Team
Seed Partnerships is owned by its executive staff, who are experts in the management, distribution, marketing, compliance and administration of a fund manager.
Craig Hughes
Chairman
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Craig is the Non-Executive Chairman of Seed Partnerships and Seed Funds Management.
Craig is a director of Pharus Advisory Group, with over 20 years experience in business advisory and financial services. Pharus Advisory serves as the accountant to Seed Partnerships and Seed Funds Management. Craig has served as Seed Partnerships secretary for the first 10 years since 2015.
Craig specialises in taxation, accounting and business advisory services across a range of industries including agriculture, wholesale trade and property.
Prior to working at Pharus, Craig was a partner at Moore Stephens Business Advisory and Partner at HLB Mann Judd.
He holds a Bachelor of Economics from University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor of Commerce Accounting from University of Western Sydney.
Craig is also the current Chairman of the Harvest Hotels Pub Fund.
Chris Donohoe
CEO
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Chris is the CEO of Seed Partnerships and Seed Funds Management. He is responsible for identifying and executing growth opportunities and overseeing the group’s operations and staff. He has CEO experience in funds management, including extensive expertise in launching, raising capital for, and managing Listed Investment Vehicles.
Before establishing Seed Partnerships in May 2015, Chris worked at PM CAPITAL for 14 years. He started in a distribution role and, after several years, became the CEO, Board Director, and a member of the Compliance Committee. He also served as CEO and Director of the PM CAPITAL Global Opportunities Fund Limited (listed in December 2013) and of the PM CAPITAL Asian Opportunities Fund Limited (listed in May 2014). Chris was also the CEO of Future Generation Global Investment Company in its establishment year and a member of its investment committee for several years afterwards.
Before his career in funds management, Chris gained several years’ experience trading derivatives and bonds. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Master of Business in Finance, specialising in Funds Management, from the University of Technology Sydney.
Will Spraggett
Director
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Will is a Partner and Director of Seed Partnerships, responsible for leading the investment research function and managing adviser relationships across Victoria and South Australia.
Previously, he was Head of Listed Managed Investments (LMI) at Bell Potter Securities, overseeing the LMI research team and authoring the highly regarded LIC Weekly and Quarterly. He was also actively involved in numerous capital raisings within the Listed Investment Company space. Before that, Will worked as an Equities Analyst at Bell Potter Securities and IWL Limited, and as an Analyst with Goldman Sachs International. With over 20 years of industry experience, Will is a dedicated financial services executive.
Previously, Will was a director of ClimateWorks Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Business, specialising in Economics and Finance, and has passed Level II of the CFA Program.
Fraser McAusland
Partner
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Fraser is a Partner at Seed Partnerships, responsible for managing key accounts and adviser relationships across New South Wales and Western Australia. He also oversees investment platform relationships for Seed clients.
Since joining Seed in 2016, Fraser has brought over 25 years of experience in financial services. Prior to Seed, he served as Head of Investment Sales at BT Financial Group, where he led the development and distribution of listed and unlisted equity structured products issued by Westpac Bank.
Earlier in his career, Fraser held senior roles at leading global and Australian investment banks, including Deutsche Bank, Macquarie Bank, and ABN AMRO (Royal Bank of Scotland). He specialised in the origination and distribution of equity derivative solutions for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, private banks, independent financial advisers, and other financial intermediaries
Adam Curtis
Partner
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Adam is a Partner responsible for managing national partnerships with Dealer Groups and Asset Consultants. Adam is responsible for adviser relationships in New South Wales and Western Australia.
Adam has over 20 years of experience in financial markets. Previously, Adam worked at Bankers Trust, in funds management and margin lending. He also spent two years in London working at the Bank of New York’s fixed income desk, servicing a range of institutional clients across mainland Europe. After returning to Australia, Adam was employed by CPG Advisory, a consulting firm in Sydney specialising in asset management. In 2008, Adam joined Perpetual’s Income and Multi Sector division as a Senior Investment Specialist, overseeing their capabilities in multi-strategy portfolios, fixed income, and alternative investments. In 2016, he was appointed Head of the Investment Specialists at Perpetual Investments.
Adam has obtained the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation and is a member of the CIMA Society of Australia.
