Past Speakers

Guest Speaker:    Rhett Kessler  | CIO and Senior Fund Manager Pengana

Topic:  ‘Investors Dilemma in a low rate environment’

Rhett joined Pengana in October 2007, bringing with him over 18 years experience as an investment professional.

He is responsible for leading Pengana Capital’s Australian equities team and managing the Pengana Australian Equities Fund.

Prior to joining Pengana, Rhett was Head of Research for IAG Asset Management (IAGAM) as well as being a joint portfolio manager for various wholesale funds totalling $3.3 billion. In 2005 he successfully launched the IAGAM Absolute Return Fund, on which the Pengana Australian Equity Fund is based.

Rhett was previously a rated media analyst for UBS Australia, and prior to that successfully managed wholesale and retail … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Jonathan Reeve  | General Manager ANZ for Eagle Eye, a digital loyalty and promotions platform

Topic:  Amazon and the Future of Retail

Jonathan is the author of Retail’s Last Mile: Why Online Shopping Will Exceed Our Wildest Predictions, a book which explores the disruption of store retail by online shopping.

Jonathan has worked in retail businesses on three continents for over 18 years and was part of the team that developed the operating model for Tesco.com, a global pioneer of online grocery retail.

Jonathan has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University (UK) and an MBA from INSEAD (France).

Date:           Friday 2 August 2019

Venue:        The Kelvin Club, 14–30 Melbourne Place

                     (East-side of Russell Street … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Simon Madden | Simon Madden Consulting

Topic:  The 2 Commandments of Organisational Success

Simon has a unique outlook on what it takes to be successful. With an initial career in education, he still managed to fit in 19 years of Australian Rules Football at the highest level after making his debut at just 16 years of age.  His football career was further acknowledged when he had the dual honour of being inducted into Essendon’s Hall of Fame and the AFL Hall of Fame.

While he has never been far away from football, he is currently Director of the Essendon Football Club, he has continued his professional skills in business, media, and high-performance people development.

Simon has a wealth … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Eddie Tamir | Cinema Owner | Classic Cinema Group

Topic:   The Cinema Business – now and into the future

Eddie developed an obsession with the screen from an early age as an only child, carrying around a portable TV everywhere he went, watching everything from Felix the Cat to Gilligan’s Island. Eddie studied Creative Writing, and Psychology at Columbia University, New York. He later went on to study a Postgraduate degree at Swinburne School of Film and Television.

He rekindled his love of film through Cinemas. The Classic Cinema Group today owns and operates theatres in Elsternwick, Lido Cinemas Hawthorn, Cameo Cinemas Belgrave, and Ritz Cinemas Randwick

As a sucker for old buildings, Eddie was most inspired by … Read More

Guest Speaker:     Simon Mawhinney | Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer | Allan Gray

Topic:   The Importance Of Being Different – Generating Better Investment Outcomes

Simon Mawhinney joined Allan Gray in 2006 as an analyst. He joined Allan Gray from Alliance Bernstein, where he held a role in Finance from 2004 to 2005. From 2001 to 2003, Simon worked in the Equity Markets group at Macquarie Bank. He also worked at Deloitte and Touche in the Financial Institutions Services team from 1998 to 2001.

Simon holds a Bachelor of Business Science (First Class Honours) with majors in Finance and Business Strategy and a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting (University of Cape Town). Simon qualified as a chartered accountant in 1998 and … Read More

Guest Speaker:      Prof. Danny Samson, Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and
Economics at Melbourne University

Topic:   The Innovation Imperative – Innovate or Die

Danny Samson has been Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne for thirty years.

In this time, he has:

trained countless senior executives now working in industry
held several leadership roles at the University of Melbourne
founded and directed the Centre for Manufacturing Management
been a board director of the Traffic Accident Commission
led the DIST funded study into ‘International Best Practices in Technology Management’
been a member of the Australian Manufacturing Council
been a member of the Commonwealth Government, Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management

He is passionate about the role … Read More

Guest Speaker:       Robert Wickham – Area Vice President, Platform & Emerging Technologies, Salesforce Asia Pacific

Topic:    Preparing for the fourth industrial revolution

Robert Wickham leads Salesforce’s Specialized teams for Platform & Emerging Technologies across Asia Pacific – this includes Lightning Platform, Heroku, Einstein Analytics, Quip & CPQ. Robert also directs Salesforce’s regional program for start-ups. He is a highly sort after public speaker and media contributor. Recent appearances include Sky News, Bloomberg Radio Hong Kong, Boss Magazine, & The Australian Institute for Company Directors. Robert is also a member of the Victorian Government Innovation Expert Panel.

Prior to joining Salesforce, Robert led the Engineered Systems business at Oracle across Australia & New Zealand. He joined Oracle through acquisition in 2008 … Read More

Guest Speaker:   Graham Goldsmith – Chancellor Swinburne University, Chair-elect Seek Limited

Topic:   The Role and Impact of the Tertiary Education sector on our Economy

Graham Goldsmith became the Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology in mid-2014 having served on the Council since 2010. He was educated at Swinburne Institute of Technology in the 1980’s and graduated in Accounting.

In 2012 he left Goldman Sachs Australia where he had been Vice-Chairman and a Managing Director, after a 25 year career with the firm and its predecessors in Australia, working in both Melbourne and London.

He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.

Graham is retiring from Swinburne at the end of January 2019 and is becoming chairman of … Read More

Guest Speaker: Dr Adir Shiffman, Executive Chairman, Catapult Sports

Topic: The horrible life of a start-up founder – how Catapult became the biggest sports tech company

Dr Adir Shiffman is an Australian serial startup founder, investor, and Executive Chairman of global athlete analytics leader Catapult Sports (ASX: CAT). He has been rated the World’s 10th Most Innovative Person in Sports Business.

After qualifying in medicine and practising as a MD, Adir made the switch across to startup founder and over the last decade launched, built and sold more than a dozen high-growth tech companies. In the process Adir became one of the foremost technology experts in Australia.    

Adir is currently Executive Chairman of Catapult Sports (ASX: CAT), and Chairman/Director/Founder … Read More

Guest Speaker: Hon. Michael O’Brien, MP 

Topic: Victoria’s Economic Future 

Michael was appointed Shadow Treasurer of Victoria December 2014, having served as Treasurer of Victoria from March 2013 to December 2014. 

As Treasurer, Michael delivered his second Budget on 6 May 2014 with a surplus of $1.3 billion, cut payroll tax, reduced the fire services levy, reduced WorkCover premiums and abolished stamp duty on life insurance products. The Budget funded a record state-shaping $27 billion infrastructure investment including the Melbourne Rail Link (incorporating the Airport Rail Link), the Western section of the East West Link, 13 new schools as well as major hospital upgrades throughout Victoria, and funded stage one of the East West Link. 

Under the Napthine … Read More