Cbus has promoted its current head of portfolio strategies, Gavin Leigh, to the role of deputy chief investment officer.
According to the fund, Leigh first joined Cbus in 2023 to drive its strategy to internalise more than half of its assets under management and enhance global partnerships.
Prior to joining the fund, he was head of investment model design at AustralianSuper after joining the fund’s total portfolio management team in April 2021. In addition, Leigh served as LUCRF Super’s chief investment officer for five years.
Cbus said the promotion comes shortly after the fund passed $100 billion in funds under management, with Leigh’s appointment poised to play a role within the next phase of growth of Cbus’ internal investment model.
“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Leigh Gavin to the role of deputy CIO,” CIO Brett Chatfield said.
“Leigh has been an integral part of the investment leadership team since 2023 and brings a strong depth of senior experience, including at CIO and senior investment advisory levels, in addition to his impressive experience.”
According to Chatfield, Leigh’s knowledge of the fund and connection to investing for its members date back to the early 2000s as an adviser.
“Leigh has done an exceptional job continuing the build out of internal equity strategies and enhanced key strategic portfolio initiatives and business management activities. We are very well placed to continue the successful build out of our internal capabilities under Leigh,” Chatfield said.
The CIO expects that Cbus’ internal investment capabilities will grow to about 50 per cent of the portfolio within three years.
Commenting on his promotion, Leigh said: “Cbus is entering a ‘Goldilocks period’ where we are small enough to take advantage of a range of opportunities and large enough to be achieving real economies of scale for members.
“I’m determined to make sure we extract every ounce of value for our 900,000+ members as we further roll out our investment strategy.
“We see plenty of scope to roll out new internal strategies, our portfolio construction and DAA programs are really taking shape and we are well placed to take advantage of private markets opportunities. I’m excited to be assisting Brett to deliver on our current strategy and turning an eye to what the next 10 or 20 years will look like.”
