About us
Who we are
The Lonsec Group is a pivotal force within Australia’s financial advice and investment industry, encompassing market leading brands Lonsec Research, Lonsec Investment Solutions, SuperRatings and Implemented Portfolios.
Our position in the industry enables us to be a unique conduit, playing a fundamental role in building investment capabilities for financial advisers, licensees, fund managers and superannuation funds to deliver practical, actionable insights that significantly enhance the value of their investment and advice solutions.
Partnering with Lonsec means being backed by the enduring strength of the Lonsec Group. Founded in Australia in 1994, and with over a three-decade legacy of profitability and sustainability, we are committed to supporting our clients with the tools, data and insights to make better investment decisions for decades to come.
Our vision and purpose is to be the pre-eminent investment partner in Australia by helping clients and investors make better decisions.
As of 1 August 2024, Lonsec is a fully owned entity of Generation Development Group (ASX: GDG).
Our vision and purpose is to be the pre-eminent investment partner in Australia by helping clients and investors make better decisions.
Mike Wright, CEO
Our Values
Independent thinking
We never compromise on quality or objectiveness to deliver trusted, high conviction insights.
Integrity
We stand behind our promises and always do the right thing by our people and clients.
Client focus
Our culture puts the client at the core and focuses on helping them achieve their goals.
Innovation
We anticipate market needs and opportunities and develop contemporary solutions.
Collaboration
We build great relationships and work in partnership with our clients and colleagues.
Our Milestones
Our Awards
We are honoured to have been awarded Best Research House in the 2024 Adviser Ratings Australian Financial Advice Landscape Report. This is the third year in a row Lonsec has been recognised by Australian financial advisers with this award.
We are also the winner of the 2024 Best Investment Research Firm award in the inaugural Australian Wealth Management Awards.
Our clients and end investors are at the heart of what we do at Lonsec and while we have grown and our product offering has evolved over the past 30 years, we remain committed to helping all Australians make better financial decisions.
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Our Executive Team
Michael Wright
Chief Executive Officer, Lonsec
Michael joined Lonsec in July 2021 as CEO. He has over 25 years’ experience in leading businesses and teams within Financial Services, across financial advice, private banking, wealth management, superannuation and retail banking.
Michael joined Lonsec from Xplore Wealth, where as CEO he led the transformation of the Xplore, upgrading the business, which resulted a successful friendly takeover to Hub24. At BT and Westpac, most recently as General Manager, BT Financial Advice, Michael successfully lead large teams across the Banks key client segments, responsible for change, leadership and strategy. Michael also worked at ANZ as Head of Alternative Investments and Head of Distribution for Banking Products.
Throughout Michael’s career, he has used his leadership, communication skills and commitment to a client first ethos, to build values based cultures, inspire high performance teams whilst developing strong relationships with all key stakeholders.
Lorraine Robinson
Executive Director, Lonsec Research
Lorraine joined Lonsec in December 2019 to lead the Lonsec Research team. She has extensive experience in financial markets, across investment research, funds management and investor relations.
She joined Lonsec from Evans & Partners, where she was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of the Corporate and Institutional business. Her 10 year tenure included time as Head of Research and as a Senior Investment Analyst. Previously she developed her own investor relations and consulting practice, gaining experience across a number of different industries including financial services, media and communications and technology. She was a successful Research Analyst at JBWere and gained experience in both funds management and investment banking at Macquarie Bank.
