In this issue

• Introduction
• Proxymity becomes an associate ACSA member.
• Change of ACSA board member
• ACSA Thought Leadership Series Webinar
• AIST Conference – Digital Assets
• In Focus and “In Retirement” – Martin Carpenter

Introduction

Time to celebrate: Our first in person members event for 2 years has been confirmed for 16th August 2022, mark your calendar by following the event link here.

This month’s Industry Wrap covers plenty including:

• A new associate ACSA member - Proxymity
• A change to the ACSA executive board
• The most attended ACSA Thought Leadership Series webinar
• ACSA contribution to AIST on digital assets
• In Focus with the “retiring” Martin Carpenter
  

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Proxymity becomes an associate ACSA member

Proxymity Limited became an associate member of ACSA in June 2022. The ACSA Executive board are delighted to welcome Proxymity who have made an impressive impact in the Australian market in a short space of time. The company connects the world’s ecosystem of issuers, intermediaries, and investors digitally in real time, bringing unprecedented transparency, efficiency, and accuracy to the traditional process which relies heavily on fax and inefficient communications methods. 

At its heart, Proxymity's mission is to improve investor communications, not least by reducing the environmental footprint of the industry, and by enabling the democratic voice of the myriad of investors residing in Australia and the wider APAC region. 

Launched in April 2020, the company opened its APAC hub in October 2021, based in Melbourne Australia to service the growing demand from the region, especially in Australia and New Zealand. Proxymity customers in the region include ACSA members Computershare, J.P. Morgan, and Citi. In May 2022 Proxymity was awarded "Fintech of the Year" by Global Custodian Magazine.

In addition to becoming an associate member, Proxymity nominated Leighton Brown, (Head of Operations and Client Service, APAC Region), to be its ASCA representative,

ACSA Chair, Sally Surgeon commented, “We are pleased to welcome Proxymity as an associate member and look forward to working with Leighton and the team in creating greater focus on key industry issues regarding digital proxy voting and shareholder disclosure.”

Proxymity is backed by a global consortium of the industry’s most influential financial institutions, representing seven of the world’s top ten Global Custodians managing over $200 trillion in assets under custody (BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citi, Computershare, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Börse, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Mediant, State Street). Find out more about Proxymity here.

JP Morgan ACSA executive board representative change

JP Morgan has changed its representative on the ACSA executive board with Matthew (Matt) Chuck replacing Sean Gardiner.

Matt is an Executive Director and leads the JP Morgan Securities Services Compliance Team in Australia and New Zealand.

In his role, Matt oversees the coverage of compliance risks, through the execution of the global compliance program. Matt has been with J.P. Morgan since 2013, holds a BA Hons degree in business, is a Chartered Internal Auditor and Certified Fiduciary and Investment Risk Specialist. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Matt held roles within professional service firms Deloitte and URS.

Sean was part of the ACSA executive board since February 2021 and has made significant contributions as co-executive sponsor of the ACSA Operations Working Group and lately as the executive sponsor of the ACSA Digital Asset Taskforce.

The following changes will take place in executive sponsorship of ASCA working groups and taskforces as a result of this change, Matt will become executive sponsor of the ACSA Regulatory Working Group and the current executive sponsor, Sinclair Schofield is to replace Sean as the executive sponsor of the ACSA Digital Asset Taskforce.

ACSA Chair, Sally Surgeon commented “We thank Sean for his contribution to ACSA and his instrumental role in the creation of the ACSA Digital Asset Taskforce with Danielle Gerace. Sean was an active member of the ACSA community and will be missed. I also welcome Matt to the ASCA executive board, his experience as a compliance practitioner is highly valued by the board and we look forward to his contribution to ACSA and the ACSA Regulatory Working Group.”

ACSA Thought Leadership Series webinar – The evolution of managed funds and distribution

The webinar opined on how the industry needs to evolve and enhance distribution strategies, considering global and local trends and challenges. The changing landscape for the industry includes new platforms for distribution, increasing need for data, new investment themes, changing demographics of investors, and the evolution of the economic model compensating participants. All this whilst digital asset technology continues to evolve and DLT emerges in real use cases within fund distribution models.

The industry is increasingly facing a situation of enhanced competition from providers who have slick services attuned to the needs of customers who demand seamless digital experiences. The implication could not be clearer: fail to overhaul distribution in a way that meets the needs of a more demanding customer base, and they risk losing them to competitors who will provide the speed, service and tooling that are increasingly minimum service expectations for many customers, and not just new investor groups.

