Future Fund executive departs after 10 years

Future Fund executive director, investment capability and intelligence, Joel Grant has stepped away from Australia's sovereign wealth fund to launch Jolly Rambler.

"Having worked at the intersection of investment governance and technology, I see a clear opportunity: to apply the governance discipline of the investment program to the investment technology and data programs that serve the investment mission," Grant said.

Grant spent a decade at Future Fund managing $335 billion, most recently as executive director, investment capability and intelligence.

During his decade long tenure, he served as chief of staff to the chief investment officer and owned the governance of the investment team's technology and data program.

Grant also led a wholesale review of how the program was structured, prioritised, and held accountable, and established and chaired the Investment Technology and Data Committee - the governance body accountable for investment technology strategy.

Prior to that, Grant held roles at Hastings Funds Management and worked as energy adviser to the Commonwealth Minister for Resources and Energy.

In his new role as founder and principal of Jolly Rambler, Grant will work with Australian and global institutional asset owners to apply investment governance best practice to their technology and data programs.

"The world's leading asset owners operate their investment programs with rigorous, fit for purpose governance frameworks. Every major allocation decision is anchored to investment strategy, has a clear owner, a defined process, and accountability for outcomes," Grant said.

"Those frameworks exist for a reason; default organisational processes were never built for an investment mission, so the best asset owners built something different.

"Their technology and data programs rarely get the same treatment. Instead, they inherit procurement frameworks, project governance, budgeting cycles, business case templates - tools designed for a different purpose. Yet technology, data and AI are now core enablers of investment capability. Programs that were once peripheral are now consequential."