Nathan Lim
Executive Director & Chief Investment Officer, Lonsec Investment Solutions
Nathan Lim is the Chief Investment Officer at Lonsec Holdings. He is responsible for building and managing Lonsec’s suite of investment solutions, devising strategies for growth and acting as the liaison with the market. He was previously with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management from 2016 to 2023, holding senior roles in Sydney and Hong Kong, where he developed their multi-asset investment approach, which was recognised by the Institute of Managed Account Professionals as the winner in the 2021 Multi-Asset and Licensee Managed Account categories. Before Morgan Stanley, Nathan was with Australian Ethical Investment, managing the Australian Ethical International Shares Fund, which won the Best International Equities Award from the Australian Fund Manager Foundation in 2014. He started his career in 1995 and has extensive experience in asset management, research and stockbroking that has taken him across Asia, North America, the Middle East and Australia. Nathan is a frequent speaker and writer on global market issues, has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, is an Honorary Adjunct Professor with the University of Technology Sydney Business School and is a CFA® charterholder.
Marc Hraiki
Executive Director, Adviser Sales and Service, Lonsec
Marc has been in the financial services industry for over 23 years, leading sales teams for a number of the most prominent organisations in the sector such as IOOF and HUB24. His experience spans administration, product, advice and technology and he has managed significant client relationships for over 15 years. Marc has most recently managed Key client relationships at global Investment manager, Franklin Templeton. Marc brings substantial insight on the structure and drivers within our industry today.
Kirby Rappell
Executive Director, SuperRatings
Kirby was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SuperRatings in October 2017 and is responsible for setting SuperRatings strategy and ensuring we continue to provide the best possible Ratings, Research, Consulting and insights to our clients. He has worked to build a strong relationship with funds, service providers and key industry stakeholders to ensure we have a strong understanding of the market, and communicating back to the market where opportunities for uplift in value for super fund members exist. Kirby has been with SuperRatings since 2008. During his time at SuperRatings, Kirby has work as a Quantitative Analyst before becoming responsible for our Research team in 2011. Kirby has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney (Finance and Accounting) and is a CFA Charterholder.
Amanda Smerdon
Chief Financial Officer, Lonsec
Amanda joined Lonsec in February 2019 and is responsible for both Finance and Operations. As CFO, Amanda is responsible for finance, legal, risk & compliance, human resources and office management. With experience working in a range of industries, Amanda’s focus, as a business partner, is on delivering value across both strategic and operational initiatives. Amanda has successfully overseen a number of finance transformations and strategic financial projects.
Prior to joining Lonsec, Amanda was CFO for Riversdale Group, a private-equity owned Pub Fund, where she oversaw the divestment of numerous assets. She started her career at PwC and has also worked at CIMIC Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings Ltd). Amanda holds a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University, a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Accounting from the University of Technology Sydney and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.
Naomi Christopher
Head of Marketing and Public Relations, Lonsec
Naomi Christopher is the Group Head of Marketing and Public Relations at Lonsec Holdings. Her career in financial services spans 13 years, where she has worked in similar marketing and communications related roles at other financial services businesses such as Midwinter Financial Services (a Bruvara owned company) and SQM Research, the funds research and ratings house. Naomi was National Manager – Marketing and Communications at Implemented Portfolios and joined Lonsec Holdings in 2022 following the merger between the two companies.
Outside of the office, Naomi has a love for reading & creative writing and enjoys writing poetry. She also has a keen passion for Women in Financial Services and is involved in various initiatives that seek to elevate and increase the presence of women in the industry.
Bruce Hawkins
Chief Operating Officer, Lonsec
Bruce has over 30 years’ experience in financial services with an extensive track record across investment platforms, superannuation and life insurance. Bruce has held a number of senior positions spanning finance, operations and strategic development with companies including NAB Wealth, Aviva Australia and Xplore Wealth Limited.
Prior to joining Lonsec, Bruce was Group Executive – Xplore Wealth at HUB24 Limited leading the Xplore business whilst assisting in its integration into the broader HUB24 business.
Bruce earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree at Deakin University and is a member of Chartered Accountants – Australia & New Zealand.
Kevin Brennan
Chief Information Officer, Lonsec
Kevin joined Lonsec in September 2021 as Chief Information Officer and leads the technology and delivery function for Lonsec. Kevin is an accomplished technology executive with over 20 years financial services technology experience and a proven track record of leading strategic transformation in complex, challenging environments.
