Jonathan Shapiro profiles some of the top achievers in this first of a series showcasing some of the key people driving Australia’s vibrant debt capital markets.
Gavin Buchanan, director, investment banking Barclays 
Gavin Buchanan’s first exposure to banking in finance was during his time at law firm Clayton Utz. As a junior solicitor, Buchanan worked in the fledging area of securitisation but soon realised the legal profession was not for him and moved into investment banking with SBC Australia (now UBS).
As both house counsel and banker, Buchanan spent six years at SBC developing mortgage-backed securitisation programs for Australian banks.
He worked the inaugural mortgage-backed securitisation for an Australian bank in 1996 by bringing Adelaide Bank loans to market and assisted in the establishment mortgage securitisation programs for some of today’s frequent issuers – BankWest, Suncorp Metway, Bank of Queensland, Colonial First State, Westpac Institutional Bank, Resimac, Interstar and Citibank.
It was SBC that helped Buchanan refined his banking and securitisation skill set.
“On the one hand I had someone who was relentless in teaching me to drop my legal thought process, think like an investment banker and be more commercial. On the other hand I had someone teach me the finer technical points of securitisation,” he said.
In 2000 Buchanan joined Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup), and went on to run the bank’s Australian and New Zealand securitisation business.
In 2003 he was presented with an “opportunity to good refuse” when he was asked to become CEO of Australian Mortgage Securities (AMS), at the time Australia’s largest securitiser of residential mortgages and part of the Wizard Home Loans Group.
“It was an incredible challenge to go from investment banking to the corporate world and begin an integration and management process that ultimately helped to facilitate the sale of business and a successful outcome for the shareholders,” he said.
The business was sold to GE Money in late 2004 and following a short handover, Buchanan returned to investment banking with Barclays – stronger and more knowledgeable on the workings of mortgages and corporate world.
Angus Cameron, division director, debt finance, Macquarie Bank
Angus Cameron has seen Australia’s debt markets develop from a fledgling market into a vibrant and resilient industry.
“When I joined it was going through its third reincarnation. It was a tight little market. There weren’t that many people involved. Since then it’s really grown and every year we have a little bit of a flux – the Asian crisis, Y2K, Latin America, Russia, the World Trade Center, yet we haven’t seen a stem of flow,” he said.
Cameron is graduate of what he calls “The School of Financial Markets” – Westpac Banking Corp during the mid-80s to mid-90s. Many of the market’s leading personalities learned their trade at the bank.
“I don’t know what it is but they got something right at the place,” Cameron said.
He found himself at Westpac after being seconded by auditors KPMG. “It’s an extremely good grounding. It allows you to assess what you want to do, and what you are good at, and gave me an appreciation for how businesses work,” he said of his time as an auditor.
Cameron began in institutional and international audit at Westpac before joining the originations team. During this time he brought sizeable deals to market for major issuers such as GE Capital, Colonial, Duke Energy, Westpac, ACT and Fairfax.
In 2000 Cameron joined Macquarie Bank. He was attracted by the prospect of working for an innovative investment bank offering a variety of products.
“I have a broad suite; full securitisation, CPI-linked products, PPPs, and wrapped bonds. I get involved in a lot of these deals and we are always doing interesting and different transactions,” he said.
Cameron has been directly responsible for a number of innovative corporate issues. These include credit wrapped issues for Sydney Airport, Envestra, Broadcast Australia and GasNet Australia; whole business securitisations for ALE Property Group and South East Water(UK), and debt issues for Bank of Queensland, St George and Suncorp Metway.
It’s not the deals as much as the people in the market that motivate Cameron.
“We aren’t physically making anything so it’s a business built on relationships,” he said.
Peter Christie, head of corporate securities origination, CBA
Within the space of three days, Peter Christie switched from harvesting wheat on the family farm to short-term money market dealing at Hambros. For Christie, a combination of strong conviction and ideal timing has been key to his success in debt capital markets.
His decision to pursue a career in financial services came when stocks were floundering and the short-term money market was gaining momentum. The market that Christie entered in 1981 bears little resemblance to that of today. Short-term rates were at 15 to 20 per cent, longer rates at 12 to 15 per cent. Currency was fixed overnight, resulting in wide fluctuations in cash rates throughout the day. Information screens did not exist and trading was a far different game. “People just dealt the money markets based on where they could get deals done and by keeping in touch with clients and competitors all day,” said Christie.
He spent 10 years at Hambros and during that time moved to London to work on the interest rate swap desk. He vividly remembers the chaos created by the market crash of 1987 and the march towards privatisation – “Garbage trucks were literally parked in Threadneedle Street as the drivers queued up to deliver their British Gas, Rolls-Royce and BP share applications to the receiving banks.”
After a brief spell at Fay Richwhite, Christie moved to Credit Suisse First Boston.
Working with high-calibre analysts, he got his grounding in the fixed income business. But it was not long before Christie was drawn home. The introduction of the compulsory superannuation levy led Christie to believe the local corporate bond market was set for take-off. Joining Commonwealth Bank of Australia, who had just completed the first-ever Kangaroo issue for KBD, seemed like a great career move.
His decision was vindicated. The market grew from A$2 to $3 billion in 1997 to A$56 billion today, complemented by the strength of the Kangaroo market and its resilience to global credit issues.
Christie and the origination desk at CBA played its part in the market’s spectacular growth and were successful in bringing global issuers such as Rabobank, HSBC, John Hancock, the Asian Development Bank and the Inter American Development Bank to the market.
Christie was also involved in a number of landmark deals for domestic issuers, including Westfield, Envestra and the A$1.5 billion Sydney Airport wrapped issue. |
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