Apex Capital Partners

• Familiarity: Real world (not theoretical) experience of the challenges to scaling a financial service business A distinguishing feature of the Apex team is the insight and support we bring to management teams given the time we have all spent sitting on both sides of the table — as entrepreneurs and as investors in the financial services industry

We back people, not businesses We look for exceptional founders with the vision to revolutionise the financial services landscape and the drive to attract and lead a first class management team

We are not typically seed-stage capital providers and our investment preference is those opportunities where a core team is in place, with product or services launched and some evidence of customer traction (typically where sales have been made) That said, it's never too early for us to meet you and start understanding the journey you've embarked on

We look for opportunities that display a strong potential to scale, both domestically and offshore Technology has allowed for innovative distribution models, often eradicating the need for traditional physical, financial and human capital requirements that large institutions have relied on for rapid growth

We focus solely on financial services as it’s where we have expertise and believe we are able to add the most value to founding teams We define financial services at its most broad and, within the financial services industry, we are sector agnostic with an interest in both business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) opportunities

Over the past 20 years, I have been involved in establishing, running, investing in and advising early stage businesses in the financial services sector This was initially done at boutique investment firm Turnbull Pillemer Capital and then Apex Capital Partners, which I co-founded in 2005 Most recently, I co-founded and am a Director of BetaShares, a leading Australian funds management business I am also a Director of Toranotec Ltd, a Japanese asset management firm that delivered the country’s first smartphone-enabled automated investment service Prior to my investment roles, I started out my career as a corporate lawyer at Baker & McKenzie and have a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW

As a self-confessed wine geek, I love to learn about, collect and drink wine from around the world

I have spent the past 20 years focused on the financial services and start-up space I worked at the Boston Consulting Group, in Sydney and New York, as a member of their Financial Services practice My background in venture capital came through my earlier involvement in setting up one of the first venture capital firms in Australia I have been with Apex since 2007, during which time I have worked on the set up and growth of BetaShares, a leading Australian funds management company and spent extensive time with various early stage investee companies of Apex I have a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW

I’m also developing a reasonable size collection of limited edition sneakers - I’m starting to get my kicks out of kicks! I have worked across investment, advisory and operational roles in financial services for the past 20 years I spent several years with Morgan Stanley in Sydney and New York on the trading desk and advising private equity clients before returning to Australia to work in the private equity industry I joined the Apex team in 2008, helping to establish and build BetaShares, as well as grow the investment portfolio of early stage businesses at Apex I have a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW

Away from the office I dabble on the trumpet, touring with my band to jazz festivals around Australia, and am a Director of the Australian World Orchestra

BetaShares is a leading Australian exchange traded fund issuer, with an innovative product range of 75+ funds launched on the ASX across various asset classes, expanding the range of exposures to which investors have transparent, liquid and low-cost access BetaShares has proved highly popular with the Australian investment community, raising more than $20Bn of funds within its first ten years

Pengana Capital is a diversified funds management business with ~$1 5Bn of funds under management across nine investment strategies, and offices in Australia and Asia Pengana pioneered the business model which aligns incentives between high-quality investment teams and a funds management organisation

INVESTED IN 2002 / EXITED IN 2005

Centrestone was established to provide wealth advisory services to high net worth (HNW) clients, differentiating its offering via the provision of high quality, independent, fee-for-service advice It was merged with the Berkley Group (and renamed Centric Wealth) to create a leading independent HNW wealth advisory group with $1 5bn of funds (and most recently was acquired by the Findex Group)

INVESTED IN 2002 / EXITED 2009

The Ali Group was established after the founding team identified an opportunity to be a leading manufacturer and distributor of life insurance products for the mortgage broking industry The business has since grown to become a leading provider of this protection, having provided over $30 billion in cover to more than 115,000 Australians, and with over 2,000 authorised representatives

INVESTED IN 2014 / EXITED IN 2015

BillGuard (now branded as Prosper Daily) is a personal finance security business, alerting card holders to erroneous or fraudulent transactions The product is available to customers as a mobile app which encourages users to take a more active role in monitoring their charges, any reporting of which is used by the company to send personalised data breach alerts to the customer network

Japanese-based digital wealth management offering that fully automates the process and discipline for regular investing, allowing users to accumulate savings and build an investment portfolio The technology is completely smartphone based with full automation on data capture The business has a highly experienced team built around portfolio construction, strategy and trading

Sellable makes it quicker, simpler and easier to sell your home It provides price and financing certainty along with the convenience of a flexible moving date, before managing the entire sales process on your behalf The founding team has deep experience in real estate, finance, operations, technology, marketing and customer service, as well as having previously established and run multiple successful start-ups

Athena is delivering Australia’s first ‘Super Mortgage’ – a better value mortgage for consumers, funded by super investments, which bypasses the banks Enabled by a modern digital platform, Athena provides superior returns for investors and much lower interest rates for borrowers The business is led by an executive team with deep experience in financial services and have a track record of delivering innovative customer solutions with outstanding customer experiences

HANetf has launched Europe’s only independent third-party ETF platform, from product development through to full marketing and distribution The business is disrupting the barriers for asset managers to enter the UCITS ETF market, given the significant time, regulation and compliance infrastructure, as well as financial investment needed to develop an ETF business The executive team has expertise in ETF structuring and development, distribution and marketing, and capital markets execution

Arbor is the future of financial wellness, looking to improve the financial health of users through actionable digital advice Based in Europe, Arbor offers products and services that help individuals achieve goal-based outcomes These include regular savings, investing and debt paydown programs The business is led by a senior management team with significant experience across asset management, technology and marketing in both the US and Europe Zeller provides an integrated payments and financial services solution for growing businesses Zeller brings together the best of modern payments and digital financial services to help Australian businesses get paid, access their money, and manage their finances faster and simpler than they can today The founding team has deep expertise in payments infrastructure and banking

Immutable is disrupting the gaming ecosystem by developing games and an alternate gaming model that utilises blockchain technology Their platform supports digital assets created from in-game purchases that can be owned, traded and monetised by all stakeholders Their executive team has deep world-class experience in gaming and blockchain technology

INVESTED IN 2012 / EXITED IN 2014

Bellabox has built one of Australia’s leading beauty subscription services and a platform to be the next generation authority in consumer beauty and lifestyle products It grew to become the dominant player in the Australian market within two years of inception and comprises a monthly beauty subscription box coupled with an e-commerce beauty product shop