Another top executive joins Blackwattle

Sydney boutique Blackwattle Investment Partners has welcomed Giles Gunesekera to the firm to work alongside its our investment and executive teams.

Gunesekera  - a leading executive across the fields of climate, health and sustainability -  is also a 20-year asset management veteran.

Gunesekera, who was awarded the Order of Australia Medal on Australia Day for his outstanding work as a social welfare activist, is he founder and chief executive of the Global Impact Initiative, an organisation focused on Impact Investing.

He is a director on a range of listed and not-for-profits boards and serves on advisory boards for the United Nations for climate and health and sustainable finance.

Previous roles include managing director and head of third-party sales at Principal Global Investors and retail business development manager for New South Wales and the ACT at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

Gunesekera also previously worked with the Colonial Group in a business development role.

Blackwattle managing director and chief investment officer Michael Skinner said the recruit will be an invaluable asset to the Blackwattle business, helping us shape our thinking, process, and practices as they relate to ESG.

"Blackwattle's first portfolios will begin investing in the coming weeks. And as a new-generation fund manager, we have a clean slate unencumbered by traditional views and practices.

"We thus strive to be forward-thinking within the investment industry, with this ambition extending to ESG considerations.

The firm's ESG Review Council - to be joined by Gunesekera - will be pivotal in the execution and effectiveness of these efforts.

The appointment comes one week after Blackwattle appointed a former AMP operative to join its investment review council.

After nine years at the AMP as head of research, Leanne Milton has taken on a consultant role at the recently launched boutique.

In the new role, Leanne Milton will oversee Blackwattle's investment portfolios.

The firm has hired such high-profile executives as Tim Riordan and Michael Teran from Aware Super, Ray David and Joe Koh from Schroders Australia and Robert Hawkesford and Daniel Broeren, who arrived from Ellerston and Watermark, respectively.