Prof Ben Marshall

Independent Academic Consultant
Consilium CIC

Professor Ben Marshall works with the Consilium Investment Committee (CIC) as an Independent Academic Consultant, with a particular focus on governance, analytical support and policy review.

He serves on the editorial board of a number of journals and has consulted to public and private companies in a range of different areas. He holds the MSA Charitable Trust Chair in Finance at Massey University.

Professor Marshall has undertaken research in areas such as the impact of climate on financial markets, factors that influence stock returns, quantitative approaches to portfolio management, transaction cost and illiquidity measurement, and exchange traded funds.

His research has been published in leading international journals and he is a regular speaker at international finance conferences. Professor Marshall is currently ranked in the top 1% of authors based on downloads of his working papers.

Gillian Wilson

Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income and Vice President
Dimensional Fund Advisors, Australia

Gillian Wilson is responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management and trading of Dimensional's Australian fixed income portfolios. She also has a client-facing role in helping communicate Dimensional fixed income strategies to advisor clients. In addition, Gillian is involved with staff training and development.

Prior to joining Dimensional in 2008, Gillian was the head economics teacher at the Hills Grammar School. Before that, she worked for Macquarie Bank and Bankers Trust in their funds management divisions.

Gillian earned her master of economics from Macquarie University in 2005, together with a graduate diploma of education. She graduated with a bachelor of business (finance/economics) from Charles Sturt University in 1997.

Jim Parker

Vice President, Communications
Dimensional Fund Advisors

As Vice President, Communications, Jim Parker helps create strategies to communicate Dimensional's philosophy and process in ways that engage clients, prospects, regulators, and the media. He does so through presentations, books, papers, and articles, including his "Outside the Flags" column and, more recently, his weekly "Coffee Break" links to interesting articles.

Jim joined Dimensional in 2006 after 25 years working as a journalist in newspapers, television, radio, and online media. His specialty was financial journalism, particularly in relation to economics and financial markets. Jim holds a bachelor of arts in social and economic history from Deakin University and a journalism certificate from Auckland Technical Institute.

Rob Ness

Senior Portfolio Manager and Vice President
Dimensional Fund Advisors

Rob Ness is a Senior Portfolio Manager and has been with Dimensional since 2003. In this role, Rob is responsible for implementation of equity strategies managed out of the firm’s Sydney office.

Before joining Dimensional, Rob was a research engineer for the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures. Rob holds a master of commerce in actuarial studies from the University of New South Wales and a bachelor of engineering from the University of Sydney.

Damon O'Brien

Chief Investment Officer
Consilium

Damon is the Chief Investment Officer at Consilium and chair of the Consilium Investment Committee. He has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, in roles focusing on the delivery of global best practice investment solutions.

Leading a team of six analysts, Damon is responsible for the design, implementation and support of Consilium’s evidence-based investment strategy.

Consilium’s investment framework has been internationally certified by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX). Underpinning this is a client-first approach that always seeks to maximise delivery of the proven benefits of financial science to investors.

Damon joined the Consilium Board in 2014 as an executive director, expanding upon his prior governance experience that includes over ten years as trustee of a private charitable foundation.

Damon is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA® charterholder), a member of the New Zealand CFA Society and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Mitchell Bristow

Head of Research
Consilium

Mitchell is the Head of Research for Consilium and has been working in the financial services industry for over 15 years. Mitchell is an integral part of the Consilium investment committee, with responsibilities in the areas of investment analysis, performance monitoring, supplementary fund due diligence, asset allocation and research.

Mitchell specialises in creating informative and educational graphics from complex datasets to help the advisers we work with understand, and explain, the fundamental concepts we use in our portfolio construction. Mitchell is passionate about Socially Responsible Investing and has been involved in several projects to bring innovative solutions to New Zealand investors with an interest in this field.

Prior to working at Consilium, Mitchell worked in Hong Kong as the Director of Quantitative and Risk Management for a funds management business. In this role Mitchell honed his skills in numerical analysis for a wide range of investment strategies.

Mitchell is as a CFA® charterholder and is bound by the CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Science (Statistics) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Management Science) from the University of Canterbury.

Ben Brinkerhoff

Head of Adviser Services
Consilium

Ben is Head of Adviser Services and has been with Consilium since the foundation of the business. Ben is responsible for Consilium Partner Services and business development, and sits on the Consilium Investment Committee.

Ben works with partner firms to grow and develop their ideal advice practice through engaging advice processes, efficient business systems, increased investor education and goals-based advice, while finding their marketing and business development niche.

Ben is a frequent author writing many articles and whitepapers for Consilium. He regularly speaks at industry events, conferences and at client engagements.

Ben has 12 years’ experience in financial services including General Manager of Bradley Nuttall, Chief Operations Officer of Index Funds Advisers, LLC in the United States and in various Economic Consulting roles in the US and abroad.

Ben has a BA in History and Economics from the University of California.