MFCo | NEW ADVISORS
6 December 2016
Dr Michael E. Drew SFFin, FAIM, FGIA, FAICD, AIFA®
Chief Investment Officer
Bachelor of Economics
Masters of Economics
PhD Economics
Michael is a leader in the field of superannuation and pension fund design, with over 25 years’ experience in
financial services and academe. Most recently, Michael has been a Director of Drew, Walk & Co., a boutique
firm of consulting financial economists that he established with Dr Adam Walk. In this role, he was a
consultant to institutional investors, government, and not-for-profit organisations in the areas of
investments, superannuation, and fiduciary governance. Michael has held Senior Executive and Trustee
Committee appointments with QIC Limited, QSuper, Wilson HTM, Ord Minnett and JB Were & Son.
Michael is well known for his work on the portfolio size effect and sequencing risk. He holds a professorial
appointment at Griffith University, and he has also served on the finance faculty at the Australian National
University and the Queensland University of Technology. He has written and lectured extensively on
Australia’s superannuation system, defined-contribution (DC) pension plans and retirement security. His
research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of
Retirement and Journal of Banking and Finance.
Michael is a classically-trained economist and research academic, whose work focusses on superannuation
and pension finance, investment management and fiduciary governance. He is regularly invited to speak at
leading international pension finance conferences, including the Defined Contribution Institutional
Investment Association (DCIIA) Academic Forum and the invitation-only J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Retirement Symposium.
Michael is an active company director with appointments on a number of boards and advisory committees
in the fields of superannuation, healthcare and education. He received his PhD (in the field of Economics)
from the University of Queensland.
Dr Adam N. Walk SFFin, FGIA, FAICD, CIMA9®, AIFA®
Head of Investments
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Business
Master of Applied Finance and Investments
PhD Financial Economics
Adam is a financial economist and research academic whose work focusses on superannuation, pension
finance, investment management and fiduciary governance. Most recently, Adam has been a director of
Drew, Walk & Co., a boutique firm of consulting financial economists that he established with Dr Michael
Drew. In this role, he was a consultant to institutional investors, government, and not-for-profit
organisations.
Adam has over 15 years’ professional experience in investment and risk management roles, including Head
of Research in QIC’s Lifecycle Strategies group, where he was responsible for the group’s research, portfolio
design and investment risk management activities. Before that he worked as a research consultant in
QIC’s Global Multi-Asset group (then known as the Strategy group), concurrent with university teaching
and doctoral research. Previously he was a senior investment professional at QSuper Limited, where he
provided investment policy and risk advice to fiduciaries overseeing more than $50 billion in assets, and a
risk manager at Bank of Queensland.
Adam’s research has been published in scholarly journals, including the Journal of Portfolio Management,
and other publications, such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Investment and Enterprise Responsibility Review. Findings from Dr Walk’s research have been presented to
numerous leading industry conferences including the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, Finsia, and
the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.
Adam is an active company director with appointments on a number of boards and advisory committees
associated with not-for-profit interests. He received his PhD in Financial Economics from Griffith University.
MFCo | NEW ADVISORS
6 December 2016
Mark Sands
Senior Client Director
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance)
Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting
Registered Tax Practitioner
Fellow of the Tax Institute
Chartered Accountant Australia and New Zealand
Mark Sands joined MFCo as Senior Client Director after an extensive 16 year career with PwC, most
recently as partner in PwC’s Private Clients practice in Canberra.
His hands on experience advising ultra-high net worth families and large privately owned businesses
extends across many industries including property, manufacturing, retail, leisure and technology.
In addition to providing taxation and advisory services, Mark has been integrally involved in commercial
negotiations, transactions and succession. He is recognised for his calm manner and his ability to unravel
the complex issues faced by private family clients to uncover simple, elegant solutions.
Justin Rooney
Global Market Strategies
Bachelor of Business (Finance & Economics)
RG146 qualified
Responsible Executive accreditation
Justin has 25 years specialist knowledge in direct equities, global markets and foreign exchange. Prior to
joining MFCo, Justin had 18 years with Macquarie Bank in their Institutional FX and Cash Equities divisions
in both Australia and the UK, was Head of the Institutional Equities Sales Trading Desk at CBA and more
recently Director of Private Wealth Markets at BT Financial Group.
At CBA, Justin was responsible for the design and implementation of their equity sales trading strategy
for the full service Institutional Equities business. He is results driven with an exemplary track record of
‘best-in-class’ capabilities in both trading and sales across multiple asset classes (FX, Equities, Fixed
Income, Commodities, Structured Derivatives, Asset Management, Alternative Investments, Hedge
Funds). At BT, Justin established substantial wholesale private client relationships, developing and
advising on active domestic and global equity and fixed interest portfolios.