"Financial Markets are Dynamic and Adaptive": Q&A with Watermark's Ian Carmichael
After five years with Platinum AM, Ian Carmichael is set to join Watermark Funds Management next month, in the newly-created role of head of the consumer sector. He tells us about the role and what he's looking forward to most, names some influential people throughout his career, and reveals why he moved away from engineering to join an industry that he describes as both challenging and stimulating.
After five years with Platinum AM, Ian Carmichael is set to join Watermark Funds Management next month, in the newly-created role of head of the consumer sector. He tells us about the role and what he's looking forward to most, names some influential people throughout his career, and reveals why he moved away from engineering to join an industry that he describes as both challenging and stimulating.
What are you most looking forward to about your new role with Watermark Funds Management?
Watermark is a fund manager with a great record that is well positioned to grow, given the development of global equities capability over the past couple of years. I'm particularly looking forward to the challenge that will come from moving from predominantly long-only investing to a market neutral framework. Market neutral strategies that are properly managed can be of incredible valuable to clients.
What will your role as Head of the Consumer Sector entail?
My responsibility is to provide recommendations on consumer stocks, both domestic and global. I will be looking for opportunities to take positions in quality companies when it is contrarian to do so while offsetting these with short positions in stocks where the price has moved well ahead of reality.
With a background in engineering, what steered you towards the world of investments?
The nature of science and engineering is that exact solutions can typically be found once you have correctly identified all the necessary inputs. While designing and building engineering solutions can be very satisfying it can however lead to a large degree of repetition. Financial markets on the other hand are dynamic and adaptive meaning that historic relationships can never be guaranteed to persist in the future. While this can introduce its own challenges it makes for an always challenging and stimulating career.
What was your very first job?
I pumped petrol at one of the last full service petrol stations in Sydney for $5 an hour, which I suspect was less than minimum wage at the time.
Who has had the biggest influence on your life/career so far?
I have been fortunate to work for some very intelligent and ethical investors so far in my career. Particularly influential were Kerr Neilson/Andrew Clifford at Platinum and Chris Condon/Susan Gosling at MLC.
Is there a particular charity or cause that you support?
Humanitix is a new ticketing platform which donates the profits from booking fees to a charity of the event organisers choice. It's been founded by a small group of philanthropists in Sydney and is purely charitable in purpose.
