Antoine Mesnage will relocate to Australia from France
AXA IM Alts is shaking up its leadership team Down Under with the appointment of Antoine Mesnage as the French firm’s head of Australia and the promotion of two longtime fund managers to senior roles.
Currently serving as head of transactions for France at AXA IM Alts, the real estate fund management arm of AXA Investment Managers, Mesnage will relocate to Australia and start his new job on 1 October, AXA IM said Thursday in a release.
Mesnage succeeds Kumar Kalyanakumar, who has led the Australian operation since September 2016 and will leave the company on 30 September of this year.
“The Australian business is integral to our sizeable growth ambitions for the APAC region,” said Laurent Jacquemin, head of Asia Pacific at AXA IM Alts. “Antoine brings significant knowledge, skills and years of expertise from his time in Europe, and I look forward to working with him to spearhead the next phase of growth in the Australian market.”
Change at the Top
Mesnage has led more than €11 billion ($11.5 billion) worth of transactions on behalf of AXA IM Alts clients across all strategies and sectors, including residential and forestry, the firm said.
Chris Willey was promoted to head of asset management and ESG
Aside from a 2009-10 stint as a portfolio manager at Generali Real Estate, Mesnage has spent his entire 16-year career at AXA IM in Paris. But he’s no stranger to Asia Pacific, having done an exchange semester in the international MBA programme at Tsinghua University.
Kalyanakumar, who departs after overseeing the Australian business’s transition from a boutique outfit to a key part of AXA IM Alts’ global platform, hinted at seeking similar opportunities elsewhere.
“I am looking forward to embarking on a new chapter and playing an influential role within the institutional real estate and infrastructure sector,” he said. “Sustainable and responsible investment is a passion of mine and it will be central to long-term performance as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy.”
Combined Role Splits
The firm also announced the promotion of fund managers Chris Willey and James Cox to the respective positions of head of asset management and ESG and head of fund management for AXA IM Alts in Australia.
They will replace Quentin Shaw, who performs the combined role of head of asset and funds management. Shaw will exit in September after nearly six years with the firm. He previously spent 12 years at Eureka Funds Management, a Sydney-based company he co-founded with Kalyanakumar that was acquired by AXA IM in 2016.
James Cox was promoted to head of fund management
“The strong culture and enduring relationships with our capital partners built over the last 18 years forms the bedrock of this immensely successful business,” Shaw said. “I am proud to have been part of this wonderful journey.”
Willey, a 17-year veteran of AXA IM, is recognised as a leader in Australia on ESG integration into asset management, the firm said. Before joining AXA IM, the Northumbria University grad was a senior asset manager at LaSalle Investment Management for five years.
Cox has more than 16 years under his belt in various roles at AXA IM and Eureka Funds Management, including driving AXA’s deployment of capital in the Australian market. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Griffith University and a master’s degree in real estate and sustainable development from Bond University.
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