New Zealand-headquartered infrastructure investor, HRL Morrison & Co, has introduced a new partnership model to reassert its position as a manager of global scale. The strategic move sees the appointment of 14 inaugural partners, five of which are based in jurisdictions outside of Australasia; in Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The news follows the firm’s establishment of an office in Singapore in February, marking the company’s Asian expansion and its exploration of further activity in the renewable energy sector. The move was driven by access to investment opportunities across Southeast Asia, as well as investment by the firm's listed investment vehicle, Infratil, into new renewable energy platform, Gurin Energy, last year.
CEO of Morrison & Co., Paul Newfield, who succeeded Marko Bogoievski in January 2022, explained in the release that the introduction of the new model was a natural next step in the evolution of the 33 year-old firm. He said that the selection of an intergenerational group was deliberate, in order to offer a relevant perspective to the ultra-long-term institutional investors that entrust the firm with managing their capital.
With each partner holding an undisclosed equity stake in the company, the group brings to the firm differing backgrounds and perspectives, which will applied to the consideration of every investment, the announcement explained.
“We’re investing in building the diverse talent pool required to deliver stand-out investment performance on a global stage,” Newfield said.
Singapore-based partner and chief commercial officer, Nicole Walker (pictured), who also leads the firm’s Inclusion and Diversity Forum to monitor the company’s progress and reports quarterly to its board, shared with FinanceAsia that the company has a set of defined diversity targets across each level.
“We have broad representation across all levels at our firm, and on all our decision-making Committees,” Walker told FA, adding that Morrison & Co. works to actively nurture a culture and workplace where everyone is respected, trusted and feels safe, empowered and motivated to share their views, skills and experiences.
“We are a highly collaborative and creative team, encouraging diverse voices to robustly discuss ideas, and bring the best of the firm together to make better decisions in service of our clients,” she noted.
In January, the company appointed Kate Mingay as a non-executive director of the board to grow its presence in the UK and Europe.
“We have been recruiting steadily over the past few years across both our investment and corporate teams, and are continuing to build out the presence we have in North America, focussed on our New York office, and Europe, based around our London office,” Walker said.
“We have a small team of four in Singapore, and are actively recruiting for another senior capital raising professional,” she added.
Emerging from the pandemic with vigour to continue its expansion, Walker noted how the past few years have provided valuable insights into working practices, which have spurred the introduction of a suite of internal opportunities for the team.
She concluded that the firm continues to operate with its core, guiding purpose: to “invest wisely in ideas that matter”.
The inaugural partners are:
• Paul Newfield, CEO (Morrison & Co.) – based in New Zealand
• Jason Boyes, CEO (Infratil) – based in New Zealand
• Nicole Walker, chief commercial officer (Morrison & Co.) – based in Singapore
• William Smales, chief investment officer (Morrison & Co.) – based in the US
• Peter Coman, co-head of Australia and New Zealand (Morrison & Co.) – based in New Zealand
• Geoff Hutchinson, co-head of Australia and New Zealand (Morrison & Co.) – based in Australia
• Phillippa Harford, CFO (Infratil) – based in New Zealand
• Vincent Gerritsen, head of UK and Europe (Morrison & Co.) – based in the UK
• Perry Offutt, head of North America (Morrison & Co.) – based in the US
• Kellee Clark, head of Legal (Morrison & Co.) – based in New Zealand
• Mark Mudie, senior investment professional (Morrison & Co.) – based in Australia
• Steven Fitzgerald, head of Asset Management (Morrison & Co.) – based in Australia
• Vimal Vallabh, global head of Energy (Morrison & Co.) – based in Switzerland
• Gordon Hay, head of Core Infrastructure Funds (Morrison & Co.) – based in Australia
