Our Team

JANET TORNEY

Chairman and independent non-executive director

Janet has extensive business and investment experience in superannuation, investment management and professional services. As CEO of Qantas Super, Janet established and implemented industry leading governance frameworks for board, business management and investment functions, as well as rejuvenating relationships with key regulators.

Prior to Qantas Super, Janet was Principal & Practice Leader of Aon Investment Consulting in Australasia. Earlier appointments include Director of Tactical Asset Allocation at Westpac Investment Management, and senior economics roles at UBS, Macquarie Bank, Citibank and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Janet has chaired numerous industry group finance and risk committees throughout her career and champions healthy and sustainable stakeholder relationship management. Most recently she was a director of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, including time as Chairman of its Policy Committee, and continues to serve on its Investment Policy Committee. Janet is Principal of JT Consult, providing strategic governance, business and investment advice.

MARK SNAPE

INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Mark has over 30 years experience in the project financing, development and operation of major infrastructure projects, including the Alice to Darwin Railway, Lane Cove Tunnel toll road in Sydney, Eastlink toll road in Melbourne and Airport Link toll road in Brisbane. Mark held various senior management positions including the General Manager Infrastructure Finance and Investments for the John Holland Group, Managing Director Asia Pacific for the NYSE listed American Electric Power Co. Inc., Director Deloitte Corporate Finance, Director County Natwest Corporate Finance and Director BZW Corporate Finance. Mark was the Project Director for the bid by Brisconnections for the Airport Link project and the interim CEO for the start up of Brisconnections.

Mark has also served as a Director of Asia Pacific Transport Corporation, Connector Motorways group, the ASX listed ConnectEast Group and the ASX listed BrisConnections Group, and has served as the Chief Executive Officer for RiverCity Motorway, which owns and operates the CLEM7 tollroad in Brisbane. Mark is also a Non-Executive Director of the ASX listed Titan Energy Services Limited, which supplies drilling, camp and catering services to the coal seam gas industry.

CATHY HALES

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Cathy joins the Whitehelm board as the Fidante Partners appointed director. As global head of Fidante Partners, Cathy leads the firm’s international expansion, and is responsible for its relationships with specialist asset management firms. Since joining Fidante Partners in 2011, Cathy has been instrumental in building the business into Australia’s fastest growing multi-boutique asset management company.

Prior to this, Cathy was a managing director and chief operating officer, and responsible for global client relations and marketing, in the New York office of RREEF, the real estate and alternative asset management division of Deutsche Bank. During her five years there, Cathy managed global product development and marketing activities for the firm, as well as the business management aspects of the global sales and distribution for a wide range of products and asset classes. Cathy has also spent two years at Deutsche Bank in Australia, and has held senior product and marketing roles at Macquarie Bank, Colonial First State and BT Funds Management.

Cathy holds a Bachelor of Business (Econ) Honours degree from the Queensland University of Technology, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

GARY WITHERS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Gary is Chief Executive Officer at Whitehelm Capital and is responsible for the performance of the firm. Gary is an experienced fund management executive who has worked across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has extensive knowledge of the UK and European markets, and was most recently responsible for First State Investments in Europe. At First State Investments he was closely involved with the development of the European Infrastructure business, and was Chairman of the Luxembourg Board which managed their European Infrastructure Fund. He also worked on the successful development of their Global Listed Infrastructure Fund in Europe.

Prior to his role as European CEO for First State Investments, he held CEO roles at Credit Suisse Asset Management and AVIVA UK Life. He has extensive knowledge of the UK and European markets, and has also worked in the US, Asia and Australia. He spent his early years with Mercury Asset Management in a variety of management and business development roles.

GRAHAM MATTHEWS

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Graham is a founding shareholder and CIO of Whitehelm Capital.  Graham joined the team in 1998 and started the firm’s infrastructure business at the time when private ownership of public infrastructure originated globally.

Since then Graham has led the development of the firm’s investment philosophy and its world-wide asset acquisitions and disposals.  He has sat on a large number of company boards and has been instrumental in delivering improved operational and financial performance through active asset management.

Prior to joining the firm’s predecessor, Access Capital, Graham held senior roles in the Australian Federal Treasury, including the Treasury’s Chief Forecaster, and represented Australia at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.

