Team
Investment Committee
Lucerne Funds Pty Ltd as Investment Manager of the Lucerne Alternative Investments Fund makes its investment decisions via an Investment Committee (IC). The IC consists of two employees of the Investment Manager and two external independent members who are highly experienced and bring complementary skills to the role.
The Fund has successfully operated using an Investment Committee since inception as its diverse underlying investments require a multi-skilled approach to be successful.
Michael Houghton
Chair
Michael is the Chair of the Investment Committee and Executive Director with Lucerne Investment Partners. He is a senior finance and investment executive with over 25 years of experience in local and international investment markets. He has worked in wealth management, investment advice and portfolio construction.
He has previously held senior positions with Macquarie Bank, Citigroup Switzerland, JB Were and ANZ Private Bank.
Mugunthan Siva
Investment Committee Member
Mugunthan has been involved in the Australian Financial Services Industry for 28 years, (25 years in Australia) across roles of Investment and Fund Research and Analysis, Company Research, Portfolio Management across multiple asset classes and Global Asset Allocation. Across his career he has worked for Financial Planning firms, Investment Banks and Superannuation Funds and has also been involved in setting up two investment boutique’s, incorporating building investment philosophies and processes to provide a robust governance and decision making platform as the Chief Investment Officer. Prior to becoming co-founder and managing director of India Avenue in 2015, he was Head of Portfolio Management for ANZ Wealth, which had over A$8bn invested under its active multi-manager investment portfolios. He has a Bachelor of Commerce, Graduate Diploma at FINSIA and Masters of Business.
Dragana Timotijevic
Investment Committee Member
Dragana joins in the role of Investment Committee member, bringing more than 25 years of experience in manager research, asset allocation and portfolio construction. She has worked for global and boutique firms servicing both large global and domestic institutional and retail clients. She has designed investment strategies for single and multi-asset portfolios and has deep knowledge of both alternative and mainstream asset classes, Dragana’s recent full-time roles include eight years with Mercer Investments as Head of Alternatives and over three years as CIO/Head of Research at OneVue/Select Investment Partners. Dragana is passionate about deploying capital for the greater good and over the last few years has been extensively researching a variety of responsible/ESG and impact investments.
Anthony Murphy
Investment Committee Member
Anthony Murphy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lucerne Investment Partners. He has extensive experience in the industry and knowledge that cover all aspects of investment and wealth, he is a specialist in investment advisory, portfolio management, group strategy and international business.
Previous roles include Executive Director at Canaccord Genuity and Senior Advisor at Ord Minett.
Faariq Furkan
Fund Analyst
Faariq is a technically astute and enthusiastic finance professional with funds management and accounting experience. Faariq assists Lucerne with his strong ability to conduct equity research and analysis, provide portfolio management services and share his passion for analytics and investment.
Faariq is a CFA charter holder, and has a Master’s Degree in Accounting and International Finance. He previously worked at Yarra Valley Water covering treasuries and economics.
Distribution & Analysis Team
Elva Steyn
Head of Distribution - Alternatives
Elva brings over 20 years’ experience partnering with financial intermediaries including IFA’s, dealer groups and platforms.
Elva has worked in distribution with the treasury teams of major banks, independent fund managers and research houses.