Sue Brake quits Future Fund

Future Fund chief investment officer Sue Brake has resigned for family reasons.

Her departure from the $200 billion sovereign wealth fund comes just weeks after David George, its deputy investment chief, announced he was leaving to helm Magellan Asset Management.

Brake's departure has led to a revamp of the investment team.

Three deputy investment chiefs have been appointed and will report to Future Fund boss Raphael Arndt until he hires Brake's replacement.

Arndt ran investment five years before Brake moved into the role.

The three deputies will be Wendy Norris, Ben Samild, and Alicia Gregory. Norris will run change and innovation, Samild will take on portfolio construction, and Gregory will head up private markets.

Brake has been investment head since December 2020 but has acted in the role since July 2020, having joined the Future Fund as deputy chief investment officer, portfolio strategy a year earlier.

She was instrumental in reviewing the fund's investment strategy during the pandemic to prepare for more volatile times.

Arndt said: "I want to thank Sue for her valuable contribution to the Future Fund during a time of unprecedented change in global markets and economies. Her leadership and work on the review of the investment strategy leave a significant and positive legacy at the Future Fund. We wish Sue all the very best for the future."

Brake said the investment team's achievements over the past few years will enable the Future Fund to continue its critical mission of investing for future generations of Australians.

"It has been a privilege to contribute to the success of the Future Fund and to work with such a talented team of investment professionals," she said

"I am looking forward to this period where I can focus on my family, and grateful that I can leave the team and portfolio in very good hands to do that."

Before joining the Future Fund, Brake was head of strategic advisory and a senior investment consultant at Willis Towers Watson.

Before that,  she was a senior investment strategist at NZ Super Fund.