Evidentia announces two new starters

Josh Phillips has joined asset consulting firm Evidentia Group as senior asset consultant after 12 years in Aware Super's Australian direct equities team.

Evidentia is owned by Generation Development Group.

At Aware Super, Phillips served as co-portfolio manager of the pension fund's small companies team where he helped develop the strategy's investment philosophy and process.

He began his tenure there as an associate portfolio manager before being promoted to the senior role.

During his time at the $180 billion superannuation fund, Phillips also worked in the domestic equities team with responsibility for consumer sector coverage, before being promoted to the more senior role.

Most recently, Phillips had a brief stint as co-portfolio manager at Tyndall Asset Management before joining Evidentia's consulting business.

Earlier in his career, Phillips worked as a global investment analyst at boutique fund manager Auscap Asset Management, where he honed his research skills across international markets.

He also spent seven years at Perpetual, progressing from an investment graduate to a global equities analyst.

Evidentia's head of consulting, Chris Carrodus, welcomed the investment professional to the team.

"He {Josh} has significant experience in managing local and global equity portfolios and he will be a huge asset to our business and our clients.

Josh's role at Evidentia is to work with partner firms to collaboratively design, build and then manage tailored investment programs designed to drive superior business and client outcomes."Josh's hire is another example of our focus on attracting the most talented professionals in the industry to continually enhance our service and advice to our partner Private Wealth firms."

A second starter, Pierre-Hedzer Marchi ,has also joined as head of quantitative Investments.He held a similar role at AMP for the last five years.

The hire strengthens Evidentia's investment consulting capabilities as the firm looks to expand its client base among superannuation funds and other institutional investors seeking independent advice on asset allocation.

The asset consultant said in this newly created role Marchi will oversee the development and execution of advanced quantitative investment strategies, integrating risk management and data-driven insights into the portfolio construction process.

"This extra resource will further enhance and complement the core qualitative aspects of the investment program," Evidentia said.

Marchi began his career at Amundi Investment Solutions in Paris, later joining Societe Generale in Hong Kong as a fixed income and currencies trading analyst.

He then worked as a quantitative analyst for a boutique fund manager in Sydney, focusing on absolute return strategies. In 2016, he joined AMP Capital as an analyst before being promoted to portfolio manager three years later and finally to quantitative lead at AMP Investments shortly afterwards.