Maple-Brown Abbott hires from AMP Capital

Phillip Hudak and Matt Griffin will join the boutique investment manager as co-portfolio managers, Australian small companies.

The duo joins from AMP Capital where they were co-portfolio managers of the Australian Emerging Companies Fund for the past four years.

Before AMP Capital, Hudak was a small caps analyst at ING Investment Management and earlier worked as an analyst at MIR Investment Management and an investment consultant with Russell Investment Group.

Griffin was an investment director at IFM Investors where he was integral to the launch of the IFM Australia small caps and micro caps strategy, and a small caps analyst at Macquarie Asset Management.

They were previously co-portfolio managers of the AMP Capital Australian Emerging Companies Fund for the past four years.

At Maple-Brown Abbott, they will report to chief investment officer Garth Rossler.

Maple-Brown Abbott chief executive Sophia Rahmani said these appointments are a key development in growth plans for the firm.

"The opportunity to add this sought-after capability through the appointment of two highly experienced investment professionals is ideal for us," she said.

"Our people and our platform allow us to efficiently add and support new investment teams, and we expect to launch an Australian small companies fund soon after Phillip and Matt start.

"Being a privately owned boutique investment manager with a long history of strong client alignment and quality investment capabilities means that when we identify solutions that align with our strategy and our clients' interests, we can add them relatively quickly and efficiently."

Rahmani noted that added that over the last year, Maple-Brown Abbott has added several investment strategies.

"We have broadened our offering from three investment strategies - broad-cap Australian equities, Asia-Pacific equities, and global listed infrastructure - to five, with global emerging markets and now Australian small companies. We continue to see institutional and adviser interest in actively managed, differentiated investment strategies," she added.

The AMP Australian small caps strategy was launched in February 2013 and managed by Hudak from inception, then co-managed by Hudak and Griffin from March 2018 to March 2022.

At Maple-Brown Abbott, the two recruits will report to chief investment officer Garth Rossler who noted that Hudak and Griffin were "passionate and experienced investors" and "culturally aligned" with the firm.

The two appointments followed the news that Macquarie Group and HSBC Asset Management have hired teams from AMP Capital.