Former Macquarie Group Senior Investment Specialist Teiki Benveniste has been appointed as the Head of newly formed Ares Australia Management, which was formed as a strategic joint venture between Ares Management Corporation (ARES) and Fidante Partners in October 2019 and is aiming to become one of Australia’s leading credit and alternative asset managers. As the new Head of AAM, Benveniste will be based in Sydney and will be responsible for building strong investor interest in the specialist asset manager and for increasing assets under management as the joint venture launches a range of investment strategies. Benveniste will also serve as a liaison with Fidante Partners, which will provide product distribution, local fund reporting and back office administration.
Benveniste joins AAM after spending the last six and a half years at Macquarie Group, most recently as the lead Senior Investment Specialist for Macquarie Fixed Income in Australia, where he managed a team of investment and product specialists covering both retail and institutional investors. Prior to this, he was based in London for almost seven years at Société Générale where he held trading, credit analyst and sales roles for loan syndications across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has a Masters in Science in Finance and a Masters in Management from the French EDHEC Business School.
“Ares Australia Management will provide local investors and the country’s superannuation system with access to specialist investment expertise in credit and other alternative investments, which will play an important role in delivering high-quality diversified returns for investors’ portfolios,” says Benveniste. “With persistently low global interest rates, investors need to find alternative ways to generate attractive income and to achieve targeted returns. Ares has a long track record of delivering high-quality investment solutions across a range of alternative investment strategies with a focus on managing downside risk with a disciplined and selective investment approach.”
AAM expects to launch its first credit fund in the coming months with further strategies to follow.
David Sachs, Partner of Ares Management Corporation, says: “We are delighted to welcome Teiki to lead Ares Australia Management. We believe that his broad experience in fixed income investing in Australia and Europe positions him as an excellent leader to build investor interest in the funds and investment strategies of Ares within Australia and New Zealand and to seize the significant opportunities available in the region’s market.”
Challenger Funds Management Chief Executive Nick Hamilton, says: “We are very pleased to have such a high-calibre and experienced professional in Teiki to head our efforts at AAM. Everything we do is centred on providing our retail and institutional customers with attractive fund management solutions.
This joint venture demonstrates our ability to attract leading investment managers globally and reach halfway around the world to bring a leading fund manager like Ares with high-quality products to our market.”
