Maximilian Walsh
AM . BE c (Sydney);
Non Executive Chairman

Max is regarded as one of Australia’s leading economists and business journalists. He has specialised in the areas of business, economics and politics in a journalistic career spanning nearly 50 years.

Amongst numerous previous executive roles, he was editor and managing editor of The Australian Financial Review and Editor-in-Chief of The Bulletin. He also served on the board of Northern Star TV (predecessor to Channel Ten).

Max is now Deputy Chairman of Dixon Advisory and Superannuation Services Pty Limited. Max is also Chairman of Asian Masters Fund Limited and Global Resource Masters Limited which are ASX listed investment companies with over $170 million of market capitalisation. Max is also Chairman of the Australian Masters Corporate Bond Fund series, which presently consists of 5 companies with over $250 million of corporate bonds under management.

Alex MacLachlan
BA (Cornell) MBA (Wharton)
Managing Director

Alex MacLachlan is Managing Director of Global Resource Masters Fund Limited and Managing Director, Funds Management of Dixon Advisory & Superannuation Services Pty Limited.  Alex is the officer of the Manager with primary responsibility for the Portfolio of the Company and has primary responsibility for identifying markets, fund managers and funds for potential investment by the Company, reviewing and selecting fund managers and funds for investment in conjunction with other members of the Investment Committee, conducting detailed due diligence prior to any investment by the Company, and maintaining ongoing monitoring and performance reporting of markets and funds in which the Company has invested.

Prior to joining the Manager, Alex was an investment banker specialising in the natural resources sector, most recently serving as Head of Energy, Australasia, for UBS AG in Sydney and prior to that as an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston. During his career as an investment banker, Alex advised many of Australia’s and the world’s leading natural resources companies, working on over $100 billion in announced mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions for over 30 leading Australian and international natural resources companies including BHP, Woodside and Santos.

Before specialising in natural resources investment banking, Alex worked in the Japanese Government Bond derivatives markets in London, New York and Sydney. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Nirav Desai
BA (University of Michigan), MBA (Wharton)
Independent Director

Nirav is currently the Managing Director of Sparta Group LLC, an ultra high net worth private family investment office based outside of Boston, Massachusetts (USA). He is responsible for managing a global investment portfolio across asset classes including hedge funds, private equity, direct investments, real assets, and public securities. Prior to Sparta Group LLC, Nirav was a principal investor at a US-based private equity fund focused on middle market transactions and homeland security and clean technologies. In addition, he has experience as an investment banker and naval intelligence officer. Nirav has a BA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Jeffrey Whalan AO
BA (UNSW ), FAICD , FAIM
Independent Director

Jeffrey is managing director of WHON Pty Ltd, a specialist human resources company. Jeffrey is also an Independent Director of Global Resource Masters Fund Limited, a company whose portfolio is managed by the Manager. He was a senior executive officer in the Australian Public Service from 1990 to 2008.

Jeffrey was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2008 for his work as chief executive officer of Centrelink. Among other things, the award recognised his achievements in ‘the development of corporate accountability processes’.

Jeffrey is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He is also the chair of the Code Compliance Committee which monitors compliance with the mutual Banking Code of Practice.
Jeffrey has been the chief executive officer of Centrelink, the largest agency of the Australian Public Service, responsible for $70 billion of government outlays and 27,000 staff. Prior to this he was chief executive officer of Medicare Australia.

Jeffrey has held Deputy Secretary positions in the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the department of Defence and the then department of Family and Community Services. He has also held senior executive positions in the department of Transport and the department of Health.

Moira Daw
Independent Director

Moira currently runs an independent consultancy specialising in investor relations advice for small companies. Her career has included periods in professional accounting, academia, investment banking, corporate finance and more recently financial markets and research with periods spent working in London and Hong Kong.

Moira has more than 20 years experience in the financial markets, primarily in corporate finance with PriceWaterhouse and in research with Credit Suisse and AME Mineral Economics. At PriceWaterhouse Moira was a Senior Manager in corporate Finance specialising in infrastructure, tourism and leisure. During the 7 years she spent at PriceWaterhouse Moira established the financial modelling group which is now recognised as one of the pre-eminent groups in the field. Following her time at PriceWaterhouse, she spent 11 years at Credit Suisse as an Executive Director in equities research and was a Top 3 ranked analyst in both the tourism and leisure sector and the small cap sector. She also worked with AME Mineral Economics where she was head of Research and in this role presented papers on base metals and coal at international conferences held in Brussels, Bali, Hong Kong and Seoul.

Moira has had extensive experience as a Chartered Accountant working for the Big 4 Accounting Firms in Adelaide, London, Hong Kong and Sydney. She has also spent time as an academic at the Australian National University, Canberra and as a Development Executive with Australian Industry Development Corporation.