One of the world’s leading infrastructure investors with more than $8 billion in capital under management, Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM), also known as First State Investments outside of Australia, today announced four new senior additions to the North America infrastructure team in a direct response to growing institutional investor appetite for infrastructure investments.
All four members bring extensive US infrastructure experience and take the CFSGAM infrastructure team to more than 50 professionals in Australia, the UK, and the United States.
Danny Latham, Partner, Infrastructure Investments, commented, “We are delighted to welcome four new senior team members to our North American team. Their diverse experience will enhance our capabilities to originate, execute and manage off-market transactions for our clients. Our outlook for the infrastructure sector remains positive and we believe that our growing North American team is poised to take advantage of these trends.”
Chris McArthur, Partner, Infrastructure Investments, added “The new appointments bring insights and extensive relationships across the energy, water and transportation sectors in North America. The transportation sector is particularly in need of significant investment, and has been a relatively untapped area to date.”
John Ma joins CFSGAM as a Director with 20 years of infrastructure experience. In his role, he will oversee the origination and assessment of new investment opportunities in North America. Most recently, Mr. Ma was Chief of Staff at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he held a senior management role overseeing the region’s major infrastructure assets. Mr. Ma played a significant leadership role on major projects including the $4 billion La Guardia Terminal B redevelopment and the $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge replacement. Prior to that he was head of Goldman Sachs’ US Infrastructure Advisory Practice.
Diloshini Seneviratne has been appointed to the board of the management companies that oversee some of CFSGAM’s funds. Previously, Ms. Seneviratne was responsible for developing, building and launching the CALSTRS infrastructure portfolio. Prior to that, she managed real asset investments for CalPERS.
Leigh Cruess joins as a Senior Advisor after 18 years with Enbridge, where he held senior roles across the energy sector. Prior to Enbridge, Mr. Cruess was Head of Corporate Development for UtiliCorp in Kansas City, where he originated acquisition opportunities in regulated and unregulated businesses across the US, Canada and other OECD countries. Mr. Cruess has served on several public and private company boards.
Terry Mah also joins as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Mah has an extensive career in the water sector, having been with the Veolia Group for almost 20 years. At Veolia, he was most recently Head of North America and had responsibility for managing a business that hired 8000 people in the water, energy and environmental fields.
Heather Brilliant, Managing Director, Americas and Acting COO, stated, “Infrastructure continues to be an attractive investment for institutional investors, due to the higher yields and stability offered by this asset class. Our four new appointments help us further our growth ambitions and enhance our capacity to serve institutional clients across the Americas, and I am pleased to welcome each of these experienced individuals to the team.”
CFSGAM’s infrastructure team take significant stakes in companies, often 100 percent ownership, ensuring effective engagement and partnership with the company’s management team. As long-term investors, this hands-on governance and oversight allows the team to both mitigate risk and enhance potential risk-adjusted returns. It also enables the team to provide strategic input on ESG issues, business strategy, operational and capital expenditure, capital structure and all other key drivers of value.
About Colonial First State Global Asset Management:
Colonial First State Global Asset Management ('CFSGAM'), known as First State Investments outside of Australia, is the investment management business of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. We are a global asset manager with established offices across Europe, the US, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions.
We are stewards of over A$204.2 billion* in assets managed on behalf of institutional investors, pension funds, wholesale distributors, investment platforms, financial advisers and their clients worldwide.
With expertise across a range of asset classes and specialist investment sectors, our approach to investment is driven by a commitment to provide the best possible outcomes over the long term for our investors. To achieve this, we ensure our interests are aligned with our investors and uphold a culture of consistently acting in our clients’ best interests.
*as at 31 December 2018