In June 2019, Zenith purchased FundSource New Zealand from NZX and renamed the business Zenith Investment Partners NZ.
About Zenith Investment Partners
Established in 2002, Zenith Investment Partners is one of Australia’s leading research and investment consultants. We specialise in managed funds research, consulting and delivering investment portfolio solutions for Australian financial advisers and their clients.
We look forward to expanding into the New Zealand market, and partnering with New Zealand financial advisers and fund managers to:
BCom, GDipAppFinInv (SIA)
Investment Research veteran and financial services executive facilitating premium investment outcomes
David Wright is a Managing Partner and joint founder of Zenith Investment Partners (Zenith).
David established Zenith in October 2002 and has extensive investment industry experience. David’s role includes overall responsibility of the business and remains closely involved in servicing the Firm’s investment consulting clients with portfolio construction, management and monitoring advice.
Prior to establishing Zenith, David held senior positions within the financial services industry including IWL Ltd (Head of Research), an ASX listed company in which he was also a significant equity holder. David was instrumental in building and further developing IWL's managed investment research methodology and process and expanding the group's distribution of research to financial advisers. Other roles included Associate Director and Head of Managed Funds research at Lonsdale Limited and an analyst with the Advisor Group, a national financial planning group.
David has extensive experience researching, assessing and rating many forms of managed investments including, unlisted managed funds, listed managed investments including LIC’s, ETF’s, ETMF’s and property syndicates.
David is also a former practitioner lecturer of the Securities Institute of Australia (now FINSIA).
Founder, Established Zenith in October 2002
BBus (Ec&Fin), CAIA
Investment Consultant driven to meet the investment goals of our clients and continually enhance Zenith’s client service offering
Ben Davis is a Partner at Zenith and has over 21 years industry experience.
Ben is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and is a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) and the Chartered Alternatives Investment Analyst Association (CAIAA). In 2008, Ben was awarded the BlackRock sponsored CIMA Scholarship for Retail Managed Funds and Master Trust Research Analysts. Since joining Zenith, Ben has been involved in leading manager reviews across a broad range of asset classes including international equities, fixed interest, mortgages, property and alternatives. Ben has completed onsite manager reviews in several of the world’s major financial capitals across the US, Europe and Asia. Ben has also specialised in portfolio construction and the formulation of customised approved product lists for financial advisers, dealer groups and master funds and wrap account providers. This role involved chairing investment committee meetings and presenting portfolio updates to these clients on a regular basis.
Ben previously held a role as a Senior Investment Analyst at IWL Ltd, where he was a pivotal member of the manager review team. Ben commenced his finance industry career in a project management role at Bridge Information Systems, a global financial software provider, where he helped establish the software provider's presence in the Asia/Pacific region.
Joined Zenith: October 2003
BA, GradDip FinInv (FINSIA), GAICD
Broadly experienced financial services executive, committed to delivering quality investment solutions for investors and their advisers.
With an extensive background in funds management, wrap platform and wealth advice markets, Jason is focussed on supporting the Zenith business to consistently deliver quality investment insights and outcomes for clients.
Jason’s career commenced in 1989 with National Mutual Life before moving to the Macquarie Group in 1994. There he spent 17 years in senior business development and general management roles for Macquarie Investment Management, Professional Series and Adviser Services, plus as Executive Director leading Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services Group in the UK. After leaving Macquarie, Jason spent 5 years with NAB in its Debt Capital Markets and Asset Management (MLC) businesses. Before joining Zenith, Jason was most recently Executive Director of boutique firm ARCO Investment Management.
Joined Zenith: December 2019
BBus (Acc&Fin) CA
Experienced financial services executive with track record of leading business development, transformational change management and sustained compounding growth.
Hung joins the Zenith team as Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for finance and corporate services. His focus will be providing strategic direction and leadership through financial and capital planning.
Before joining the team at Zenith, Hung was the CFO of Selectus Pty Ltd, a financial services provider specialising in salary packaging & employee benefits and led the divestment of Selectus Pty Ltd to ASX-listed financial services firm Smartgroup Corporation Limited where he was part of the senior management team. Hung is a Chartered Accountant who had started his career at KPMG Australia and holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting / Banking & Finance).
Joined Zenith: Feb 2020
BSc, GDipEd, GDipFin, CFA
Adept executive focused on delivering research excellence
Bronwen commenced her career with Zenith as a Senior Investment Analyst before being appointed Head of Research in 2012. She held the position of Head of Research for seven years and is now the firm’s General Manager. Bronwen has over 24 years experience in the investment industry, specialising in the research and evaluation of equities investment managers and the provision of advice to a wide range of clients.