Prior to joining Lonsec, Kevin was the Head of Technology for Advice, Investments and Private Wealth for BT Financial Group. Before that role, Kevin led the Equities technology team for Westpac’s institutional bank.
Kevin is passionate about building collaborative technology teams with strong commercial acumen and business alignment.
Our Board Members
As a fully owned entity of the Generation Development Group, the Lonsec Executive team reports into the GDG board of directors, seen below:
Rob Coombe
Non-Executive Chairman
Rob was appointed Executive Chairman of Generation Development Group on 18 July 2017 and assumed a Non-Executive Chairman position on 1 July 2020.
Rob is presently Non-Executive Chairman of Colonial First State, a leading Australian superannuation and wealth management business owned by KKR and CBA. He also chairs Tibra Capital, a privately owned global multi-strategy hedge fund business, and Expert360, Australia’s leading online talent marketplace. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Five V Capital, a leading Australian private equity manager focused on investing in established growth companies across a range of industries.
On top of Rob’s commercial interests, he is a Deputy Chair of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) and Chair of the UTS Foundation.
Between 2013 and 2019, Rob was CEO (2013-2017) then Chairman of Craveable Brands, the largest Australian owned Quick Service Restaurant business. Rob’s tenure with this business was during its ownership by Archer Capital and culminated in a successful exit to PAG in August 2019.
Before joining Craveable Brands, Rob was responsible for all of Westpac’s Australian Retail, Business and Agri banking operations. Prior to this role, Rob spent six years as the CEO of BT Financial Group, responsible for all of Westpac’s funds management, financial planning, insurance, private banking, broking, platform and superannuation businesses.
Rob has 40 years’ corporate experience in Australia and Asia, primarily in financial services. He has had extensive experience on the Boards of listed and private companies both domestically and internationally.
In 2011 Rob was awarded the prestigious UTS Alumni of the Year for Excellence and in 2021 he was appointed as a Fellow of the university. Both awards were in recognition of his achievements in the business community and social sector.
Bill Bessemer
Non-Executive Director
Bill initially joined Austock in 1995 and became chairman of the Group in 1999 until 2009. Following a brief retirement Bill resumed as a director of Austock in February 2012 and became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in May 2012. He stepped down as CEO in November 2017. Bill has over 40 years’ experience in banking and finance, specifically in the areas of debt and equity structuring, mergers and acquisitions and business recoveries. He was a shareholder and director of a boutique corporate advisory business involved in all areas of investment banking. He also held several senior management roles and directorships with companies owned by the ANZ Banking Group.
Giselle Collins
Non-Executive Director
Giselle was appointed a director of Generation Development Group in November 2021, having served previously on the Generation Life Board since 2018.
She is currently Chairman of Hotel Property Investments (ASX:HPI). She is also Chairman of the responsible entity for AMP Limited’s registered managed investment schemes, and Larrakia Darwin Hotel as nominee for Indigenous Business Australia.
She is also a non-executive director of Cooper Energy (ASX:COE) as well as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust.
Giselle has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investments from the Securities Institute. She is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.
Christine Christian
Non-Executive Director
Christine was appointed a director of Generation Development Group on 8 October 2024.
Christine is an independent chair of SelfWealth Ltd (ASX:SWF), Auctus Investment Group Ltd (ASX:AVC) and Tanarra Credit Partners and currently holds non-executive director roles with Arcus Partners and MaxCap Group. She is President of the State Library of Victoria and Council member of La Trobe University. Previously, she has held a range of senior executive roles with Dun & Bradstreet. In addition, Christine was a non-executive director of GDG’s wholly owned subsidiary, Lonsec Holdings Pty Ltd, from January 2016 until February 2024.
She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and past president of Chief Executive Women. In 2020, she was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her distinguished service to the financial and investment sectors, to women in business and through support for emerging entrepreneurs.