. Wei has a PhD in Finance from UNSW and has completed a Bachelor of Commerce and Finance (Honours) at the University of Adelaide, receiving the University Medal.

Tom has 5 years’ experience in financial services as a quantitative researcher. He holds a PhD in Computational Finance from Bond University and a Bachelor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Hons) from the University of Queensland. Before transitioning to finance, Tom spent 4 years as an Aeronautical Engineer in the Australian Defence Force, responsible for technical risk management and the leadership of aircraft maintenance teams.

Ben has 12 years' experience in financial services in addition to 5 years prior IT experience where he was responsible for network, applications and database projects at a government organisation. Prior to joining Realindex, Ben worked in the CBA Wealth Management Architecture team. Ben has a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Diploma in Professional Practice with Distinction from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Ned joined Realindex as a graduate in February 2022. Before joining Realindex, Ned worked part-time as a data scientist assisting the development of text mining models at the Australian Taxation Office. Ned holds a Bachelor of Commerce and IT with majors in Finance and Information Systems from the University of Sydney.

Iain has 15 years’ experience in financial services. Iain previously worked within CBA’s Wealth Management Strategy team and has held various positions within First Sentier Investors and worked as a Research Assistant at Contango Asset Management. Iain has a Bachelor of Business (Honours) from the University of Technology and is a holder of the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation. Iain has completed his thesis on a conditional model for enhanced value and growth portfolios in the Australian market.

Bonnie has 12 years’ financial services experience, 4 years with FSI, before transferring to work with Realindex Investments. Bonnie joined First Sentier Investors as part of the graduate program in 2014, and most recently worked in the Investment Specialist team covering the Australian Equities and Global Property Securities asset classes. Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Accounting from the University of New South Wales.

Melanie joined Realindex as a graduate in May 2022. Prior to joining the Realindex team, she was a Client Services Consultant at Perpetual Limited. Melanie holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Finance and minors in Economics and Marketing from Macquarie University.