abrdn's chief economist joins RBA

Jeremy Lawson has rejoined Australia's central bank after working as abrdn's chief economist for ten years.

Lawson has been appointed deputy head of the international department at the Reserve Bank of Australia, effective August 1.

He began his career at the RBA in 2001 before serving as a senior economist at PNB Paradis, deputy director at the Washington DC think tank The Institute of International Finance and a senior economist at the OECD.

"It is more than fair to say that I wouldn't be the economist I am today without the guidance and mentoring of the senior staff I worked under, many of whom are still at the Bank today," he said in a LinkedIn post.

"I enjoyed and learned a lot working on the buy and sell-side in the US and UK but it will be great returning to public policy - my first love and the reason I became an economist - at such an important time, working under Penelope Smith and Christopher Kent as well as with everyone else in the department and across the Bank.

I will also get to use the extensive climate economics and policy skills I've been fortunate to develop over the years.

As a central bank official, Lawson won't be posting and commenting on LinkedIn as regularly or in quite the same way from now on.

But he said he won't be disappearing entirely and looks forward to sharing the work of the new teams he is part of in due course.

Meanwhile, abrdn's finance chief Stephanie Bruce will leave the company at the end of the year.

Last month, the fund announced locally that it would terminate five funds as part of the consolidation of the local business, the key to which is its recent partnership with SG Hiscock.

In January, abrdn's head of Australian equities Michelle Lopez resigned to join Pie Funds as head of Australasian equities and portfolio manager.