The Interview Australia

It's a privilege to welcome to our series, special guest Michael Gutman OBE - Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Assembly Funds Management and one of Australia's most experienced property specialists.

Launched in 2019 in a partnership between Michael Gutman, the Lowy Family Group and Alceon, Assembly is a funds management platform targeting strong risk adjusted returns across the Australasian real estate sector with an opportunistic and flexible mandate to invest in assets across market cycles.

To-date it's inaugural fund, The Australian Diversified Property Fund 1 (ADPF) has secured over $285m of equity commitments for a portfolio of logistics, residential, mixed-use, large format retail & alternative assets with a target net IRR of 10-12% - the business has currently invested in twelve opportunities taking the fund to 70% drawn.

Prior to founding Assembly, Michael spent close to twenty-five years with Westfield, rising to Global President and Chief Operating Officer leading globally significant projects in Australia, the UK and the US including Westfield Fountain Gate and Doncaster, Westfield Century City and Valley Fair and Westfield London & Westfield Stratford City to name a few.

Under his tenure, Michael was directly responsible for over 1,000 personnel across the business including in the fields of development, design, construction, leasing, management and marketing working hand-in-hand with the company's senior leadership team and founders Sir Frank Lowy AC, Steven Lowy AM and Peter Lowy before the business was acquired by Unibail Rodamco in 2018 in a $23bn transaction.

More broadly, Michael has spent over four decades deeply embedded within global real estate markets via executive positions with Mirvac, Ellison Investments and Lendlease and was also recently a Director of the European Australian Business Council for some two and a half years.

In his first major in-depth interview, our discussion with Michael will explore his storied life, his participation in the leadership team responsible for Westfield's enormous success, his current business interests and the key learnings he can share for those looking to emulate the career of one of the Country's most successful business people.

Our guest is Ian Chambers – Managing Director, Head of Wealth Management Australia for global

banking giant Morgan Stanley.

Ian brings over three decades of experience across equity markets and wealth advisory, having joined Morgan Stanley in 1998 to establish it's local equity practice before being appointed to his current position in February 2014 - prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Ian spent over six years with ABN Amro as Head of Equity Distribution.

He is a graduate of RMIT University having studied a Bachelor of Business degree following the completion of his high school studies at Haileybury College.

Proudly produced by Ready Media Group - https://readymedia.com.au/

Our guest on this episode is Phillip Cave AM, Executive Chair & Founder of specialised private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners.

Throughout the course of an extraordinary four decade plus career, Phil has been at the forefront of corporate Australia, utilising his vast experience and skillset to facilitate the successful investment turnaround of numerous businesses including many high-profile, household names such as Sunbeam, Dick Smith and Golden Circle.

Based in Australia but with a mandate to invest both locally as well as in New Zealand and South East Asia, Anchorage has established three funds comprising over $810m of FUM since it's initial raise in 2008.

Prior to the launch of Anchorage Capital, Phil was the founder of Interbank Capital Partners, a boutique investment house providing capital and advisory solutions as well as an Executive Director of Macquarie Bank, recruiting another previous guest of the series in Bill Moss AO to the business in 1984 as well as establishing a long-running partnership with former CEO, Allan Moss AO.

In addition to his existing corporate interests, Phil is an active philanthropist and serves as the Chairman of Ability First Australia and Excelsia College - organisations working to support services for children and young adults with disabilities.

He is a graduate of The New South Wales Institute of Technology having completed a Bachelor of Business (Commerce) degree and is also a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.

https://readymedia.com.au/

Our guest is Len Warson - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Glenvill, one of the Country's oldest and most successful property development groups, with a history dating back some sixty-four years.

Prior to joining Glenvill in 1984, Len was an insolvency accountant at Ernst & Young having studied a Bachelor of Economics, Accounting & Finance at Monash University.

In addition to his executive career at Glenvill, Len is the Chairman of the Lighthouse Foundation, an organisation actively involved in providing housing and care programs to youth affected by abuse and homelessness.

https://glenvill.com.au/

https://readymedia.com.au/

It's a pleasure to welcome Peter Ivany AO, Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Ivany Investment Group as a guest on today's program.

Peter has been deeply embedded within corporate Australia for multiple generations, originally making his mark as CEO of Hoyts Cinemas throughout the 1980's and 1990's, growing the business from a small local chain of forty to an international powerhouse comprising over two-thousand theatres across the World.

In 1999, Peter sold the Hoyts business to Kerry Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings and in doing-so, commenced the next chapter of his career with a particular focus on philanthropy, the arts and the establishment of his private investment vehicle to pursue opportunities across the real estate, private equity and fixed-income spheres.

Peter's current roles include as a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground Heritage Trust, Chairman of the NIDA Foundation Trust & Chairman of the Sydney Swans Foundation - he is also a board member of Sydney Swans Limited, Allied Credit and the Loftus Peak Advisory Board to name a few.

Ready Media Group, in partnership with Belle Property Commercial is pleased to announce the launch of a brand new series, 'Women in Property & Business'.

This exclusive new program aims to showcase the most inspiring and successful women in the property, finance, consulting, not-for-profit & management fields, uncovering the secrets behind their success and sharing their insights for future generations.

Each week, Tamara Gross will highlight the achievements, challenges and learnings that each guest has experienced throughout their extraordinary careers.

Enjoy this week's discussion with businesswomen & philanthropist Patricia Ilhan.

Find the latest episodes on Spotify & across the Ready Media Group network.

Joining our series on this episode is Kim Williams AM - legendary Australian businessman who has led some of the Country's largest media & entertainment organisations including NewsCorp Australia, Foxtel & Southern Star Entertainment via both Board and Executive level positions.

Kim has also had a decorated career via arts & cultural institutions, having previously been Chairman of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Film Finance Corporation & the Sydney Opera House Trust to name a few.

Throughout the course of his extraordinary five decade plus involvement in the media, Kim worked directly alongside industry giants such as Kerry Packer, Bruce McWilliam, David Leckie & Rupert Murdoch, often playing a leading and decisive role in shaping the success of their respective businesses.

A selection of his recent / current positions include AFL Commissioner, Board Member of Myer Family Investments & Chair of the Copyright Agency, amongst a number of other high-profile interests.

https://readymedia.com.au/

https://www.copyright.com.au/

Joining our series on this episode is Kris Daff - Managing Director of Assemble Communities & Make Ventures.

Kris has been one of Melbourne's most prolific developers & investors for close on two decades, having worked closely with Ron Walker & Ashley Williams at Evolve Development before founding his current businesses, Make Ventures in 2014 and Assemble in 2017.

https://assemblecommunities.com/

https://www.makeventures.com.au/

https://readymedia.com.au/

In this exclusive interview, Ready Media Group sat down with Rahul Bharara, Managing Director & Head of Real Estate, Australia at Credit Suisse to discuss macro economic events & their potential implications on commercial real estate markets across Australia in 2022.

https://www.credit-suisse.com/au/en.html

https://readymedia.com.au/

https://www.commercialready.com.au/

Joining our series on this episode is Leigh Jasper - serial entrepreneur & CEO of Saniel Ventures.

Leigh co-founded construction software & colloboration platform Aconex over the course of eighteen years before selling the business to Oracle in a $1.6b transaction in 2017 - since that time, he's been an active investor & holds a number of board roles including with Seek, LaunchVic, Salta Properties, SecondQuarter Ventures & the Burnet Institute.

https://www.secondquarter.vc/leighjasper

https://www.saniel.vc/

https://readymedia.com.au/