SAJI ANANTAKRISHNAN

HEAD OF AUSTRALIA AND ASIA

Saji is responsible for the infrastructure investment team in Australia, Asia, and South America, leading the firm’s infrastructure investment and management activities in the region.

Prior to joining Whitehelm, Saji has worked at Challenger since 2004 and during his time at Challenger he was appointed CEO of EMIF. He has been a member of the Challenger Infrastructure team since its inception and has been involved at a senior level in most of Challenger’s infrastructure acquisitions, particularly whilst he was based in London. Prior to Challenger, Saji worked in corporate finance roles at Deutsche Bank in Sydney and EDS in Asia, and prior to that he was a Management Consultant with Anderson Consulting.

ROSS BLAKERS

HEAD OF INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS GROUP

As Head of Investment Solutions Group, Ross leads the Whitehelm Advisers’ investment strategy initiative, advising clients on investment strategy, and advises the firm’s Investment Committee on investment markets.  Ross has extensive experience in investment markets, investment strategy, portfolio construction, risk management and manager selection.

Before joining Whitehelm, Ross spent 4 years in the Risk Management Group of the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), where he focussed on credit and interest rate risk management.  Prior to the AOFM, Ross worked with the Commonwealth Government (Education and Defence Departments). Ross is a member of both the investment and management committees.  Ross is a regular speaker on investment markets and investment strategy.

ALEXANDER WALLER

HEAD OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEBT

Alexander Waller leads the debt investing activities for the business and has experience in debt financing, investment banking and principal investment.

Prior to joining Whitehelm, he was responsible for infrastructure debt investment origination and raising finance for infrastructure equity investments at Challenger across the span of the capital markets, joining the firm in 2007. He has led or been involved in numerous large infrastructure financings as sponsor or investor, including closed transactions for Southern Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Angel Trains, Aquasure, Coriance, Inexus, Aguas Nuevas and Heathrow Airport. He has also worked in debt financing groups at RBS and Barclays Capital.

SIMEON COGHLAN

HEAD OF OPERATIONS

Simeon leads the Operations group and is responsible for overseeing the Investment Operations, Finance, Human Resources, IT and Administration teams. In his role in the Investment Operations group, Simeon is responsible for client servicing and provision of operational support to the investment teams at Whitehelm Capital. Simeon has extensive international experience in tailoring solutions for institutional clients.

With expertise in process design, system implementation, middle office operations and performance analytics, Simeon brings a wealth of experience from previous roles with Union Bancaire Privée and ABN AMRO in London and with JP Morgan in London and Sydney.

KEN LIOW

Advisory Investment Committee Member

Ken is an investment professional with extensive financial markets experience spanning over 20 years. Most recently, Ken held senior positions at Blackrock, most notably as Chief Investment Officer of Equities where he was instrumental in implementing the insight-based portfolio management approach into the Fundamental Equity team. Ken was also the Head of Strategy (Scientific Active Equities) and Chairman of the Risk Management Committee also serving on Blackrock’s Executive Committee. Prior to these roles, Ken was Head of Quantitative Equities at Blackrock where he led the development of a successful team and business from an asset base of zero to $4 billion under management.

Prior to his 13 years at Blackrock, Ken was Head of Research at Mercer Australia. Ken currently serves as an independent adviser and technical adviser to a range of institutional investors including superannuation funds, charitable institutions and fund managers and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia.

WARWICK MCKIBBIN

Advisory Investment Committee Member

Warwick is a former member of the Reserve Bank of Australia Board and is internationally renowned for his contributions to global economic modelling. He has published more than 200 academic papers as well as being a regular commentator in the popular press. He has been a consultant for many international agencies and a range of governments on issues of macroeconomic policy, international trade and finance, greenhouse policy issues, global demographic change and the economic cost of pandemics.

Warwick holds the Vice Chancellor’s Chair in Public Policy in the ANU Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA). He is also an ANU Public Policy Fellow; a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences; a Distinguished Fellow of the Asia and Pacific Policy Society; a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C (where he is co-Director of the Climate and Energy Economics Project) and President of McKibbin Software Group Inc.

Warwick was foundation Director of the ANU Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis and foundation Director of the ANU Research School of Economics. Warwick received his B.Com (Honours 1) and University Medal from University of NSW (1980) and his AM (1984) and a PhD (1986) from Harvard University.