Panelists

Duncan Burns

Principal, APAC Head of Investment Management and Global Equity, Vanguard

Duncan is Vanguard’s head of investments and head of equities for the Asia-Paciﬁc region. In this dual role, Duncan supports Vanguard’s regional investment teams, including equity and ﬁxed income portfolio management, trading, and capital markets operations across Asia. He leads a team of more than 60 investment professionals: portfolio managers, traders, ETF and capital markets specialists, economists, and technologists.

Duncan brings to the team more than 25 years of Wall Street expertise, focusing on index and quant active portfolio management, electronic trading, ETFs, transaction cost analysis, market microstructure, superannuation, and multi-asset portfolio construction.

Before joining Vanguard in 2013, Duncan worked at Jacobs Levy Equity Management, a U.S. provider of quantitative equity strategies for institutional clients. Duncan started his career on Wall Street in 1996, working at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), where he spent a number of years managing the agency trading desk of DLJ’s retail brokerage arm, DLJdirect. Duncan holds a B.A. in economics from Lafayette College and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management, and is also a CFA Charterholder.

Alex Chan

Head of ETF Capital Markets, Asia Pacific, State Street Investment Management

Alex Chan, CFA, is a member of State Street ETF Capital Markets leadership team based in APAC. He has extensive experience in the local and global funds management industry, with over 15 years dedicated to Exchange Traded Products (ETP) in APAC.

In his current role, he leads APAC SSIM ETF Capital Markets team which help clients including Institutional, intermediaries, wealth to execute ETP trades more efficiently, and improving trading qualities of their ETP. Also, he works closely with global liquidity providers and broker dealers to promote healthy primary and secondary markets of SSIM ETFs. He partners with exchanges and foster relationships to enhance ETP ecosystem in the region.

Prior to joining State Street Investment Management in 2023, Alex had spent 12 years at BlackRock’s iShares Capital Markets team in APAC and couple years among Morgan Stanley and SSIMS.

Rory Cunningham

Senior Manager, Investment Products, ASX

Rory Cunningham is a Senior Manager, Investment Products at ASX, working within the Listings and Markets group. He leads business initiatives to expand the range and adoption of investment products listed on ASX, including Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Listed Investment Companies and Trusts (LICs/LITs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Warrants, and Retail Debt Securities.

With over 15 years of experience in Australia’s investment and financial markets, Rory brings deep expertise across the funds management ecosystem. His previous roles at Fidelity Investments and Perpetual Investments have equipped him with a strong foundation in asset management and investor engagement.

Rory holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Sydney.

Stephen Ead

Head of Global Product Solutions for Australia and New Zealand, BlackRock

In this role Steve is responsible for the product strategy, innovation, and commercialisation for Blackrock investment products in the region. In relation to iShares ETFs, Steve oversees the ETF platform and has extensive experience in the ETF ecosystem in Australia.

Steve joined the firm in 2002 working in the European Business Development team in London. He moved to Australia in 2007 as a business analyst working on iShares ETFs and other operational processes, before moving to iShares product in 2012.

Steve has over 25 years industry experience and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Leeds.

Dugald Higgins

Head of Responsible Investment & Real Assets, Zenith Group

Dugald is Head of Responsible Investment & Real Assets for the broader Zenith Group. He has overall responsibility for the development and incorporation of key services across Zenith's and Chant West's investment and super fund research, portfolio solutions and corporate divisions regarding responsible investment practices, including the Group's own activities as a corporate citizen. He is also Chair of the Group's Responsible Investment Committee and a member of the FE fund info global ESG Committee. Dug also is the Sector Head for Real Assets, with 24 years of experience in private market real estate, infrastructure and natural capital.

Evan Metcalf

Executive Director, Savana Asset Management

Evan Metcalf is an Executive Director of Savana Asset Management, a fully-digital active ETF manager that uses proprietary algorithms to identify and exploit market mis-pricings. Alongside this role, Evan runs Axio ETF Consulting, providing independent strategic advice to asset managers on ETF product development and implementation.

Prior to that, Evan spent over 10 years at Global X ETFs Australia, including time as Co-Head of Portfolio Management, Head of Product and Chief Executive Officer. Before getting involved in ETFs, Evan spent 15 years in equity and FX derivative structuring roles at Credit Suisse in London as well as at ANZ and Westpac.

Evan is a CFA charter holder, holds a Masters in Financial Mathematics from King's College London, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from UNSW.