ACSA was honoured to have global and local leaders in managed funds joining us to share their thoughts on global trends, innovation, and emerging technologies as well as how Australia needs to react and address current market opportunities to increase efficiency as managed funds become an increasing part of investment strategies for both individuals and institutional investors.

ACSA thanks our panellist, Bernard Tancre, Global Head of Products for the Investment Fund Service area at Clearstream Banking and Teresa Walker, Managing Director, Head of Australia, and New Zealand at Calastone, for their participation in the webinar.

Keep an eye out for future events in our ACSA Thought Leadership Series.

ACSA contributes to digital asset dialogue at AIST conference

Danielle Gerace, Chair ACSA Digital Asset Taskforce, recently represented ACSA at the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) annual Superannuation Investment Conference (ASI) to discuss future issues affecting superannuation funds needing to manage digital assets within their portfolios.

This was a great opportunity for ACSA to show leadership in the Digital Assets and comes on the back of ACSA recent submission to Treasury’s consultation on 'Crypto asset secondary service providers: Licensing and custody requirements'.

At the ASI conference ACSA confirmed our feedback on the consultation for:

• Future regulation and laws being consistent in approach and terminology with other key global jurisdictions and existing Australian regulations and laws
• Acknowledgement of existing AFSL license regimes and obligations
• Consistency in licensing outcomes and regulations between AFSL’s and Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASSPrs)
• Licensing requirements recognising the different roles that AFSL and CASSPrs fulfil in trading, settlement, and safekeeping of assets.

The ACSA response can be found in the Digital Asset Taskforce tab of our website, this canbe found here.

In Focus and “In Retirement” – Martin Carpenter

Martin is Managing Director and the Head of Securities Services, Australia and New Zealand. Martin is also a member of the Citi Australia & New Zealand Executive Committee and the Asia Pacific Securities Services Management committee. Martin is responsible for the overall securities services products and services delivered to our custody client base that encompasses a set of premier financial institutions, including global insurance companies, Australian fund managers, super funds and various wealth management platforms. This client base also incorporates a prestigious group of offshore based brokers dealers and custodians.

Martin is retiring after 30 years in the industry, prior to his current role, he worked in various fund accounting, operations and relationship management roles for State Street Bank in Australia and in the UK. Also, from 2001 to 2005 he was the Head of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (S.W.I.F.T.) Securities division, in charge of relationship management and business development for Australia and New Zealand. Martin holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from Sydney University.

First of all congratulations on a very successful career, what have been your career highlights and what are you most proud of when you look back on your career?

Having the privilege to stay with the one firm and grow my career in step with the growth of the business - it has been a relatively stable way of progressing my career. I have also really enjoyed been involved in some landmark transactions that have driven our growth; whilst these can be arduous and exhausting at times they are definitely stimulating, and rewarding if they come to fruition! Relationships are crucial to success, and I am proud of the long-lasting relationships I have maintained throughout the early days of my career and my time at Citi. It is great to have such a strong, trusted network of clients and teammates.

How did you first begin working in financial services/asset servicing?

I was always passionate about business at school and ended up with an Economics degree from Sydney University but lacking an accounting major, there wasn’t many obvious career pathways, so I pretty much stumbled into the custody industry after responding to a State Street advertisement in the SMH. Like most people I didn’t know much about the role of the custodian, but I eventually figured it out. Those early years were very interesting, given it was before a lot of the automation and functional specialisation that we see now, so you were very much across the whole process, which certainly helped in subsequent years.

You’ve been involved with ACSA in the past as a board member, tell us about that experience and the value ACSA brings to the industry.

I thoroughly enjoyed my seven years on the ACSA board. It was a bit strange at first sitting alongside competitors, but it became very rewarding, and the organisation has always operated with a special camaraderie across participants. I was always impressed at our ability to find a strong consensus on most issues and over the years that has been incredibly important given the magnitude of new regulations in super, tax and even the CHESS platform change. Having a clear and united position was crucial in ensuring that the shape of some of those changes came out in a digestible way for our respective businesses.

What advice would you give to the younger professionals the industry?

Embrace challenges and opportunities when they present themselves, even if they don’t look to be that attractive at the time, it is a great way to get on the radar with senior management when you attach yourself to something big. Also, be patient, stay consistent and speak-up when you have a something to say – I wish I had of done more of that in my earlier career. Finally, be open to new ideas, you never know where you may find your passion and where you can uniquely add value.