Platinum Asset Management Limited
Shareholder Information (ASX code: PTM)

Michael Cole, FFin, BEcon, MEcon

Independent Non-Executive Director, Chair of Board of Directors, member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, and member of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since 10 April 2007

Mr Cole has been an Independent Non-Executive Director and the Chairman of PTM since 2007. He has over 40 years of experience in the investment banking and the funds management industry and served as an Executive Director and Executive Vice President at Bankers Trust Australia Limited for over 10 years. Mr Cole is currently the Chairman of Ironbark Capital Limited and was formerly the Chairman of IMB Limited and Challenger Listed Investments Limited.

Stephen Menzies, BEcon, LLB, LLM

Independent Non-Executive Director, member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, and member of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since 11 March 2015
Chair of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since 19 June 2017

Mr Menzies joined PTM’s Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director in March 2015. He is also a Director of Platinum World Portfolios plc and serves as a Member of the Advisory Committee for the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology. Mr Menzies retired as a partner from Ashurst law firm in 2014 and, until his retirement, had consistently been ranked as one of Australia's leading corporate lawyers. As the former Head of China Practice at Ashurst, he oversaw the Shanghai and Beijing offices of that firm. As a senior lawyer, he managed legal work of significant projects in capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, including some of the largest corporate transactions in Australia. Previously, Mr Menzies had also served as a National Director for Enforcement at the Australian Securities Commission (now ASIC) and has had a long history working in and with the funds management industry.

Anne Loveridge, FCA (Australia), FCA (England and Wales), GAICD, BA (Hons)

Independent Non-Executive Director, member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, and member of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since 22 September 2016
Chair of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee since 24 February 2017

Ms Loveridge joined PTM’s Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director in September 2016. She is also a Non-Executive Director for the National Australia Bank (NAB) Group and NIB Holdings Limited. Anne has over 30 years of experience as a former partner in the Financial Services Assurance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where she worked with a range of clients in banking, property, private equity and wealth management sectors, providing advice on financial and regulatory reporting, risk management, controls and compliance frameworks.

Brigitte Smith, BChem Eng (Hons), MBA (Hons), MALD

Independent Non-Executive Director, member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, and member of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since 31 March 2018

Ms Smith was co-founder and Managing Director of GBS Venture Partners for twenty years and has worked with Australian and US fast growth companies as an investor and board member, supporting business strategy, human resources and operations. Ms Smith has worked in the US and Australia in operating roles with fast growth technology based businesses, and at Bain & Company as a strategic management consultant.

Tim Trumper, MBA, UNE 

Independent Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit, Risk & Compliance and Nomination & Remuneration Committees since 1 August 2018.

Mr Trumper is Chair of the NRMA, advisor and shareholder in Quantium, Australia’s leading data and analytics company and holds interests in several private high growth innovative companies. He is an authority on the utilisation of data to drive innovation, and corporate strategy. Mr Trumper is an experienced non-executive director, former CEO, and advisor for high-performance global and Australian companies. His career has spanned diverse categories including artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data, digital transformation, mobility and transport, financial services and media.

Along with fellow directors and the then Chairman the late Hon. R J Hawke, Tim helped to establish The Bestest Foundation. This charity has raised over $4 million for disadvantaged Australian children. 

Andrew Clifford, BCom (Hons)

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer since 1 July 2018, Director and Chief Investment Officer since 8 May 2013

Mr Clifford co-founded Platinum in 1994 as the Deputy Chief Investment Officer, having previously been a Vice President at Bankers Trust Australia Limited covering Asian equities and managing the BT Select Market Trust – Pacific Basin Fund.

Since taking over the role of Chief Investment Officer in 2013, Mr Clifford has spent considerable time and effort on improving the organisational structure of the gradually-expanding investment team to make the execution of our investment process more seamless and efficient.

With full endorsement from the Board, Mr Clifford took over the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Platinum Group from Kerr Neilson on 1 July 2018 and will lead the firm to write its next chapter.

Mr Clifford handed over portfolio management responsibilities of the Platinum Asia Fund to Joseph Lai in late 2014, which he had managed since the fund’s inception in 2003. He took over the portfolios of Platinum Capital Limited (ASX code: PMC) and The Platinum Master Portfolio Ltd from Kerr Neilson on 1 July 2018, and co-manages with Clay Smolinski the flagship Platinum International Fund, the Platinum International Fund (Quoted Managed Hedge Fund), and the Platinum World Portfolios - International Fund.

