Treasury Group Limited has named Andrew McGill, a 20-year veteran of Australia's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape, its new chief executive.
McGill will take up the helm on 12 July 2011, succeeding Mark Burgess who steps down later this month to become general manager of the government's $75 billion Future Fund.
McGill joins the group from private equity firm Crescent Capital, which he co-founded. Crescent runs a fund of about $750 million.
However, the bulk of his experience was garnered at Macquarie where he analysed investment opportunities, negotiated deals and managed the opportunities in ongoing portfolios.
Treasury Group chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said the board chose McGill because of his mix of entrepreneurial skills and depth of M&A experience, which the directors saw as a perfect mix to lead the group on the next leg of its growth.
"We believe Andrew's exceptional skills in growing and developing businesses will make him an invaluable addition to the executive," Fitzpatrick said.
He added that the eight boutique fund managers within Treasury Group hold more than $16 billion in assets under management.
Fitzpatrick said Treasury's growth would come from a combination of internal growth and acquisition.
"To be frank, the business has been more of a venture capital model. We've started pretty much from scratch," he told Investor Daily.
"What we've said over the last couple of years is we would also look at acquiring some more mature managers. Post-GFC, we've kept a little bit of cash on our books for managers who have been going for three or four years as opposed to those who are just starting from scratch.
He said McGill's immediate focus would be on growing and supporting managers within the TRG portfolio and assisting Premium Investors Limited, then to select new investment opportunities currently under assessment to take the company through the next leg of its growth.
Asked whether McGill's experience with alternative asset classes might lead Treasury further down that path, Fitzpatrick said yes.
"We have been keen to diversify into alternatives. We've been reasonably successful at that already but we could do more.
"We are interested in opportunities in the hedge fund space. We've obviously thought very hard about fixed interest given the way in which the market's evolving. Another possibility would property."
Fitzpatrick said Burgess will step down as managing director on 24 June 2011.
"Mark has made a tremendous contribution to the group and we wish him every success in his new role."
David Cooper will work in an interim executive capacity until McGill steps into the chief executive role, Treasury Group said.
