Former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Philip Lowe has joined the board of investment bank Barrenjoey, effective immediately.
Lowe was governor of the RBA from 2016 to 2023, until his departure in September of last year when he was replaced by Michele Bullock.
However, his tenure at the central bank spans more than four decades and has held a range of significant roles including as assistant governor (financial system) during the Global Financial Crisis, in addition to having worked at the Bank for International Settlements.
Lowe will serve as Barrenjoey’s third independent non-executive director, joining former federal cabinet minister Kelly O’Dwyer and independent chairman David Gonski. He will also work alongside representatives of the bank’s shareholders and management.
Commenting on the appointment, Gonski described Lowe as an “outstanding” member of the Australian business community, and one who will bring deep experience in financial markets to the bank’s team.
“After a successful tenure as governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, we’re delighted to welcome Dr Lowe to the board of Barrenjoey,” Gonski said on Thursday.
“His deep expertise in policy and intimate knowledge of markets will bring value to the board, and also to Barrenjoey’s clients and staff.”
In February of 2023, Lowe was heavily criticised after he attended a private lunch organised by Barrenjoey.
Notably, the then-RBA governor skipped the customary public address following the first RBA board meeting of the year, a tradition that’s been upheld since 2017, to attend the lunch with a room full of major bank bond traders.
At the time, Lowe said that the lunch was simply a “gap in [his] diary,” implying that it was an unplanned event rather than something of significance.
“A number of people have questioned why I did that rather than a public speech. In previous years, I have generally started the year with an address to the National Press Club and the three-hour hearing, the House economics committee, and I’ve done that in the first week of February. From my perspective that worked quite well, but I had feedback about that. One piece of feedback was ‘maybe you’re talking too much’. And it is possible to talk too much. So, I was being conscious of that,” he said at the time.
Since leaving the RBA, Lowe has also taken up the role of chair at Future Generation Australia, succeeding former NSW premier Mike Baird in March.
