Australia’s Future Fund CIO Sue Brake Steps Down

Sue Brake, CIO of Australia’s sovereign wealth fund the Future Fund, is stepping down and leaving the organization for family reasons. She is departing after three years with the fund and less than two years as CIO.

“I am looking forward to this period where I can focus on my family, and grateful that I am able to leave the team and portfolio in very good hands to do that,” Brake said in a statement. “I am very proud of the investment team’s achievements over the past few years, which will enable the Future Fund to continue its critical mission of investing for the benefit of future generations of Australians.”

With Brake’s departure, the Future Fund has decided to restructure its investment team, which it said will focus on optimizing governance, people and technology with three deputy CIO roles reporting directly to the CIO.

Future Fund CEO Raphael Arndt, who was CIO of the fund from 2014 to 2020, will act as CIO while maintaining his current role until a successor to Brake can be found. Wendy Norris, deputy CIO of private markets, will become deputy CIO, change and innovation. Ben Samild, deputy CIO of portfolio strategy, has been named deputy CIO, portfolio construction. And Alicia Gregory, the fund’s head of private equity, will join the senior leadership team as deputy CIO, private markets.

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Brake, who joined the fund as deputy CIO, portfolio strategy in 2019, played an important role in the review of the fund’s investment strategy, according to a release.

“I want to thank Sue for her valuable contribution to the Future Fund during a time of unprecedented change in global markets and economies,” Arndt said in a statement. “Her leadership and work on the review of the investment strategy leave a significant and positive legacy at the Future Fund.”