News & insights

Corporate Finance & Markets Firm Jarden has today unveiled a heavyweight line-up of 10 research analysts who are joining Jarden Australia’s market leading team. 

Jarden announced its expansion into the Australian market in May with the appointments of CEO Robbie Vanderzeil and foundation members Sarah Rennie, Dane FitzGibbon, John Spencer and Aidan Allen to lead the growth of Jarden Australia. Since then, the firm has continued to add market leading expertise with 40 appointments across its core focus areas of Capital Markets, Corporate Advisory, Equities and Research.

Jarden Australia’s Head of Research Ben Gilbert is heading up the team and leading the development of Jarden’s future-focused research, which he says will adopt a modern sector style approach to meet clients’ evolving needs.

The new appointments announced today are Lou Pirenc, Steven Wheen, Elizabeth Miliatis, Matthew Johnston, Elise Kennedy, Jakob Cakarnis, Keegan Booysen, Sebastian Clemens, James Wilson, and Joe Pardea. They are joining Ben Gilbert, Kieren Chidgey, Wassim Kisirwani and Wilson Wong over the coming three months to build out Jarden Australia’s research team. 

Gilbert says there is an exceptional breadth and depth of talent that exists within this research team, and each will play an integral role in building Jarden Australia.

“The team is passionate about their sectors and will be putting their deep sector experience, credentials and expertise at the service of Jarden, delivering best-in-class insights to all our clients.”

Jarden CEO James Lee says a key foundation of Jarden is independent, thought-provoking research and this requires a constant and significant investment into the people and systems to support that. 

“Our philosophy is to align our coverage approach to the real-world environment that our clients invest in. We will be focusing on a sector-based coverage model that seeks to assist clients generating absolute returns in areas where we believe we can add value, as opposed to an index-based stock coverage model.”  

“Our full Australasian research team will initially consist of 25 publishing analysts throughout Australia and New Zealand who have worked in every major financial continent, of whom five have been Heads of Research and, on average, each sector specialist will have over 15 years’ experience.”

Jarden Australia CEO Robbie Vanderzeil says Jarden is focused on ensuring it has exceptional on-the-ground capability in the key areas that matter to its clients.

“We are delighted to have attracted some of the best talent from around the world and will continue to invest into the team going forward. Each sector team will be built by combining senior, long-term industry expertise with the best talent regardless of tenure.” 

“The sectors and factors that will produce the next generation of returns will invariably be different to those of today and we will be seeking to utilise data and partnerships to deliver a more holistic approach to research to best service our clients’ needs today and into the future.”

The initial sectors of focus include:

• Consumption and the growing trend of online 
• Technology 
• Healthcare
• Financials - including Fintech 
• Real Assets 
• Industrials 
• Energy - including Renewables and Green Tech
• Emerging Companies
• Corporate Access 
• Data 
• ESG - Environmental, Social and Governance

The research team announced today bring the total number in Jarden Australia to 40. The firm is focused on building the market-leading Australasian Corporate Finance & Markets firm, and a truly trans-Tasman, client centric business.

The new appointments to Jarden Australia’s Research Team are:

• Lou Pirenc, Head of Property and REITs, Equity Research

Lou has enjoyed a 20-year career in Research and Finance across 3 continents including 18 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was most recently Global Head of Data for the global Research department, based in New York. Prior to this, he was Head of Research for Australia as well as leading coverage for the REITs sector in Sydney. Lou started his research career covering European Leisure & Hotels at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, based in London, after a few years at HVS International, a hotel real estate consultancy. A dual Dutch/Australian citizen, Lou holds a MBA from IMHI (Groupe Essec, Paris) and a Bachelor's degree from the Hotelschool in The Hague, the Netherlands.

• Steven Wheen, Head of Healthcare, Equity Research

Steve will lead Jarden’s healthcare team. Steve commenced his career in financial services at Arthur Anderson, and after completing his Professional Year with the Institute of Chartered Accountants he relocated to London where he worked in fixed income and equities at Salomon Brothers. On returning to Australia, he joined Macquarie Bank as a Research Analyst covering sectors including Insurance, Tourism & Leisure and Healthcare. He led the Tourism & Leisure research team for 7 years, ranking as the #1 Analyst in the sector for 5 consecutive years. He was promoted to Division Director and transitioned across to head up the Healthcare team. In 2011, he moved to JPMorgan and in 2016 to Evans and Partners continuing his leading Australian healthcare franchise. Steve has a Bachelor of Economics, majoring in Accounting from the University of Sydney and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

• Elizabeth Miliatis, Vice President, Equity Research – Financials

Elizabeth provides industry-leading and thought-provoking equity research and insights. Prior to joining Jarden, Elizabeth was an equity research analyst for Bank of America for five years, working in both the London and Sydney offices and developing expertise in diversified financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals. She previously worked in corporate finance and audit at Deloitte. Passionate about music, Elizabeth enjoys an eclectic mix of genres, loves playing the piano and attends live gigs as often as possible. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Econometrics and Finance from the University Sydney.

