Nanuk Asset Management has announced the appointment of Rory Irvine as a business development consultant following an observed increase in demand from advisers.
Mr Irvine brings more than seven years of experience in the financial services sectors, with a focus on product and investor relations.
Most recently, he was an investor relations manager at specialist investment manager Ellerston Capital. Prior to this, he served within a number of consultancy and analyst roles at firms including AMP Capital, New Forests Asset Management, and Colonial First State.
Moreover, Mr Irvine holds a bachelor of commerce from Macquarie University and is currently undertaking a master of commerce at the University of New South Wales.
He joins Nanuk’s investment and distribution team, which includes chief investment officer Tom King, head of distribution Dan Powell, and business development manager Matthew Kent.
According to the firm, this latest addition to Nanuk’s team “brings forth expertise and capacity” in line with meeting growing demand from financial advisers and family offices.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Powell said: “We are delighted to have Rory joining our team. His background in the distribution sphere and energy will support our ongoing growth.”
Mr Powell further noted that this year has seen a growing interest in Nanuk’s active ETF and managed fund coupled with the recent launch of an AUD currency hedged unit class leading to funds under administration (FUA) exceeding $700 million.
Namely, the firm added a currency hedged unit class to its New World Fund in May to provide a safety net against the impact of currency fluctuations on investment returns.
“This interest has been fuelled by heightened demand from investors and advisers seeking deeper engagement with sustainable investments,” Mr Powell added.
Echoing this deeper engagement, Mr King also noted earlier this year that he has been encouraging advisers to stop using the term “ESG”.
“A lot of the negative sentiment towards investment in areas that people are using that term to describe comes from the fact that the term doesn’t have a common meaning,” Mr King said.
“It’s just an acronym and it gets used very loosely to describe a whole series of different things that can be done together but aren’t all compatible and ultimately can’t be done well at the same time.
“Anyone dealing with clients who want to shape their investments by their values or want to ensure that their capital is allocated into particular things or not into other areas, those kinds of conversations and delivering those kinds of outcomes can happen without using an acronym that confuses everyone,” Mr King explained.
