Andrew Pridham (Investment Banking & AFL)

The Richards Report

For this episode of the podcast I'm speaking with Andrew Pridham. For episode show notes click here Andrew and I first met when I joined the Sydney Swans back at the end of in 2005 when he was then a director of the club. He is also the Chairman of the Sydney Swans Football Club, and also the founder and CEO of investment bank Moelis Australia. People may be familiar with AFL but unsure of what investment banking entails, so we breakdown some investment banking terminology right from the start (e.g. what is M&A, IPO, etc). We discuss what it was like starting an investment bank in Australia, growing it year after year, and taking it public with an IPO so it's now traded on the stock market. We talk about how that journey has been for him on a personal level to where it is today. Andrew has experience working in investment management in different continents around the world, and different stages of the business cycle. This is interesting to note as (at the time of recording) in Australia is 27 years since our last recession. Listeners in their 20's and 30's don't know what a recession is like or may never have been invested in the market so interesting to learn how Andrew thinks about these events. We also touch on planning in both professional sport and investment management. Andrew mentions the importance of planning for the long term, but the reality that you need to go well over the short term too. There's many similarities between business and football as they're both competitive industries, but there's many also differences which we discuss. Other topics we touch on; •Disruption in wealth management •The importance of culture to growing a business •Giving back •Favourite books/podcasts This episode is brought to you by Six Park, providing online investment management to clients all over Australia www.sixpark.com.au