Aequitas hires former Vanguard consultant

A former portfolio consultant at Vanguard who led the fund manager's launch of its own portfolio analytics and consulting function for Australian-based financial advisers is Aequitas' latest recruit.

Mark Stephan joins as a principal asset consultant at Aequitas Investment Partners, a Melbourne-based asset consulting group for financial advisers. Founded in 2010, Aequitas manages over $8 billion in client funds and runs its own proprietary investment platforms, Aequilibrium and Altum.

On announcing his appointment, the group said that Stephan will lead their existing asset consulting relationships with dealer groups and financial planning firms, advising on portfolio construction, governance and investment strategy.

"He brings deep experience across investment consulting, portfolio management and asset research, with a strong track record supporting advisers and institutions in building multi-asset portfolios," it said in a statement.

Prior to joining Aequitas, Mark was senior investment analyst at Mutual Trust for two years and was at Vanguard Australia where he helped establish the group's inaugural Portfolio Analytics & Consulting function locally.

He has also worked at Lonsec as senior investment analyst in managed fund research, conducting research on Managed Funds, ETFs, LICs and SMAs.

Besides Stephan, Aequitas has also appointed Tea Van Ross (nee May) as head of strategy and client delivery. Ross had worked at Commonwealth Bank as senior process manager at CommSec product & customer experience.