Investa today has announced a number of changes to its boards, following the retirement of long serving Chairman, David Baffsky AO, who retired after 11 years as Chairman.
Rebecca McGrath has been appointed as Chairman of Investa Wholesale Funds Management Limited (‘IWFML’), the responsible entity of the $6.5 billion Investa Commercial Property Fund (‘ICPF’).
Commenting on the appointment and retirement, Peter Menegazzo, Chief Executive Officer, Investa, said the Group welcomes Rebecca’s appointment and thanks David for his significant contribution and commitment to ICPF and Investa during his Board tenure.
“We are very fortunate that David and Rebecca have worked together on the Boards since 2018, allowing a smooth transition, in line with our board renewal and succession plan,” said Mr Menegazzo.
Rebecca McGrath is an internationally experienced business leader, who holds several prominent Board positions including Chairman of ASX-listed Oz Minerals and Non-Executive Director roles at Macquarie Group and Goodman Group. Prior to her non-executive directorships, Ms McGrath spent 23 years as an executive in the oil industry with business line and functional leadership roles with BP in Australia and overseas.
“We congratulate Rebecca on her appointment as Chairman of the IWFML Board, overseeing the direction of our flagship office fund, Investa Commercial Property Fund.”
“On behalf of our investors and executive team, I’d like to thank David for shepherding ICPF through significant change and material achievements over the last 12 years, including significant capital raisings, the acquisition of flagship assets such as 39 and Sixty Martin Place, the internalisation of the Investa management platform, the achievement of world leading ESG credentials and consistent outperformance against key industry benchmarks, such as the MSCI/Mercer Australian Wholesale Core Office Fund index, where ICPF is the top performing fund over a 10 year horizon,” Mr Menegazzo said.
Investa also announced the appointment of Graham Pearson as a Non-Executive Director of the IWFML Board. Mr Pearson has more than 40 years’ experience in the commercial real estate industry in Australia and the United Kingdom, with 20 years directly involved in the management of unlisted real estate funds. Mr Pearson was with Dexus for 12 years where he was responsible for its $13bn property funds management business and prior to that was in senior funds management roles at Colonial First State Property and Lendlease Real Estate Investments.”
“We warmly welcome Graham to the IWFML board. He brings deep expertise and experience in the sector and I look forward to his contribution and leadership alongside fellow board members in the coming years.”
In addition to the ICPF Boards Chairman appointments, Rebecca McGrath has also been appointed Chairman of Investa’s operating platform, Investa Office Management Holdings (IOMH), replacing retiring Chairman David Baffsky. Jennifer Lambert, an existing Director of IWFML has been appointed as a new, Non-Executive Director of IOMH.
“The appointments of such high calibre independent directors across our boards affirms our reputation in the sector and the strength of our governance, operations and team.”
“Investa has an exciting future and these board appointments further strengthen our capability to position us strongly going forward,” said Mr Menegazzo.
Read more on the board on our Leadership page.
