David Friedlander: The Dealmaker

Launching a stockbroking firm at the height of the 2008 GFC sounded like madness, but Marcus Freeman and his partners did it anyway, founding BGF Equities. Today, that boutique startup has become Canaccord Genuity Australia - a 550-strong powerhouse with a $40 billion wealth advisory arm that dominates local capital-raising league tables. In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Marcus Freeman joins Matthew Kidman to reveal how he navigated turbulent cycles to build a market-leading global player from scratch. 

Alf Ianniello joined Codan in early 2022 as CEO. Since then, the profits have almost doubled, and the share price is up around 750%. Codan’s market capitalisation is over $12 billion, making it the largest technology stock on the ASX.   In this episode, Alf reveals the simple metrics he believes define Codan’s success, explains why R&D investment has been critical, and why he believes Codan’s scale can help the business go from good today to great in the future.

Matthew Jinks is helping power Australia’s digital revolution. As CEO of SKS Technologies (ASX: SKS), he spearheaded an extraordinary transformation, pivoting a small commercial electrical firm into a $1 billion data-centre leader and driving a stunning 4,500% share price surge in just three years. In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, Jinks discusses scaling operations, partnering with global tech players, and meeting the massive electrical demand of the data-centre buildout.

Success and More Interesting Stuff has enjoyed conversations with a range of stock market participants. We have never talked to a lawyer - until today. David Friedlander could possibly be one of the most influential people in Australian corporate activity over the last 40 years. In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, David shares his insights on the impact of AI on the legal profession and takes us inside some of Australia's biggest corporate deals.

The geopolitical and economic tides have shifted. Recent decades played out against a backdrop of globalisation, disinflation, falling interest rates, and above-normal equity market returns. That era is behind us, and the path forward looks vastly different. This shift sits at the core of this special episode, which brings together three leaders in equity investing, gold mining, and economics. The panel dives into the outlook for geopolitics, commodities, inflation, and equities - highlighting both the challenges and the unique opportunities ahead.

Morry Waked revolutionised the funds management industry in Australia. Armed with a natural gift for mathematics and the rigorous training of an actuary, he made the leap from insurance to the equities market and helped turn quantitative investing into a legitimate, powerhouse strategy. By using sophisticated algorithms to strip away emotion and generate above-average returns, Morry has spent over 20 years at the absolute frontier of Australian finance.

Manny Pohl may well be the 'father of growth investing' in Australia, but his journey began thousands of miles away as an electrical engineer in South Africa. From a chance meeting on the Gold Coast to co-founding the $17-billion-dollar powerhouse Hyperion Asset Management, Manny has spent decades proving that 'quality growth' is the ultimate winning strategy. But in a new era of rising interest rates and AI disruption, the old rules are being rewritten. In this episode, Matthew sits down with the founder of ECP Asset Management to discuss the early experiences that shaped his philosophy, the evolution of the Australian market, and why he’s doubling down on growth in an age of uncertainty.

In this episode of Success and More Interesting Stuff, we sit down with Dr Don Hamson, founder of Plato Investment Management. Hamson built a $25 billion fund manager, but it started with a problem. His original long/short strategy was disrupted during the GFC when regulators banned short selling. What followed was a shift towards income, built around a simple idea. In Australia, franking credits matter, particularly for retirees. That focus became the foundation of Plato’s business. Today, Hamson runs a global investment firm with a systematic approach to investing, focused on consistency, risk management and long-term outcomes.  In this conversation, we unpack that pivot, how he thinks about building portfolios, and why process matters more than prediction over time.

Jillian Broadbent has worked at the heart of Australia’s financial and policy institutions for decades. She began at the Reserve Bank under Nugget Coombs, helped build Bankers Trust during deregulation, and later served three terms on the RBA board through the Asian and global financial crises. She also chaired the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from inception and served as Chancellor of the University of Wollongong. In this episode, Broadbent reflects on central banking, board life, clean energy finance and why Australia still needs meaningful economic reform.

Guzman y Gomez Founder & co-CEO Steven Marks joins Matthew Kidman to discuss his decision to leave Wall Street, the tough early years building GYG, why quality is non-negotiable, and what comes next as the business expands into the US.