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The directors of Contrarius Investment Advisory Pty Limited ("Contrarius Australia") are as follows:
Lee Richardson
Lee Richardson joined Contrarius Australia in July 2017. Lee was previously a director of Contrarius Investment Management Limited (“CIML”) in Jersey, Channel Islands. He joined CIML in March 2011 as an investment analyst and was appointed a director in 2012. Prior to working at Contrarius, he had 10 years of experience working at investment banks in London. He holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Exeter and is a CFA charterholder. Lee is a resident of Australia.
Marcel Barkhuysen
Marcel Barkhuysen joined Contrarius Australia in July 2017. Marcel was previously a director of Contrarius Investment Advisory Limited ("CIAL") in the United Kingdom. He joined CIAL in January 2014 as an investment analyst and was appointed a director in 2016. Prior to joining Contrarius, he was a consulting actuary in the United Kingdom. He holds a B.Comm (Mathematics) from Stellenbosch University, a M.Sc (Finance) from London Business School and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA). Marcel is a resident of Australia.
Christopher Watson
Christopher Watson joined Contrarius Australia in January 2021. Christopher was previously a director of Contrarius Investment Advisory Limited ("CIAL") in the United Kingdom from June 2017 until June 2018. He was employed by CIAL as an investment analyst from April 2012 until June 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Quantitative Finance) from the University of Cape Town, and is a CFA and a CMT charterholder. Christopher is a resident of Australia.
Heaton van der Linde
Heaton van der Linde joined the Contrarius Group in March 2009. He previously had 11 years’ experience at Allan Gray Limited ("AGL"), the largest privately owned investment management firm in South Africa whose clients comprise both institutional investors and individuals. He served as group financial manager, performed investment analysis and was later appointed Head of Institutional Client Servicing where he developed and oversaw AGL’s institutional client business. Heaton is a director of Contrarius Investment Management Limited, Contrarius Investment Management (Bermuda) Limited, and is a director and employee of Contrarius Investment Services (South Africa) (Pty) Limited, the representative office of Contrarius funds approved for marketing in South Africa. He also acts as a director for the Contrarius Irish domiciled funds. He holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Finance) degree from the University of Cape Town, is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and a CFA charterholder.
Claire Hall
Claire Hall joined the Contrarius Group in May 2009. She was previously a business analyst at Allan Gray Limited with responsibilities including client servicing and investment research. She is a director and employee of Contrarius Investment Advisory Limited, the Investment Advisor to Contrarius Investment Management Limited. She holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Actuarial Science) from the University of Cape Town, is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA) and is a CFA charterholder.
Gavin Laws
Gavin Laws is a former partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since retiring, Gavin has fulfilled various roles for a number of companies. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours at Melbourne University, an ACA with Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants, and a FCPA with Australian Society of Accountants. Gavin is a resident of Australia.
The directors of Contrarius Investment Management Limited ("Contrarius Investments") are as follows:
Stephen Mildenhall
Stephen Mildenhall, founder of the Contrarius Group, has more than 10 years’ previous investment experience with Allan Gray Limited ("AGL"), the largest privately owned investment management firm in South Africa. Having joined AGL in 1997 as an equity analyst, he was appointed a portfolio manager in 1999 and a director in January 2000. He was made Chief Investment Officer on 1 April 2001. As Chief Investment Officer he was ultimately responsible for the investment performance of the firm and the management of the investment team. He resigned from AGL at the end of February 2008 to establish the Contrarius Group. At the time of his departure from AGL, it had approximately $30 billion under management, primarily in equities. Stephen holds a B Com (Hons) degree, is a Chartered Accountant (SA) and a CFA charterholder.
Heaton van der Linde
Please refer to Heaton’s biography above.
Berislav Bobus
Berislav joined CIML in January 2012 from Deutsche Bank International Limited where he led a team responsible for the accounting and administration of a number of funds. He is a director of CIML and also acts as a director for the Contrarius Irish domiciled funds. Berislav has over 10 years’ experience in the finance industry having previously worked for State Street Fund Services (Jersey) Limited as a Fund and Custody Manager, and before that KPMG in Croatia and the Cayman Islands. He holds a BBA Degree from the University of Zagreb and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a CFA charterholder.
Thomas Perkins
Thomas joined CIML in April 2011 from Ogier Fiduciary Service (Jersey) Limited where he was responsible for the fiduciary operations of a number of different funds and other offshore holding structures. Thomas has 20 years’ experience in the finance industry having previously worked for Deloitte in London and Jersey, where he was a senior manager specialising in the audit of fund structures, and before that Arthur Andersen. He holds a BA (Honours) Degree in Business Economics from Durham University and is a UK Chartered Accountant and a CFA charterholder.
Nathaniel Watkins
Nathaniel joined the Contrarius Group in October 2013 and has over 10 years investment experience. He is a director and employee of CIML and a director of Contrarius Investment Advisory Limited, the Investment Advisor to CIML. Nathaniel holds a BSc (Honours) Degree in Natural Sciences from Durham University and is a CFA charterholder.
Simon Raubenheimer
Simon joined the Contrarius Group in March 2019. He is a director and employee of CIML, a director of Contrarius Investment Advisory Limited and Contrarius Investment Services (South Africa) (Pty) Limited, and also acts as a director for the Contrarius Irish domiciled funds. Simon has over 16 years’ previous investment experience with Allan Gray Ltd, South Africa’s largest privately-owned investment firm. Between 2008 and 2018, Simon co-managed Allan Gray’s equity and balanced composites for institutional and individual investors. These included the Allan Gray Equity Fund and the Allan Gray Balanced Fund, the largest equity and largest mutual fund in South Africa, respectively. Simon also co-launched and managed the Allan Gray Global Frontier Equity Fund. Simon was a director of Allan Gray Investment Services and a member of the Group Institutional Exco. Prior to joining Allan Gray in February 2002 as a trainee analyst, Simon completed a BCom (Econometrics) degree at the University of Pretoria and a BCom (Honours) (Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management) degree at the University of Cape Town. Simon is a CFA charterholder.