• Matthew Johnston, Vice President, Equity Research - Emerging Companies

Matthew specialises in analysing emerging ASX companies to identify attractive investment opportunities for clients. His role involves company and industry analysis, financial modelling and identifying key trends and drivers for businesses. He enjoys learning about new industries and the diversity of businesses in the small cap market. Matt has spent a decade working in financial services and the past five years as an equities analyst. Before joining Jarden, he was an analyst in the Macquarie emerging leaders research team. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney majoring in Economics and Finance.

• Elise Kennedy, Vice President, Equity Research - Technology & Gaming

Elise Kennedy co-leads the Australian Research team covering Technology, Internet and Gaming. She has worked in financial markets for over ten years, with most recent seven years at Morgan Stanley covering the sectors of Telecommunication, Media, Technology and Gaming. She has ranked #1 in sectors on Peter Lee and Asia Institutional Investor (II) surveys. She holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology Sydney and is currently completing a MBA with the University of New South Wales. Elise is also a volunteer for non-for-profit Shine for Kids, qualified for the target 2004 Beijing Olympics Australian Swimming team and currently holds a Recreational Pilots Licence.

• Jakob Cakarnis, Vice President, Equity Research - Industrials

Jakob has 10 years’ experience in the Finance Industry working initially as a Graduate within Macquarie Bank and as an Equity Research Analyst with Citi. Most recently, he was the Lead Analyst for Transport & Industrials at Citi and prior to that he was an Associate in Citi's Consumer Team. He has a keen interest in learning new business models, industries and sustainable investment themes. Jakob has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing (Hons.) and is a CFA Charterholder. Outside of work, Jakob enjoys the great outdoors and spending time with his family.

• Keegan Booysen, Research Analyst, Equity Research – Consumer

Keegan produces research across the retail, food & beverage industries. Keegan's role is analysing the consumer sector and identifying key thematics that define the longer term prospects within his coverage. His work includes financial modelling & valuation, writing key research reports and meeting with company management. Keegan particularly enjoys analysing retailers with a strong omni-channel presence, as well as analysing large industry data sets. Keegan worked as a Consumer and Refiner Marketer analyst with Deutsche Bank and Jefferies prior to Jarden. He also worked in a Corporate Finance capacity with Grant Thornton, as a financial and merchandising analyst with the 3rd largest independent supermarket group in Australia. Keegan is passionate about fitness and snowboarding. He holds a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Finance & Accounting), graduating with distinction at QUT.

• Sebastian Clemens, Research Analyst, Equity Research – Healthcare

Seb specialises in equity research in the healthcare sector, with a focus on in-depth financial modelling and valuation and undertaking company and industry research. Seb has over four years’ industry experience - before joining the Jarden Australia in 2020, Seb was an Associate Analyst at E&P covering Healthcare in a market leading team. Seb also worked as an Executive in the KPMG Valuations team providing independent valuation advice across a number of sectors including healthcare, industrials and infrastructure. Prior to KPMG, Seb worked as a Management Consultant in the Performance Improvement team at EY with a focus on Healthcare strategy. Seb holds a Masters of Professional Accounting from UTS, a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and is a CFA Level II candidate.

• James Wilson, Graduate, Equities Research - Transport & Contractors

James specialises in analysis and modelling for the Australian retail sector, providing quality insights that help Jarden’s clients identify opportunities and manage portfolio risk. Prior to joining Jarden, James worked in equity research across a range of sectors at both Citigroup and MST Financial. He is fascinated by the dynamism of the financial markets and enjoys helping clients achieve their goals. James has a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, and says time spent on exchange at the University of Miami and completing additional studies at Georgetown University, enriched his knowledge through exposure to a diverse range of ideas and people. Passionate about developmental economics and civil rights, James is fluent in French and Hindi, and highly proficient in Urdu and Latin.

• Joe Pardea, Supervisory Analyst & Research Business Manager, Equity Research

Joe is a Supervisory Analyst at Jarden Australia. He has more than 20 years’ experience across equity research, including in Supervisory Analyst, Business Manager and stock coverage roles. Before joining Jarden in 2020, Joe was a Vice President in Goldman Sachs' Content Management Group, responsible for reviewing Americas and Asia research. Prior to this, Joe was Research Product Manager for institutional equities research at Commonwealth Bank and COO for equity research at Credit Suisse in Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Melbourne, majoring in Economics and Accounting.

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