Perth-based advisory firm Affinity Capital has launched its own fund management arm and appointed Ben Palmer to lead the business.
The new division will be led by Palmer as managing director and chief executive, who joins from superannuation fund GESB.
GESB is a $46 billion super fund managing the assets of WA public sector workers with more than 250,000 members, with Affinity saying Palmer’s appointment brings deep institutional investment experience and strong knowledge of the WA market.
Affinity is a Western Australia-based corporate finance and advisory house covering strategic advisory, M&A, private equity and capital markets and financing.
It has now launched its own specialist investment management division focused on key themes shaping Australia’s economic forces such as infrastructure, natural resources, energy transition, food and water security and Indigenous engagement.
Palmer had been chief executive of GESB since 2018 and previously spent four years as general manager of investments and almost two as senior investment strategist, having initially joined the super fund in 2012.
His departure from GESB was announced earlier this year, with the fund appointing chief investment officer Paul Taylor as interim chief executive while it searches for a permanent replacement.
The leadership transition followed a period of significant change at the fund, including the rollout of its One Fund strategy, which opened the scheme to non-government employers and allowed members to retain their accounts after leaving the public sector.
Prior to GESB, Palmer worked at fund manager Schroders in London for almost a decade in a variety of roles including head of portfolio management for the group’s UK private wealth business.
Adam Santa Maria, managing director of Affinity Capital Group, said: “He brings an exceptional track record, unmatched depth of institutional investment experience, and importantly, a genuine personal commitment to the values that underpin everything we do at Affinity.
“Ben shares Affinity’s vision: to build a funds management business that is deeply Western Australian in character, genuinely excellent in its investment approach, and built on relationships of trust with investors and partners alike.”
Palmer added: “Affinity has built something genuinely distinctive – a platform with a compelling investment philosophy, strong deal flow across infrastructure, sovereign capability, natural resources and the energy transition, and with a unique partnership approach to Indigenous engagement. Its reputation in the WA market is second to none.
“I am excited to join a highly credentialed, globally experienced team and help build a Perth-based funds management capability that Western Australians can be proud of for generations to come.”
