Industry network
Michael Block, BCom, BArts, MCom
Role: Strategy Consultant, tegy ConsultantMine Super
Michael is an Industry Adjunct Professor of the UTS Business School, and one of the donors of the Anchor Investment Fund. With over 40 years of experience in the financial services sector in Australia, he has held a diverse range of positions in investment banking, government and funds management. He was most recently the Chief Investment Officer of Australian Catholic Super, a $11 billion industry superannuation fund. From 2012 to 2014 he was the Chief Investment Officer of Nambawan Super Limited, the major superannuation fund in Papua New Guinea. From 2009 to 2011 Michael was the General Manager - Investments for FuturePlus Financial Services, an organisation that serviced four superannuation funds with assets of around $12 billion. Before that,
Michael designed and implemented the $14 billion Workers Compensation Insurance Fund whilst General Manager - Investment Division for WorkCover NSW from 2004-2008. From 1996 to 2004 Michael was Director - Treasury and Investment Services for the University of New South Wales where he managed UNSW's reserves and endowments and managed UNSW's commercial operations. Michael has undergraduate qualifications in law, accounting, finance and philosophy and postgraduate qualifications in law, applied finance, economic history and economics.
Tan Teng Boo, BSocSc - Economics (Honours)
Role: Managing Director and CIO, Capital Dynamics
Tan Teng Boo is an Adjunct Professor of the UTS Business School. He is Managing Director and CIO of Capital Dynamics, Asia’s first global fund manager, with offices in Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai.
Aged 70, he is a fund manager who has experienced the 1st oil crisis in 1973, 1982 emerging country crisis, devastating 1985 commodity collapse, 1990 Gulf War, 1997 Asian Crisis, 2000 technology bubble burst, US-led global financial crisis in 2008, 2020 pandemic shock and many more. With hands-on experience navigating bear and bull markets since 1972, he possesses a unique perspective invaluable in times of market volatility and uncertainty.
An avid investor, entrepreneur and fund manager with deep seeded value of integrity, Tan Teng Boo built Capital Dynamics from scratch. A “fanatic’s” interest in investing, together with his unique ability to blend his investing skills with his extensive business experiences, distinguishes him from other fund managers. His expertise in investment management has led him to be acknowledged as a prominent industry figure. Tan Teng Boo's insights into global equities and markets have garnered attention from global and local media. He has an Honours degree in Social Sciences with a major in Economics from Sussex University, UK.
Richard Brandweiner, CFA, BEc
Role: Chief Executive Officer, Pendal Group Australia
Richard Brandweiner serves the UTS Finance Department as an Adjunct Professor. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in August 2018 for a period of 3 years and then re-appointed for a further 2 years in August 2021. He has spent twenty five years working across all asset classes in the funds management and pension fund industries. He is currently Chief Executive Officer of Pendal Australia (formerly BT Investment Management Australia) one of Australia’s leading independent fund managers. Prior to this, Richard was Chief Investment Officer at First State Superannuation, one of Australia’s largest pension funds, and Group Executive at Perpetual Investments.
Richard is the Chair of Impact Investing Australia, part of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing. He is a member of the NSW Government Social Impact Investment Expert Advisory Group, Chair of the NRL Players Retirement Account, and a member of the CFA Institute Future of Finance Content Council. He is a former President of the CFA Society of Sydney.
Benjamin Chong, B.Com (Honours)
Role: Founder, Investor, Right Click Capital
Benjamin Chong serves the UTS Finance Department as an Industry/Professional Fellow. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in February 2021 for a period of 2 years.
Timothy King, BA (Eco), MA (Eco), CFA
Role: CIO, Melior Investment Management
Timothy King serves the UTS Finance Department as an Industry/Professional Fellow. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in June 2021 for a period of 2 years.
