A golden year for Wall Street's Australian stock picker
Born in Papua New Guinea and raised in Queensland, McLennan landed in New York via Sydney and London and is now the co-head of First Eagle's global value team, overseeing the asset manager's $US62.3 billion ($94.7 billion) global fund.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
18 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Bendigo Bank to shut ten branches in communities across Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania starting from August
Bendigo Bank has confirmed ten of its branches will shut within the next few months across Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. The bank, which operates Australia's second biggest regional branch network, said the closures will roll out from August 1 until the end of October. The closures mean some residents in impacted regional areas will be left without a local in-person branch and may need to resort to other methods for their banking, such as going online. Six Victorian Bendigo Bank branches will close from the start of next month, including locations in South Melbourne, Korumburra and on Malop Street in Geelong. The Bannockburn and Yarram branches will shut from September 25 and 26 respectively, while Ballarat Central will close on October 31. In Queensland, both the Malanda and Tully North sites will close on September 26. Meanwhile in Tasmania, the Kings Meadows location will shut its doors on August 1 followed by the Queenstown branch on September 26. Bendigo Bank said the decision to close or consolidate the branches was reached following a review of "customer preferences, a reduction in business activity and an increase in costs". The bank's chief executive officer and managing director Richard Fennell said the choice was not easy, stressing the retailer is committed to delivering services for its regional customers. "We are proud of our regional heritage and in order to continue delivering for our customers and communities we must ensure our branches are adequately supported and resourced," Mr Fennell said in a statement. "To preserve what makes our Bank unique, we must balance our physical network presence with the need to continue investing in the changing preferences of our 2.7 million customers." Mr Fennell noted Bendigo Bank has more branches per customer than any other Australian bank, and operates the third largest branch network on a national level. The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has blasted the move, saying the closures will leave some Aussies in regional communities without in-person financial services. FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano claimed about 32 full time-equivalent roles will also impacted by the branch closures. "To close 10 branches, five in regional communities with no other bank branch, is a slap in the face from a bank which most Australians know as the largest regionally based bank, and a supporter of regional communities," she said in a statement. "Three Victorian communities - Bannockburn, Korumburra Yarram, along with Malanda in Queensland, and Queenstown in Tasmania will lose the last of their local bank branches." The FSU said it has written to the Bendigo Bank boss, as well as local parliamentary members in a bid to save the branches. "The largest impact from this decision will be felt in the bank's home state of Victoria with six branches closing including larger regional branches in Geelong and Ballarat, and a suburban branch in South Melbourne," Ms Angrisano said. "This is an incredibly disturbing development and does not bode well for the future of Bendigo Bank's presence in regional Australia." Bendigo Bank emphasised it is actively exploring opportunities to support and relocate affected team members. The FCU has renewed calls for banking to be regulated in Australia as an essential service to protect regional communities, noting a Sentate inquiry into the issue was held just over a year ago.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Taxpayers hefty bill to send bureaucrats and minsters to climate summit revealed, as Chris Bowen defends use of funds
The federal government spent almost $2 million sending 75 bureaucrats and two ministers to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan in 2024. A collection of answers to questions on notice asked by former shadow finance minister Jane Hume has uncovered that the Albanese government spent a whopping $1.5 million sending a delegation of bureaucrats to last year's COP29 climate summit. An average of $20,000 was spent to send each of the 75 civil servants to the conference, with a further $102,343.69 spent to send transport Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and his staff to Baku. More than $20,000 was also used to fly the Assistant Climate Change Minister Josh Wilson to the same conference. The total bill came in at an exorbitant $1,672,000. The mammoth contingent included 42 representatives from the Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment and Water, 25 officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and two civil servants respectively from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Finance. A representative from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Department of Health and Aged Care also jetted to the South Caucasus country. Documents from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority also showed that Mr Bowen's travel expenses for the COP29 summit stood at $33,049.03, with his staff raking up a $68,601.66 tab. Mr Bowen only attended the conference's second week. Shadow finance minister James Paterson blasted the government and relevant department heads for their excessive use of taxpayer funds and labelled the conference, which resulted in few binding climate initiatives a 'talkfest with nothing to show for it.' 