(Bloomberg) -- Former Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe has joined the board of Barrenjoey, one of Australia’s top investment banks.
Lowe’s appointment is effective Thursday, the Sydney-based firm said in a statement. Lowe’s “deep expertise in policy and intimate knowledge of markets will bring value to the board, and also to Barrenjoey’s clients and staff,” Chairman David Gonski said in the statement.
Subscribe to The Bloomberg Australia Podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Barrenjoey, started in 2020, now has a staff of more than 350 across offices including Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. It’s quickly garnered a reputation that’s secured it key positions on merger transactions and has elevated it in areas such as equity block trading. The firm this year planned to pay its first dividend after making record revenue.
Lowe left the RBA in 2023 after facing some of the most intense scrutiny of a central bank governor — having promised during the pandemic that interest rates were unlikely to start rising before 2024, before embarking on an aggressive tightening cycle in mid-2022 as inflation accelerated. During his tenure, Lowe also faced criticism for attending a closed-door meeting at Barrenjoey. He is also currently the chair of the Future Generation Australia board.
It’s not uncommon for former central banks chiefs to join the private sector. Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney is chair of Brookfield Asset Management and also chair of Bloomberg Inc. Former RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle briefly joined Fortsecue Future Industries as chief financial officer, while Lowe’s predecessor Glenn Stevens is the chair of Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest investment bank.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.