David Lane, BSc Eco (Honours)
David is the former Chief Executive, Americas for Perpetual Limited where he was responsible for $120 billion of assets under management. At Perpetual, he also served as the Group Executive M&A and International Asset Management as well as Group Executive, Perpetual Investments. During his tenure at Perpetual, David was a member of the Perpetual Executive Committee and the Executive Sponsor of the Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Prior to joining Perpetual, David was the Chief Executive Officer of Count Financial. During his 30+ year executive career, David has held various other roles including General Manager - Strategy for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Wealth Management Division, Chief Operating Officer of Neuberger Berman's global hedge fund business and, for his sins, was an investment banker.
David is a graduate, with Honours, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. While originally from the United States, David moved to Australia in 1996 with his Australian wife.
Dr Alan Rai, BCom/BEco, BCom (Honours), PhD
Role: Director, Baringa Partners
Alan Rai serves the UTS Finance Department as an Adjunct Professor. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in February 2019 with his current appointment starting in March 2021 for a period of 2 years. He leads Baringa Australia's investment advisory and policy advisory offerings to Australian and overseas private and public-sector clients. Investment advisory services include price, MLF, curtailment and FCAS causer pays projections provided to both debt and equity investors, as well as the development of Baringa's NEM Reference Case. Policy & regulatory advice is provided across the electricity generation, networks, and retail sectors, covering wholesale and retail energy markets.
Dr Laura Ryan, BActS, MQF, PhD
Role: Head of Research, Ardea Investment Management
Laura Ryan serves the UTS Finance Department as an Associate Adjunct Professor. She joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in March 2020 for a period of 2 years and was re-appointed for a further 2 years in March 2022. As Head of Research at Ardea, the goal of her role to is twofold. She partners with clients to improve their intellectual property by co-authoring and implementing research on investment themes. She also partners with the Ardea portfolio construction team to develop value-added trade recommendations to drive portfolio performance and improve client outcomes.
Over the last 21 years she have led the development of innovative solutions in quantitative analytics for leading national and international financial services institutions. Despite the sophisticated and technical nature of the research, a talent of hers has always been driving projects to completion and in developing clear communication with clients from non-technical and commercial backgrounds.
Samir Shringarpure
Role: Head of Strategy & Architecture, Perpetual Limited
Samir Shringarpure serves the UTS Finance Department as an Industry Fellow. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in March 2020 for a period of 2 years.
David Walsh
Role: Head of Investments at Realindex Investments
Dr David Walsh serves the UTS Finance Department as an Industry Fellow. He joined the Honorary UTS Business School network in February 2022 for a two year period. David holds a PhD in finance from the University of Western Australia. He is currently the Head of Investments at Realindex Investments and has previously held positions at RF Capital Pty Ltd, Acadian Asset Management, Barclays Global Investors and Baseline Capital Group.
Geoff Wearne, BBus
Role: Executive General Manager, Business, Institutional and Markets Operations, Chief Operations Office, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Geoff is an Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney within the UTS Business School. He is a Senior Executive with over 30 years banking experience across Commonwealth Bank Group including Business and Commercial, institutional, corporate, agribusiness, risk management M&A Divestments and scale remediation in the Wealth Management sector. Proven success in growing banking businesses and driving sustainable growth in Australia and New Zealand.
Demonstrated success in stakeholder management and key customer relationship management. Adept at delivering and shaping at both customer segment and business unit levels, and in executing strategic plans to produce market leading performance improvements.
Values driven leader who delivers results through focus on building diverse talent; enthusiastic about developing and supporting people and driving high performance business cultures. Widely acknowledged as bringing logic, pragmatism, sound judgement and the ability to build effective partnerships.
Geoff holds a Bachelor of Business Degree in Accounting and Management (UTS), is a Graduate member, Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), holds Lean Six Sigma Qualifications (Green Belt), and has completed Strategic Leadership and Corporate Finance Risk Analysis Programs through AGSM. Geoff is a Chartered Banker through the Chartered Banker Institute, London, UK, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Banking and Finance (FAIBF) and is a Justice of the Peace in NSW.