Charter Hall brings in Mark Ferguson to run its Maxim Property Securities

Mark Ferguson has joined the Charter Hall Maxim business

Charter Hall Group has appointed veteran funds manager Mark Ferguson to head the Charter Hall Maxim Property Securities business.

Mr Ferguson is highly experienced in managing REITs and has held senior roles with AMP Capital and Macquarie Group. He brings almost 30 years of listed property securities experience to the role.

Mr Ferguson joined Charter Hall this month to take over from Winston Sammut, who founded Maxim and is stepping down from the Maxim business in January.

Mr Sammut has agreed to assist with a smooth transition over the coming months as Mr Ferguson assumes the leadership role working with portfolio manager Pat Barrett.

Maxim works to provide strong risk-adjusted returns for institutional, HNW, SMSF and retail investors, in line with the broader investor base within Charter Hall.

Charter Hall chief executive David Harrison noted the growth of the business.

“We’re pleased to welcome Mark Ferguson to Charter Hall’s Maxim Property Securities business, which has provided strong risk-adjusted returns for investors since it was founded by Winston Sammut 17 years ago,” he said.

“With an impressive and specialised career spanning almost three decades, Mr Ferguson brings deep experience to Maxim’s award-winning funds, after delivering sector-leading returns investing in REITs in previous roles.

Maxim founder Winston Sammut, who is stepping away from the company. Picture: Britta Campion

“Winston Sammut has delivered strong results over an impressive career, and we take this opportunity to thank Winston for his dedication and impressive investor returns since joining Charter Hall in 2018, as part of the Folkestone acquisition.”

Mr Ferguson said he would “work closely with Maxim’s valued clients and my colleague, Patrick Barrett, as portfolio manager”.

“It is exciting to be delivering performance for our fund and partnership clients, investing in the REIT sector which is currently priced at historically deep discounts to net asset value, providing both strong income distribution yields and prospective capital growth,” he said.

Mr Sammut built a reputation as a tenacious and outspoken investor and also was known for investing in smaller and mid-sized stocks.

He will continue working in the investment industry.

“I am pleased to hand over this multi award-winning fund to Mark and I am confident that through his knowledge and track record is capable to continue the outstanding returns to investors into the future,” Mr Sammut said.