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Members of the Australian Investment Council span all corners of the private capital sector and seek different experiences from their membership. In acknowledgement of the diversity amongst our members, we introduced several new initiatives in 2020.



Australian Investment Conference 2020

One of the most significant impacts of COVID-19 was the inability to travel domestically or internationally. As a result, the 2020 Australian Investment Conference, which was to be held in Cairns, was postponed until 2021. With many members forced to work from home, the Council introduced new initiatives to ensure they continued to benefit from new industry insights and knowledge sharing opportunities.

Knowledge Sharing Series

On 22 July, a new Knowledge Sharing Series of webinars was launched and made available to members on a complimentary basis. These sessions have been held every two to three weeks and have been well received by the Council’s members and stakeholders. The success of this initiative will see the Council continue to deliver online webinars to members as a core element of the organisation’s knowledge building initiatives into the future.

The first webinar session in the series was a conversation with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell who is also spokesperson on financial and professional services. Alderman Russell shared his perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on the UK economy, Brexit, Free Trade agreements and the Sydney-London Fintech bridge.

Keynote speaker, author and voice coach, Lucy Cornell, CEO of the Voice Advisory Group presented an engaging workshop, Women, Voice & Power, which provided insights on connecting and engaging with audiences at presentations and meetings.

With changes to Australia’s Foreign Investment regime a major focus for our members in 2020, we heard first hand from representatives from NZ Treasury and the NZ Tax office on how changes to New Zealand’s foreign investment regime have impacted the private capital industry. In September, Alicia Gregory, Head of Private Equity for Australia’s Future Fund and member of the Institutional Limited Partners Association’s international membership group, and Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Global Head of Responsible Investing at StepStone, gave their insights on the new guidance for subscription lines of credit.

As part of Australian Cyber Week 2020, AustCyber CEO, Michelle Price joined Mike Zimmerman, partner, Main Sequence Ventures and Sam Crowther, Founder, Kasada in a panel discussion on investing in Australian cyber security. Speaking to more than 450 investors and managers in Australia and New Zealand, Mark O’Hare, founder and chief executive of Preqin joined Australian investment Council Chief Executive, Yasser El-Ansary in a discussion on Australia’s performance in alternative investments . In November, the Council launched an ESG Policy Standards and Guidance workshop with industry leader, Steven Okun, to enable mid-market and boutique members develop their own in-house ESG policies and frameworks. A workshop tailored for VC members will also be held in December.

With the US Presidential Election making headline news in 2020, the Council hosted a pre-election webinar with Steven Okun which covered potential scenarios for the election outcome and the impact on the US and global economy and geopolitical relationships. On 8 November, Former Australian Ambassador to the United States, the Hon. Joe Hockey joined Steven Okun to discuss the result of the US election and the potential implications for private capital investment in Australia and globally.

The final presentation for the year was from Cambridge Associates' Managing Director and Head of Australia & New Zealand Practice, Eugene Snyman, alongside Senior Investment Director, Margaret Schlott, who gave their insights on private investments during times of crisis.

The Council looks forward to continuing to keeping members up-to-date with the latest industry issues and trends throughout 2021 and beyond.

2020 Australian Investment Council Gala Dinner

In March 2020, more than 450 industry professionals gathered at the Sydney Hilton for our highly anticipated annual Gala Dinner which was run in partnership with the AVCJ ANZ Forum. Guest speaker, Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, delivered an insightful keynote address. Through her deep public policy expertise across economic and social issues, Dr Goldie shared her views on how Australia’s investment and business community can partner with social service and civil society advocates to grow the economy by boosting incomes and jobs, addressing the major flaws in our service system and responding to the long-term challenges posed by climate change and extreme weather events.

 

 

2020 Venture Capital Industry Forum

In June this year, we were pleased to launch the premier knowledge sharing and networking event for the leaders of Australia's innovation ecosystem – the Australian Investment Council’s VC Industry Forum. This year, the forum was delivered online for the first time through a series of interactive webinars and online forums over two half days. For a second year running, this key event on the AIC calendar was proudly sponsored and supported by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

This year’s event was headlined by one of the front-runners in the global search for a COVID-19 vaccine, Prof Sharon Lewin AO, Director of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. Prof Lewin shared up-to-the-minute insights into the work being done in this area, and when we should expect to see the next big step forward in solving the global pandemic.

Some of the other thought-leaders speaking at this year’s forum included Phil Cummins from US-based Greenspring Associates, as well as Bill Ferris AC and Paul Bassat, who shared their views on the road to recovery for Australia’s venture investment sector. The forum also featured a strong line-up of industry leaders from a range of domestic and offshore venture investment firms, as well as representatives from institutional investors navigating through the broad-ranging impacts of COVID-19 on markets and economies.

Over 150 senior delegates from the nation’s early-stage ecosystem, including venture funds, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, and leading business advisors, gathered for our annual Venture Capital-focused event.

Emerging Leaders

Following the successful launch of our Emerging Leaders program in November 2019, the Council has continued to provide a meaningful platform to connect, upskill and profile the private capital industry’s leaders of tomorrow via a series of webinars in May and August of this year. Emerging Leaders Dana Liu from Crescent Capital Partners and Eden Lawrence from QIC Private Capital led fireside chat sessions with prominent industry leaders Anne-Marie Birkill and John Russell respectively. Both events were well attended and well received, with participants learning from the personal and career insights from Anne-Marie and John.

Private Capital Career Pathways

The Australian Investment Council plays an important role in raising awareness of private capital as a career amongst university undergraduates. University students studying commerce and business-related degrees had the opportunity to attend a career pathways day in Sydney in December 2019. They were able to hear from a panel of experienced industry practitioners about what it’s like to work in the industry and the unique opportunities of a long-term career in private capital.

PE101 Learning Experience

Created primarily for those entering the industry for the first time, our newly refreshed PE101 introductory course covers the core principles of private equity in Australia, including the key features of deal structuring and how the industry builds stronger businesses over the long-term. This program is facilitated by experienced industry practitioners who use their depth of practical experience to share case studies demonstrating the life cycle of a private equity deal. Since the beginning of the pandemic this year, the AIC continued to deliver our PE101 program via a series of online webinars in May, July and October.

VC101 Learning Experience

Created primarily for those entering the industry for the first time, our newly refreshed VC101 course aims to deliver to participants introductory level knowledge of the approach that venture capital (VC) takes to investment, as well as an understanding of the domestic landscape and the key strategies used. This program is facilitated by experienced industry practitioners who use their depth of practical experience to share case studies demonstrating the life cycle of a venture capital deal. The Council will deliver this newly refreshed program via a series of online webinars commencing in November 2020.

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