BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited – Management Committee

Maurice was appointed Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of BlackRock for Australia in July 1997. He is responsible for the business activities of BlackRock in Australia.

Maurice joined the Australian Commonwealth Treasury from university in 1980 as an economic adviser and in 1985 joined Potter Partners (an antecedent to BlackRock) as Chief Economist for their Australian operations. He moved with the group to London during 1990, working initially on the US market and as a member of the group’s Asset Allocation Committee.

Maurice established the Emerging Markets team in late 1992 and headed that team until January 1996. He then moved to Hong Kong as Managing Director Asia, with primary responsibility for investment in the Asian markets. He subsequently moved to Singapore in the same role.

Maurice is a member of the Asset Allocation Committee, Global Senior Management Group, and is a Director of IFSA.

Russell is a Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer with responsibility for BlackRock’s Fixed Income and Multi-Asset classes. He has extensive experience in fixed income and currency markets.

In 2000, Russell joined BlackRock Australia as Head of Australian Fixed Income and in 2001 he was promoted to Head of Global Fixed Income, based in London. Russell returned to BlackRock Australia in 2004 to take up the role of Co-Chief Investment Officer.

Russell’s investment experience began in September 1984. He initially worked in the Australian Commonwealth Treasury in Canberra, before moving to the private sector, where he worked in both research and funds management.

Russell was educated at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia where he achieved a Bachelor of Economics (Honors).

As Business Manager, Grant is responsible for the financial aspects of the company's operations and driving business initiatives within the organisation.

Grant began his financial career as an auditor with Ernst and Young in 1988 where he progressed to be manager in the Corporate Recovery and Insolvency Division. In 1993-1994 Grant was seconded to London where he was General Manager of a residential, retail and commercial property development.

After returning to Melbourne, Grant was a Manager in the Management Reporting area of ANZ Banking Group for 3 years, before joining BlackRock in 1998.

Grant is a Chartered Accountant and was educated at Latrobe University where he achieved a Bachelor of Business (Accounting).

Damien has been in the financial services industry for 16 years. He worked in Sydney with Citibank from 1986-1988 as a Corporate Foreign Exchange dealer. He then worked for Barclays Global Investors, a subsidiary of the Barclays Banking Group, from 1988-1999 in marketing and sales roles in both Sydney and Brisbane.

Damien joined BlackRock in March 1999 as the State Manager for Queensland. He was appointed National Sales Manager for Retail in January 2002 and then Head of Retail in October 2002. In March 2005, Damian was appointed Head of Distribution. He is now based in Sydney.