Nick Morris
Partner
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Nick is a Partner and is responsible for key accounts and adviser relationships in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
He has over twelve years of experience in capital markets and financial services with expertise in project management and product development. Prior to joining Seed, Nick worked in the Corporate Finance team at Ord Minnett, where he was responsible for executing wide variety of capital raisings, including public and private transactions across debt, equity and hybrid structures. He was also responsible for syndicating managed investment offerings to the Ord Minnett adviser network.
Prior to joining Ord Minnett, Nick worked in Suncorp Bank’s Treasury team where he spent time in Funding, Sales and Balance Sheet Management teams. Prior to Suncorp, Nick worked as an investment analyst for a boutique private equity firm.
Graham Hook
Head of Compliance
SEED PARTNERSHIPS
Graham is the Head of Compliance for Seed Partnerships and Seed Funds Management. He brings over 30 years of experience in operations and compliance, gained across various boutique funds management companies.
Most recently, he was employed by One Investment Group (OIG) in the RE/Trustee team. OIG is an independent funds management firm offering fiduciary and administrative services to asset managers overseeing over $80 billion across diverse asset classes.
Previously, Graham served as General Manager at Investors Mutual Limited for five years and was part of the compliance committee. He also sat on the board of QV Equities Limited, a listed investment company. Earlier in his career, he spent 11 years at PM Capital Limited, where he was a founding shareholder.
Graham holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance, and he is a Justice of the Peace.
Nicholas Chaplin
Director and Senior Portfolio Manager
SEED FUNDS MANAGEMENT
Nick has worked in the finance industry for over 35 years. Nick has over 25 years’ experience specialising in the structuring and education of financial capital, with a focus on hybrids.
Prior to joining the Investment Manager, Nick spent 12 years building and leading NAB’s hybrid and structured capital originations business. Prior to NAB, Nick built the hybrid capital business for Westpac in Sydney including originating several rare foreign issues into Australia.
Nick has a long history in managing investments in hybrid capital products. From 2002 until 2004, Nick successfully managed a portfolio of hybrid securities with a volume of over $250 million for CommSec as part of its Equity Capital Markets business. From 2015 until 2022, Nick founded and managed the FIF investment strategy within the Paraclete Funds Management Trust which invested exclusively in prudentially regulated securities.
Nick is a graduate of the University of Wollongong and holds Graduate Diploma’s in Applied Finance from both the Securities Institute and the Australian Financial Management Association. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served on numerous not-for-profit Boards of Directors.
Tony Kench
Chair of Risk and Investment Committee
SEED FUNDS MANAGEMENT
Tony has over 35 years’ experience across financial markets, equity capital markets, structured products and wealth management. He specialises in hybrid securities, structured capital transactions and equity capital markets, with strong capability in the structuring, execution and distribution of hybrid and equity products.
Prior to joining Seed Funds Management, Tony spent more than two decades in senior institutional banking and capital markets roles at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, culminating in his appointment as General Manager, Equity Capital Markets. During this period, he was responsible for the origination, structuring and execution of numerous hybrid securities, capital management transactions and equity raisings, including landmark issues such as PERLS II, III, IV & V.
Tony brings extensive investment and portfolio expertise, underpinned by a deep understanding of fixed income, hybrid securities and capital markets. As a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia, he combines strong analytical and quantitative skills with decades of experience assessing investment opportunities, portfolio construction and risk management.
Ned Silva
Portfolio Analyst
SEED FUNDS MANAGEMENT
Ned Silva is a dedicated investment professional with a strong foundation in fixed income.
He joined ANZ’s Capital Markets Debt Syndicate as an Analyst in 2023 before moving to Seed in 2024.
Previously, he worked as an Investment Analyst at the Catholic Diocese Development Fund from 2020, specialising in Hybrid and Subordinated Capital investments. During his time there, he was responsible for the Australian Bank foreign currency bond strategy.
Ned holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Finance and Economics from the University of Notre Dame Australia.
Joshua McMenamin
Portfolio Analyst
SEED FUNDS MANAGEMENT
Joshua is a Portfolio Analyst for Seed Funds Management, specialising in corporate credit analysis.
He is a finance and accounting graduate with practical experience across financial services, healthcare, real estate and government sectors. He has strong analytical skills in credit assessment and financial modelling, complemented by a detail-oriented approach and a passion for fixed income investing.
Joshua holds a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Finance and Accounting from Macquarie University.