James Christensen is an economist, investor and mathematician who is currently the managing director for Global Multi-Asset at Queensland Investment Corporation. He is the former Chief Investment Officer of Telstra Super which is Australia's largest corporate superannuation fund. He has over 20 years of experience and has been widely successful in the Australian investment industry. James is heavily quoted on his economic viewpoints in various Australian and international media, and presents at numerous functions.
Career
Jim began his career working in Queensland Treasury before moving on to the Queensland Investment Corporation. He spent over 10 years at the QIC managing some of the $54 billion the organisation was then responsible for. At this company Jim was given the position of Managing Director of the Active Management Division as well as chairing the alpha investment committee. Ultimately, this meant Jim was responsible for determining and implementing investment strategies across all portfolios. Jim was appointed to the role of Chief Investment Officer at Telstra Super in 2009 on 16 December, succeeding Steve Merlicek. He managed over $15 billion for the company. The company is the largest corporate pension fund in Australia, with over 100,000 members. On 24 November 2015 Jim officially resigned from Telstra Super to return QIC, this time as Managing Director for Global Multi Asset. Jim will now be responsible for asset allocation and active management at the $74.6 Billion fund. QIC is, as of Jim's appointment, the second largest investment fund in the country. In taking the position Jim has taken over from the departing CIO Adriaan Ryder who left after 7 years with the company.
Over his career Jim has been featured in a number of live, televised and written pieces of media. His economic opinions have been recorded in leading magazines, journals and newspapers. These articles most commonly depict investment strategies with a particular focus on corporate asset management. As a speaker Jim has presented at public functions around the world including conferences with the Centre for Investor Education and the Fund Executives Association Ltd. In addition to this he is often shown in online investor education videos. The returns of his funds investments are also heavily highlighted and scrutinised across Australian media. For the most part funds under his control are usually industry leaders. In 2015 Jim was listed as a nominee for the prestigious Conexus Financial Superannuation CIO of the Year award. He proceeded to win the Award, edging out his competitors at the gala event. In addition to this award he went on to win CIO of the year at the Rainmaker awards in the same year. It was reported that James was the fifth highest paid Investment Officer in the Super Industry for 2015; the highest of any corporate fund. That same year it was also shown, to some controversy, that Jim earns over $500, 000 more than the CEO of Telstra Super.
