Zenith bolsters research, investment capabilities with new hires

Zenith has announced two senior appointments to strengthen its research and portfolio management divisions.

Charl Marais joined as senior portfolio manager, while Dan Cave returns to the company in a newly created role of deputy head of income research.

Based in Zenith's Sydney office, Marais has over 25 years of experience across portfolio management, manager research and selection and multi-asset strategies. He most recently worked in the same capacity at Yarra Capital Management, where he oversaw investment performance across the business' funds and mandates for the past five years.

Prior to that, he held similar roles at Nikko Asset Management and Suncorp Group, and was a research analyst at Morningstar.

Marais will report to head of portfolio solutions Andrew Yap, who said the appointment reflects the growing demand for its portfolio management capabilities.

"Charl brings a depth of experience that spans institutional portfolio management, external manager research, and multi-asset portfolio construction across some of Australia's most respected investment firms," Yap said.

"His experience demonstrates exactly the kind of rigorous, performance-focused approach our growing client base expects. We're looking forward to the expanded capacity his appointment will bring to the team."

Meanwhile, Cave will rejoin Zenith having originally entered the business in 2017 as senior investment analyst before departing for Frontier Advisors in 2023.

In his time at Frontier Advisors, he was part of the real assets team conducting manager research and advising institutional clients on private infrastructure. He also worked as a financial adviser at KRA Wealth Management and interned at M&A Partners.

In his new role, he will be based in Melbourne and report to head of income research and head of sustainability Dugald Higgins.

Higgins welcomed Cave's return to the business.

"Dan has deep expertise in income research and a thorough understanding of how Zenith operates - he knows our standards, our methodology and our clients," Higgins said.

"He returns with a broader perspective on the institutional market and a sharper focus on private markets, which adds a valuable dimension to our income research capability. This is a newly created role and Dan will play a central part in continuing to strengthen our offering."