Prior to joining Zenith, Bronwen has held senior analyst roles with several firms, including: the Future Fund, where she was responsible for assisting the Head and Director of Equities in managing the equity component of the Fund; Lonsec, where she was responsible for research, analysis and advice on global equities and long short hedge funds; and Russell Investments, where she was responsible for the identification and evaluation of new U.S. equity manager and product prospects and the analysis and evaluation of U.S. Growth and Small Cap equity managers.
Joined Zenith: June 2011
AdvDipRurBusMgt, BBus & Associate AICD
Combining deep expertise in private market assets with ASX listed investments
Dugald is Head of Real Assets & Listed Strategies, focusing on listed and unlisted real assets (primarily property and infrastructure) as well as listed investment vehicles (Exchange Traded Funds, Listed Investment Companies/Trusts). Dugald has spent more than 19 years in the investment research industry and has expertise across a wide range of asset types, strategies, and investment structures.
Before joining Zenith, Dugald was an Associate Director at Property Investment Research, where he was responsible for the operational management of the business in the research and ratings of investment vehicles across property and agribusiness in both debt and equity. Prior to this, Dugald was a Senior Investment Analyst with a boutique provider of research into Australian agribusiness funds.
Dugald’s in-depth knowledge across his specialised fields has resulted in him being regularly sought as an industry commentator in a wide range of national media publications, industry journals and conferences.
Joined Zenith: February 2009
MAppFin, CFA, BCom
Research excellence underpinned by pragmatic global & domestic equities investment experience
Quan is the Head of Equities and is responsible for Global and Australian equities related investment products.
Prior to joining Zenith, Quan was a financial markets analyst at the Portland House Group, where he was responsible for the formulation, ongoing development and implementation of global equities investment/trading strategies.
Quan has a range of finance related academic qualifications including a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Finance from The University of Melbourne. Quan is also a CFA® Charterholder.
Joined Zenith: February 2012
BCom, GDipAppFinInv (FINSIA)
Combining a deep mix of ‘buy side’ experience with bottom-up manager research expertise
Rodney has over 21 years experience in the investment management industry spanning private client advice, investment consulting, manager research and funds management.
Rodney is responsible for leading Zenith’s Alternatives and Global Fixed Interest research coverage, which includes a diverse mix of absolute return strategies and more complex unconstrained fixed income strategies.
Prior to joining Zenith, he was employed with Man Group for eight years holding the position of Research Manager with Man Australia. This position provided Rodney with direct exposure to a range of hedge fund strategies with a specialisation in managed futures. Rodney’s background in financial services has included an Investment Consultant role at Intech Investment Consultants, followed by a Senior Investment Analyst role at IWL Limited.
Joined Zenith: January 2014
MAppFin, BCom (Acc&Fin), BEc
Experienced professional with broad based skills and a passion for investment research
Andrew has over 20 years experience spanning research, consulting, financial advice, audit and taxation. Andrew has in-depth knowledge across a broad range of core asset classes, with specialisation in Multi-Asset and Fixed Income. Andrew presently has lead responsibilities for Multi-Asset, Real Return and Australian Fixed Income. He is also a member of the Zenith Compliance Committee.
Prior to joining Zenith, Andrew was an Associate Director and Head of Multi-Asset at Standard and Poor’s, within the Funds Management Research division where he also had responsibilities across equities and fixed-interest. Further positions have included Consultant of PPB Advisory and Senior Research Manager at Pitcher Partners.
Joined Zenith: October 2012
Responsive, courteous and continually delivering exceptional service
Holly commenced at Zenith in 2018 as front of house reception and now provides complex co-ordination of logistics as well as day to day administrative support to the research team. Holly's attention to detail and outgoing personality perfectly complement her research co-ordinator role.
Holly has extensive customer service experience after spending the last five years working within hospitality and retail sectors in Melbourne and the United Kingdom.
Joined Zenith: April 2018
BBus (Ec&Fin) (App)
Proven aptitude in reporting and data analytics and committed to providing exceptional service
Saraland holds a Bachelor of Economics & Finance (Applied) Degree from RMIT University and has over 6 years of experience within the financial planning and advisory services industry.
Supported by her proven aptitude in performance reporting and data analytics, as well as her expansive knowledge in managed funds and superannuation, Saraland has joined Zenith to provide client and internal support to the Investment Consulting division.
Saraland’s extensive understanding in financial planning and investment funds management ensures that she has the essential quantitative and critical analysis skills to deliver quality results.
Joined Zenith: October 2018
BCom
A demonstrated understanding that accuracy input equates to quality output
Lalitha is an integral member of the data and client service team where she has a genuine concern for quality and detail in collecting and inputting monthly return, fund and associated benchmark data into our database. Supported by her Bachelor of Commerce degree, Lalitha can gather information from various sources, interpret the data and identify anomalies which is integral to our data integrity.
