Liz has been an integral part of the investor services and communications team since Platinum’s founding and has been the company’s link with our clients from the very beginning.

Liz began her career at Bankers Trust, working on new product development, and later joining the retail funds management team where she worked closely with Kerr and Andrew. She joined Platinum in February 1994 as Investor Services and Communications Manager.

Liz’s appointment to the Board in 2013 as Director of Investor Services and Communications reflects the firm’s ever-greater focus on its widening client base and a strong commitment to supporting retail and institutional clients with dedicated investment specialists.

An actuary by training, Douglas first joined Platinum in 2003 as an investment analyst, having spent some time at the Commonwealth Bank as a product actuary and, prior to that, as an investment manager at Aegon Asset Management in Edinburgh. Mathematical prowess was not Douglas’ only forte. His gift for communication and his convivial nature soon earned him the additional responsibility of handling presentations to advisers and clients.

Douglas left Platinum in 2008 to relocate to Singapore where he made a significant contribution to developing Standard Chartered Bank’s equity broking business.

Having re-joined Platinum in 2013 as an investment specialist, Douglas now dedicates himself to serving as a bridge between Platinum’s investment team and the financial advisory community.

Julian joined Platinum in 2001 as an investment analyst, but then left in 2002 to travel the world.

Upon returning he spent eight years working in metals and mining equity research and investment banking at Credit Suisse before founding a company in minerals exploration.

Julian re-joined Platinum in 2014 as an investment specialist and works to help clients stay informed, as well as working with the basic industries analytical team.
 
 

Dean was formerly an investment analyst at Platinum, covering Japanese companies and being involved in the implementation of currency strategy. Prior to that, he had also served in the Investor Services team for some time. During those initial six years with Platinum, the exposure to different roles gave him a unique perspective not only on how Platinum’s investment approach is put into practice, but also on clients’ perception of that approach as well as some of the concerns and misunderstandings they may have.

After several years away, Dean re-joined Platinum in 2016 as an investment specialist, putting to good use both his first-hand experience as an analyst as well as the insights gained from his Investor Services days.

Henry joined Platinum in April 2019 as an Investment Specialist.  Prior to this, Henry worked at Goldman Sachs where he held the position of Executive Director, Australian Equity Sales from October 2015, initially in their Hong Kong office before relocating back to Sydney in 2016.

Henry also previously worked at J.P. Morgan for eight years in both Sydney and Hong Kong as Vice President, Australian Equity Sales & Execution from 2007 to 2015.

His extensive local and offshore equities experience and ability to develop strong relationships with clients are valuable assets for his role as an Investment Specialist within the client team.

Henry holds a Bachelor of Economics and has completed CFA Level I.
 

Charles joined Platinum in 2014 as an investment specialist. Having previously worked in similar capacities at IFM Investors and Northward Capital / nabInvest, he brings with him a wealth of knowledge about the specialised needs, objectives and processes of institutional investors.

Charles began his career in finance at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management in London. After backpacking around the world, he settled in Sydney and took up investment analyst and fund management roles at United Funds Management and later at MLC Investment Management.

At Platinum, Charles’ role focuses on serving as a conduit between our investment team on the one hand and our institutional clients and asset consultants on the other.

Jan joined Platinum in 2021 as an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investment specialist.
Prior to Platinum, Jan has had a varied career across various financial markets: he has been Insurance & Diversified Financials analyst for both Ausbil Investment Management and CLSA Australia (where he was also Head of ESG). Jan came to Australia in 2001 and set up IAG Re (part of IAG) and subsequently headed up Asset Management and Reinsurance at IAG, as well as being a member of the Executive Team. Prior to coming to Australia, he worked in Bermuda as part of the team which set up Tempest Re (1994) which was subsequently bought by Chubb Insurance. Jan is fluent in Dutch

Beverley joined Platinum in February 2003 as an investor services team member, having previously worked for Merrill Lynch Investment Management in London in administration and customer service roles.

At Platinum, Beverley became investor services manager in 2019 and has responsibility for the team dealing with our client queries.
 

Andrew joined Platinum as Finance Director in August 2015. Prior to that, he held the position of Chief Financial Officer for the Asia-Pacific region at AllianceBernstein.

Andrew has more than 25 years of finance experience with expertise in audit, financial control, operations, funds management, financial services regulation and corporate governance. He is a chartered accountant.

Joanne is an English law qualified solicitor with more than 21 years of legal experience in the asset management and securities services sectors, in England and across Asia Pacific.

Joanne 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. Joanne 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.

Matt joined Platinum in November 2015 as Chief Compliance Officer, having worked previously at Macquarie Group as the Head of Compliance for the Macquarie Asset Management division and, prior to that, in KPMG’s Risk Advisory practice.

Tim joined Platinum as Head of Finance in April 2020. Prior to that he held position of Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Magellan. Tim previously held senior finance positions with Fidelity International, Liquid Capital and KPMG. He is a chartered accountant.
 

Michael joined Platinum in March 2002 as Unit Registry Manager. Previously he had worked in London at Goldman Sachs International as an operations analyst on the dealing desk and in shareholder services.

Robert joined Platinum in April 2006 as a corporate accountant before taking on the role of Operations Manager in 2011. Previously, Robert held the positions of financial accountant at Aussie Home Loans and business services supervisor at PKF Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers.

Paul joined Platinum in January 2001 as Portfolio Accounting Manager. He previously worked as an investment operations analyst at Barclays Global Investors.

Andy joined Platinum in August 2013 as Head of Technology. Prior to that, Andy was the head of IT at IAG Asset Management and had held various roles at RBC Dexia Investor Services and Datastream International (London).

Kelley joined Platinum in April 2017 in the role of Human Resources Manager, having spent the last four years with Nikko Asset Management as HR Manager. Prior to that, Kelley worked at AllianceBernstein in Human Resources for more than 10 years after spending time working in the recruitment and hospitality sectors in Melbourne, the UK and China.

Kerr, with the help of Andrew Clifford, founded Platinum in 1994 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 Kerr 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 Kerr and his team sufficient support to gradually build the business and, fortunately, Platinum’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, Kerr 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. From this time until August 2020, he remained an Executive Director and also worked as an analyst on the generation of investment ideas within the investment team. From 31 August 2020, Mr Neilson became a Non-Executive Director of Platinum. 

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

Andrew co-founded Platinum in 1994 as the Deputy Chief Investment Officer, having worked alongside Kerr Neilson for several years at Bankers Trust and perfecting the craft of uncovering the overlooked gems in the stock market. Andrew believed that irrational market sentiments and the consequential short-term volatility can often lead to opportunity in companies whose true worth is temporarily under-appreciated. The approach worked for Andrew at Bankers Trust where the BT Select Market Trust – Pacific Basin Fund that he managed was a great success, and he has been applying and refining the same methodology over 25 years to generate strong returns for Platinum’s investors.

Since taking over the role of Chief Investment Officer in 2013, Andrew 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. Andrew’s investment experience at Platinum has included managing/co-managing the Platinum International Technology Fund, the Platinum Asia Fund and the Platinum International Fund.  He currently co-manages Platinum’s Global strategies and Asia ex-Japan strategies.  Andrew took over the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Platinum Group in July 2018. 

Toby was a member of the original Platinum team. He began his career as a graduate trainee at Bankers Trust in the early 1990s. As a founding member of Platinum’s investment team, Toby was responsible for covering European companies and supervised currency strategy. Toby was the portfolio manager of the Platinum European Fund from the fund’s inception in 1998 until 2009 when he departed from the firm to live in Europe. Toby re-joined Platinum in 2014 as an analyst in the health care sector team.