'On Labor's watch, power prices and emissions are both up – and so is spending extravagant sums of taxpayers' money on climate junkets,' Mr Paterson told The Australian. 'The Albanese government must justify why they sent almost 100 people and spent millions of dollars on a delegation to a talkfest.' 'While Australians were struggling to pay their electricity bills, Chris Bowen, Josh Wilson, and at least seven government departments and agencies were travelling on the taxpayer dime with nothing to show for it.' However, Mr Bowen refused to accept accusations of waste and slammed the Coalition's attitude on climate change. 'The LNP doesn't believe in net zero anymore and now apparently they don't believe in sending ministers to COP either,' a spokesperson for Mr Bowen told The Australian. 'Given [former prime minister] Scott Morrison took 39 people to the Glasgow COP they are also nothing more than hypocrites.' It was separately discovered that the government spent substantially less in previous years on international climate conferences than that of 2024. This includes spending $1,075,000 for its pavilion at the COP26 at Glasgow in Scotland in 2021, $971,682 on the COP27 climate conference in harm el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022 and $831,549 for COP28 in Dubai. Australia is currently competing with Turkey to secure hosting rights for the COP31 conference in 2026. The government has stated it is unable to provide the total expected cost related to holding the summit.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
‘Not feasible': Bank axes more branches
The bank running Australia's third-largest network of branches will shut 10 branches in the coming months. Bendigo Bank will axe nine regional branches and one in Melbourne from early August to late October. The bank said it was 'proud of its regional heritage' but pointed to fewer people using the branches and higher business costs as reasons to shut the doors. In February, the federal government struck a deal with the big four banks (ANZ, NAB, Commonwealth and Westpac) to not shut any more regional branches until mid-2027, as about one-third of regional outlets have closed since 2017. 'To preserve what makes our bank unique, we must balance our physical network presence with the need to continue investing in the changing preferences of our 2.7 million customers,' Bendigo Bank chief executive Richard Fennell said. The regional closures are accompanied by one closure in Melbourne. NewsWire / Roy VanDerVegt Credit: News Corp Australia Bendigo ran the most branches of any bank in the country per customer, Mr Fennell said, plus the second-largest regional network and third-largest overall network across the country. 'We are proud of our regional heritage and in order to continue delivering for our customers and communities, we must ensure our branches are adequately supported and resourced,' he said. Branches at Malop St in Geelong, the South Melbourne branch and Kings Meadows in Tasmania will shut on August 1. Korumburra in South Gippsland will shut on the last Friday in August. Bannockburn and Yarram in regional Victoria will shut in late September, as will Malanda and Tully North in Queensland, and Queenstown in Tasmania. Ballarat Central will be the final of the 10 to shut, on October 31. Many of the closures leave towns without a branch, but residents can bank at Australia Post outlets. NewsWire / Christian Gilles Credit: News Corp Australia The bank said it was 'actively exploring' opportunities to find its workers new jobs within the company. The closure leaves Korumburra without a physical bank in a town of just less than 5000 people; residents will have to drive 15km to the next town to see and speak to a teller. It is a similar story for Bannockburn's 6400 residents, but they will need to drive more than 20km into Geelong. Malanda residents are being presented with a similar scenario, with the closest bank branch in the next town 20km away. Bendigo Bank said customers could still bank at any one of 3500 Australia Post stores. Federal Liberal MP Mary Aldred represents the seat of Monash and the town of Korumburra. 'For many of my constituents, including older Australians, people with a disability and small business owners, face-to-face banking remains essential,' she wrote in a letter to the Bendigo Bank boss. 'Travelling to another town to access a branch is just not feasible for many of your customers.' Ms Aldred urged the bank boss to reconsider the closure and talk to Korumburra residents about the effects. 'The branch is the last remaining bank in Korumburra. The closure will leave the Korumburra community … (with) serious disadvantages for residents and businesses alike,' she said.