Prior to joining Zenith Lalitha worked in a variety of business sectors including Manufacturing, Telecommunications and Mortgage Broking in office support roles.
Joined Zenith: May 2017
BCom(Fin)
Believes that a solid foundation ensures accurate and consistent results.
As a member of the data team, Adrienne is responsible for updating, maintaining and auditing client and fund information. Completing her Commerce Degree at Monash University, she majored in Finance, and obtained a minor in Economics.
Adrienne also has experience in Accounts Receivable and Administration for a small business.
Joined Zenith: July 2019
Passionate about data
As a member of the data team, Peter is responsible for updating, maintaining and auditing client and fund information. He’s currently completing his Business and Arts Double Degree at Monash University, majoring in Finance and International Relations.
Peter has prior experience at a Law Firm in the UK and an Accounting Firm in Melbourne. He intends on pursuing a career in Financial Services upon his expected graduation in November 2021.
BBus (Acc), GDipAppFinInv (FINSIA), DipFinPlan
Working with wealth advisers on investment solutions that allow them to improve their business and better serve their clients.
Whilst studying his Accounting degree, Ross decided that a career in the financial services industry was what he intended to pursue. Over the next 15+ years he worked for the likes of Bendigo Bank , NAB, Citibank & UBS and has continued to study intermittently, completing a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment and a Diploma of Financial planning.
Prior to joining Zenith Ross worked in business development for Leveraged Equities, servicing the margin lending needs of financial planners, stock brokers & their clients across VIC & TAS.
Joined Zenith: June 2019
DipHRM
The business conduit between our people and systems to support progression and ambition
Trudy's role as Human Resource Manager is about developing strategies and opportunities that optimise employee effectiveness, strengthen Zenith’s employer brand, and attract the best possible talent to Zenith.
She is responsible for the development and integration of our HR framework ensuring it translates into a human resource function which is seamless and user friendly for both management and staff. Joining the company in 2007, Trudy understands our business operations intimately and can now focus on Zenith’s most important asset – its people.
Trudy completed her Diploma in Human Resource Management and is continuing her professional development, undertaking the final Capstone module of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) postgraduate accreditation.
Before joining Zenith, Trudy was a General Manager - Administration for IWL Ltd and held positions as EA to executives of companies in the Food industry.
Trudy is a Professional Member of the Australian HR Institute
Joined Zenith: Aug 2007
Admission to Practice - March 2004, BA/LLB
Legal and compliance professional demonstrating genuine business and commercial acumen
Manuela joined Zenith Investment Partners in April 2014 and holds a Bachelor of Arts/ Law degree from Monash University. Manuela was admitted to practice in 2004 and brings to Zenith over 11 years of practice experience, five of which have been in-house as corporate Legal Counsel.
Before joining Zenith as Legal and Compliance Counsel, Manuela developed strong experience in the financial services sector after working as a part of the Legal and Compliance team at Vanguard Investments Australia and most recently as Legal Counsel for Emirates Leisure Retail Australia, with a strong focus on corporate commercial legal and compliance matters.
Joined Zenith: April 2014
Highly organised Administrator with a strong focus on stakeholder relationships
As Administration Manager, Louise is responsible for the day-to-day office management, the coordination and management of the administrative team, as well as providing PA support to the CEO and the General Manager of Research.
Louise has held a number of roles at Zenith and in 2019 was promoted to Administration Manager, taking carriage of an ever-expanding administration team.
Before joining Zenith, Louise held administrative roles in the Real Estate, Property Development, Legal, and Recruitment sectors.
Joined Zenith: Feb 2015
Enterprise Architect with a passion for software engineering, innovation and customer experience
As the lead for our internal IT team, Simon is responsible for the design and development of the Zenith suite of applications which are core to our online services and integration capabilities.
Simon’s strength in agile software delivery comes from over 15 years of experience developing customer facing websites and mobile apps. His passion for innovation, user experience and cloud computing make Simon a welcome lead for our IT team.
Joined Zenith: January 2015
BBus (ITComp&BankFin), CSSBB
An advocate for business and process improvement which is driven by the delivery of quality products and services
Penny commenced with Zenith as Head of Data and Analytics responsible for the centralisation and streamlining of the data collection processes. After four years in that role and achieving the key milestones and enhancements to that division, Penny has moved into a true Business Analyst role and is now the conduit between the business and IT division.
Penny’s passion for business and process improvement coupled with her innate ability to understand and articulate business initiatives will keep the business on track to deliver new projects and exciting enhancements to our clients.
Penny brings over 21 years’ experience in the Automotive and Health Care industries and is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. Many of her roles have focused on data analysis and process improvements.
Joined Zenith: February 2014