Morgan Potter

Managing Director, Nine Mile

Morgan co-founded ETF Market Making firm, Nine Mile, after 16 years as a managing director with Macquarie Group (Sydney, Hong Kong & New York) and Goldman Sachs (Australia). Prior to Nine Mile, Morgan was based in New York and Hong Kong with Macquarie as Global Head of ETF Trading. Morgan holds a B. Engineering (Structural).

Rob Risk

Business Development Manager, Susquehanna

Rob has over 25 years experience in both ETF and derivative markets having worked previously in trading and market making roles for Susquehanna and Citibank. He has also spent several years working in the funds management industry having worked for Denning Pryce Funds Management as a Portfolio Manager and as Head of Market Risk and Trading. As a Business Development Manager at Susquehanna, Rob works closely with the ETF and options trading desks and focuses on the expansion of the business into other markets in the Asia region.

Arnie Selvarajah

Co-Chief Executive Officer, Bell Financial Group

Arnie Selvarajah is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Bell Financial Group. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Third Party Platform Pty Ltd including its associated businesses Bell Direct, Desktop Broker and Bell Potter Online from 2008 to 2023. Arnie has more than 25 years' experience in financial services. In his time at Third Party Platform, he has driven growth through a focus on technology and customer service. Arnie is the Chairman of Third Party Platform Pty Ltd and is a Director of Bell Potter Securities Ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Business Administration from the University of New South Wales.

Damien Sherman

Head of ETF Platform, APAC, JP Morgan Asset Management

Damien Sherman, Executive Director, joined JP Morgan Asset Management in July 2022 and is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of the JP Morgan Asset Management ETF Platform in APAC.

Prior to this role, Damien was the ETF Specialist for the Australian ETF suite at JP Morgan, he had responsibility for ETF Capital Markets and as such, played a key role in the build out of the ETFs in AU. Previously Damien has held numerous positions with Vanguard and Janus Henders on across new product development, product management and ETF capital markets.

In a career spanning some 30 years, Damien has worked in Melbourne, London and Amsterdam and across a variety of industries including investment management, scientific publishing and identity management. He has a bachelor degree in Economics and Finance from RMIT University and a Masters of Applied Finance from Monash University.

Charlie Wapshott

Head of Distribution, Claremont Global

Charlie has over 15 years of experience split across the UK and Australia, where he played an integral role in investor relations teams for a number of highly regarded finance and fund management companies, including Financial Express, Morningstar & Australian Unity Investments.

Since 2020, he has been Head of Distribution for Claremont Global, a high-conviction global equity fund. With the main responsibility of managing strategic partnerships.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Oxford Brookes University and a Master of Science in Countering Organised Crime and Terrorism from University College London (UCL). He is also a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®).

Michelle Weber

Head of Macquarie Wrap, Macquarie Group

Michelle leads the Wrap Platform at Macquarie’s Banking and Financial Services division, which is the largest platform of its kind in Australia. Macquarie Wrap helps financial advisers securely manage their clients’ investment, superannuation and cash management products.

With almost 30 years’ experience in the Australian financial services industry, she is focused on and passionate about providing financial advisers with the technology they need to efficiently and sustainably serve their clients and grow their business.

Michael Williams

Managing Director, The Hopkins Group

Michael Williams is the Managing Director of The Hopkins Group (THG), a holistic financial and property advisory firm in Melbourne. Over his 23-year tenure, Michael has transformed the firm into an industry-leading provider of end-to-end wealth management solutions through strategic acquisitions, partnerships, mergers, and organic growth, from exceptional services tailored to his clients.

Michael had a simple yet powerful vision – to help his clients establish financial well-being and achieve a financially independent future. This was his vision when he first started as a financial advisor, which is still his vision today as the Managing Director of The Hopkins Group (THG).

Alex Zaika

Chief Executive Officer, Global X ETFs

Alex Zaika is Chief Executive Officer of Global X ETFs Australia. Since November 2024 he has led the firm’s strategic growth in Australia, focused on delivering differentiated, research‑driven ETF solutions aligned with long‑term investment trends.

With more than 20 years’ experience across investment management and Australian financial services, Alex brings deep expertise across ETFs, derivatives, and traditional and alternative asset class solutions. He has worked extensively with institutional, wholesale and retail investors, and has held senior leadership roles at GAM Investments, BlackRock, Barclays Capital, and Macquarie Bank, spanning product development, distribution, and client engagement.

Alex is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Master of Applied Finance, a Diploma of Financial Planning, and a Bachelor of Teaching.