Kerr Neilson, BCom

Director since 12 July 1993, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from 12 July 1993 to 30 June 2018

Mr Neilson was the founder of Platinum and was appointed as Managing Director upon incorporation of Platinum Investment Management Limited in 1993. Prior to founding Platinum, Mr Neilson was an Executive Vice President at Bankers Trust Australia Limited (BT) where he made important contributions to the development of BT’s retail funds management division. His career in the financial services industry spans over more than 45 years, including times he had spent working in the UK and South Africa before migrating to Australia.

Mr Neilson, with the help of Andrew Clifford, founded Platinum with a view to making money for investors. The emphasis was on continuing the successful investment approach he had employed previously. This entailed building portfolios of misunderstood companies that were experiencing change or mispricing due to transient factors or intuitive biases applied by market participants at large. By investing in companies around the world, unconstrained by index weighting or other pre-determined allocation parameters, Platinum owned genuinely differentiated portfolios and produced outstanding investment returns.

From day one Mr Neilson and the team eschewed the use of hard selling techniques, maintaining that if our performance can withstand the test of time, there should never be a need for such tactic; whereas, if Platinum fails to generate satisfactory returns for investors, then the firm should not continue. Prior success, notably, sidestepping the 1987 crash, ensured that from the outset there were willing investors prepared to give Platinum sufficient support to gradually build the business and, fortunately, the company’s performance over the years has proven the longevity of our approach.

As Platinum’s investment philosophy and process became systematically inculcated within the team, Mr Neilson stepped down as the Chief Investment Officer in 2013, and has over time handed over his various portfolio management responsibilities to other global portfolio managers in the team.

With the full endorsement of the Board, Mr Neilson handed over the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Platinum Group to Andrew Clifford on 1 July 2018. Continuing to serve as a full-time executive director of the Platinum Group and a member of Platinum's investment team, Mr Neilson remains fully engaged in the business and continues to work on the generation of investment ideas as well as provides additional support to the firm's client diversification initiatives in Europe and the US.

The benefits of Mr Neilson’s endeavours over the decades are also being felt beyond Platinum’s investors as the Neilson Foundation pursues its mission of social inclusion.

Joanne Jefferies, BCom, LLB

Company Secretary since 17 October 2016

Ms Jefferies is an English law qualified solicitor with more than 23 years of legal experience in the asset management and securities services sectors, in England and across Asia Pacific.

Ms Jefferies joined Platinum in October 2016 as General Counsel and Group Company Secretary, having spent the previous six years at BNP Paribas Securities Services as Head of Legal Asia Pacific, Company Secretary for all Australian subsidiaries and a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee. Ms Jefferies has previously held senior legal positions with Russell Investments, Morley Funds Management (Aviva Investors) and Lord Abbett, and served as the General Counsel for the UK’s funds management industry association, the Investment Association.

Building a Sustainable Business

2020 marks 26 years of the founding of Platinum Asset Management. From small beginnings with four investment professionals and a handful of support staff working from a makeshift office, Platinum has grown into one of Australia’s most trusted global equities managers with $22 billion under management (as at 30 April 2020).
 
Platinum’s business is managing clients’ money. We charge clients a fee for doing so and these fees are our chief source of revenue. We, at Platinum, have a simple core belief: if we responsibly and successfully look after our clients’ money, our business should prosper. A failure to understand and commit to this priority will not result in an enduring asset management business; marketing, commissions and other selling practices notwithstanding.
 
This belief has led Platinum to maintain a deep and consistent commitment to sustainable business practices and responsible investment management. In particular, we consider that the following themes are key to the long-term sustainability of our business:
 
1 Being a responsible money manager
2 ESG considerations in investing
3 Putting clients’ interests first – valuing independence and transparency
4 Advocating for change and engaging with policymakers
5 Engaging with our employees
6 Contributing to the community
7 Being environmentally responsible
 
This report will discuss our strategy and performance in addressing the opportunities and challenges associated with each of these themes. It will also consider our goals and initiatives against the framework of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as we seek to align Platinum’s future prosperity with that of the broader community.

Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report - June 2020