IFM appoints chief economist

IFM Investors has appointed Alex Joiner as chief economist, in a newly created role for the firm, according to a statement.

Joiner who will commence his role with IFM in July, holds a PhD and is a macroeconomist, with more than a decade of experience related to Australia, New Zealand and Asian economies, with a focus on financial markets, risk, investment and quantitative research, according to the statement.

The role will allow Joiner to formulate views on macro and microeconomic inputs for both existing and new investments at the firm. Joiner will report to Joshua Lim, chief commercial officer.

“Alex is an impressive macroeconomist, and his breadth of experience means he will be a key member of the IFM Investments Committee,” Brett Himbury, chief executive officer of IFM, said in the statement. “He will be instrumental in working with our investment teams globally and assisting with investment decisions across all asset classes.”

Previously, Joiner was the chief economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Australia, where he had a history of strong successful forecasting and worked closely with Australian and global equities, fixed income and foreign exchange teams.

He has held economic roles at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, where he acted in a consultative role on numerous macroeconomic models and spent two years focused on Asian economies, before working as senior macroeconomist focused on the property sector, according to the statement.

Melbourne-based IFM investors was founded in 1998 and has $49.25 billion assets under management. The firm, owned by 29 Australian pension funds is a fund manager of infrastructure, debt investments, listed equities and private capital.

IFM has invested more than $2 billion in private equity funds and in companies since it started targeting private capital markets in 1998. The firm seeks significant minority or majority equity positions in Australian and New Zealand businesses spanning consumer brands, healthcare, technology and media, and education. The private capital division is led by Steven Lipchin, according to the firm's website.