Sean O'Shea

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Sean migrated to Australia in 2005 from Zimbabwe where he had developed and implemented structured transactions across corporate and debt finance, working with blue chip clients, local and South African investment banks, in the process running a successful business partnership.  However he chose not to continue participating in a country with an economy that relied more and more on unethical and corrupt business practices.

Since leaving WTW in 2018 Sean has been providing consulting services in Finance, Investment Management as well as general business operations.  Sean is focused on helping businesses improve their governance including both corporate and investment governance

In 2013 Sean joined WTW’s Sydney office as an investment consultant, dealing with a diverse range of clients ranging from WTW’s largest Australian client to a number of its smallest.  The essence of his role was to draw on WTW’s enormous global IP and distil it for the benefit of each client, appropriately tailored for that client’s circumstances, in particular each client’s unique governance arrangements and capabilities, their investment objectives as well as Australian context and regulations.  Sean focused specifically on a client’s investment governance capabilities, in order to best ensure that their portfolio is fit for purpose going forward.  The review process requires the client’s investment beliefs to be clarified, tested for validity and compatibility with their strategy, and then to ensure that the portfolio exposures are implemented with best practice. This allows for the most efficient risk management plan to be implemented, focusing on investment risks, and minimising operational risks. 

In addition to client consulting responsibilities Sean was a key member of the development of WTW’s delegated investment (implemented consulting) service offering in Australia.  This project required setting up from scratch a funds management operations team in Australia, modelled on WTW’s global delegated business (US$100 billion) and initially responsible for A$450 million.  WTW’s delegated products and services include a range of specialist multi asset pooled funds across equities, credit, liquid alternatives and real assets.

During 2011-13 Sean worked with Apostle Asset Management as interim CFO and carried out a project with Fidante Partners to assist with their compliance services across the group’s boutique fund managers.

In 2006 Sean joined Absolute Capital, a small Sydney boutique IM firm focused on opportunities in the booming structured credit space.  Sean was employed as a special projects manager, responsible for setting up new investment products, and also for enhancing the firm’s operational processes, effectively creating the middle office management role, i.e. linking the portfolio management team with the business development team and the back office administration.

After Absolute Capital suffered the early stage effects of the GFC in 2007, the business was put into voluntary administration (noting that the AbCap investment funds did not collapse, but did lose significant value through 2007-2008)  As a result of the VA appointment, 10 out of the 30 staff were offered roles at ABN AMRO (a 50% shareholder in the boutique) with the objective of managing the various investment products through what was to come.  Through 2008 10 people became 5 then 3 and as the GFC tightened, more and more time was spent developing workout and liquidation plans for the remaining assets, and working with senior bank management (just as ABN AMRO was subsumed into RBS) to provide the retail and institutional investors with exit opportunities.  All of Absolute Capital’s products were eventually wound up, and all investors and lenders received some or a full return.

The process of dealing with trustees, liquidators, senior bankers and investors was a master class in the obligations of the investment industry to end investors.  In 2011 as the last former AbCap employee Sean was able to hand over the legacy assets to appropriate custodians.

Working with Anton Tagliaferro at Investors Mutual, Sean completed a research project to review ASX listed infrastructure funds, in particular to analyse governance (potential conflicts of interest) and key investment risks including gearing and management/performance fee costs.

Sean joined the start-up team of Richard Elmslie and Nick Langley at Rare Infrastructure, a Treasury Group greenfield boutique fund management business specialising in international utilities and infrastructure listed equities.  Sean helped set up the investment process, screening and identifying suitable equities from a global universe of more than 120,000 securities, leading into the security analysis process.

Prior to emigrating to Australia Sean worked in Consulting Engineering (1990-1995) completed an MBA (1995) and then switched careers into banking and finance, and cofounding a boutique financial advisory business, structuring capital raisings for blue chip listed corporates and their banking partners.