Mercer appoints Head of Portfolio Management

Mercer has announced the expansion of its Australian portfolio management senior leadership team with the appointment of Ronan McCabe as head of portfolio management.

McCabe joins Mercer from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Ireland, where he was a senior investment manager. Previously, he held portfolio management roles at Pioneer Investments (part of the Amund group, Europe's largest asset manager), Incisive Capital Management and DZ Bank Ireland.

Relocating from Dublin to Sydney, and commencing in February 2019, McCabe will be responsible for leading manager selection and portfolio construction at the asset class level for the Mercer Funds.

Kylie Willment, Mercer's chief investment officer Pacific, said: "Having recently welcomed Campbell McCulloch to the role of Head of Fund Implementation, Ronan's appointment further bolsters our capabilities in investment strategy design, portfolio management and fund implementation."

She added that Mercer has had "some fantastic results" with "funds performing strongly" and that "with a more robust senior leadership structure for [the firm's] Portfolio Management team" Mercer can deliver "even better investment outcomes" for investors.

McCabe and McCulloch are two of three new senior leadership appointees following the retirement of deputy chief investment officer, delegated solutions Pacific, Philip Graham. The remaining position to be filled is head of investment strategy.