Aware Super tops up direct equities team

Aware Super's direct equities portfolio has received a boost with three new appointments - one promotion and two new hires.

Keen to add another senior investment analyst to the team, Sachin Nair has been elevated to that position. Covering tech, Nair has been with Aware Super for three years, having previously worked for Cambridge Associates and Capgemini.

Second, Rachel Ryan joins as an investment analyst, covering telecommunications and diversified financials. She arrives from Barrenjoey, where she was a research analyst for real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Ryan earlier spent three years at CLSA and at Ord Minnett.

They join Michael Newbold, who started his new role as a senior investment analyst with the direct equity team two months ago.

Now covering healthcare, Newbold comes from Sydney Airport, where he was head of aviation commercial. At the nation's biggest airport, he managed commercial aviation contracts and customer relationships in addition to conducting advanced financial analysis.

Notably, he negotiated new aeronautical agreements with 51 airlines, resulting in decent price increases.

He earlier worked at CBG Capital, the stockbroker launched by CBG Asset Management in late 2014, and CIMB Asset Management as a research analyst covering the utility and infrastructure sectors.

The trio will report to Alvin Chan, who oversees internal active investments in both stock exchange-listed companies and privately held companies.

"We are extremely pleased with the appointment of Sachin, Michael and Rachel to the direct equities team," he said. "This will allow us to deepen our research bench strength to take advantage of opportunities across listed and private equities on behalf of our 1.2 million members."