Alan
Hargreaves

Speaker Profile

Alan Hargreaves is an established business writer and management advisor. He has held senior positions in financial services, publishing, broadcasting and private equity. He spent 20 years working in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the USA. For the last decade he has been based in Sydney. He is the author of management book Recharge, published by John Wiley & Sons.

Alan is an Economics graduate from the University of Sydney and initially worked in publishing and journalism. Following assignments in Singapore, he moved permanently to Asia in 1977, where he wrote for the region's leading publications before being appointed Associate Editor of financial monthly Asian Business.

In 1981, he became Financial Editor of Radio Television Hong Kong. He completely restructured RTHK's business product, introducing new, innovative programs, which established RTHK as Hong Kong's premier source of business news and analysis.

Approached by UK investment bank Hoare Govett, he was appointed Research Manager in 1984. For the next 15 years, he held numerous management positions as the firm grew rapidly. He became a director in 1987, working with the group's Singapore joint venture and managing expansion into Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. He returned to HK in 1989 as Director of International Research.

In 1990 he joined with three other senior executives to orchestrate a management buyout. On completion, he became Managing Director for Asia. In 1993, he moved to New York as MD of the US operations where he rebuilt the firm's business, lifting US rankings from 7th to 2nd and boosting market share to over 20%. He oversaw a joint venture with the investment bank, Smith Barney, launched new operations on the West Coast and introduced new Asian investment vehicles to the US. In 1996, he led the first listing of a Chinese company on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1998, the firm was sold to ABN Amro. Alan returned to Australia as Managing Director of ABN Amro Hoare Govett to build a top tier presence in Australian stockbroking. This was achieved with the acquisition of BZW Australia.

In 2000, he left the firm to concentrate on his own investment interests, including portfolio management, private equity and breeding horses.

Travels from New South Wales