executive team
Robert Seidler AM
Chairman & CEO
Bob is Chairman of Hunter Phillip Japan Limited, a corporate advisory business which has assisted many of the major Australian and Japanese companies in their business dealings between Australia and Japan.
A lawyer by training, Bob has extensive commercial experience both in Japan and Australia. He was intimately involved in the entry of Japanese banks into the deregulated Australian financial market and previously held board positions with The Nikko Securities Australia Limited, Mitsubishi Bank of Australia Limited and LTCB Australia Limited. Bob was based in Japan for two years as a managing partner for a major international law firm. While living in Japan he was appointed to The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (as it then was) Import Board representing Australia and New Zealand and was a member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee. In 1997 he established Hunter Phillip Japan Limited specifically to service the corporate advisory market between Japan and Australia.
Bob is a graduate of law from Sydney University. He was previously a partner of Moore & Bevins, Coudert Brothers (working in Sydney and Tokyo) and The Seidler Law Firm. He became the first Australian lawyer to achieve membership of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association. Currently he is:
Currently he is:
- a Consultant at Ashurst
- a Member, Investment Advisory Board, of the Lend Lease managed Australian Prime Property Fund
- a Member of the Federal Government’s Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee
- Chairman of Leighton Asia Limited
- a Director of Leighton Properties
- an alternate Director of Leighton Holdings Limited
- a Vice-President of the Executive of Australia-Japan Business Co-Operation Committee.
- a member of the NSW Government’s Multicultural Business Advisory Panel
David H Jacobs
Director
David’s career has been exclusively involved with Australia-Japan business relations and customer relationship management on behalf of clients. His Japan experience covers a wide range of industries and service sector fields. Typically this involves market analysis and distribution channel assessment as a precursor to hands-on negotiation with Japanese companies. Sectors include pharmaceuticals, biotech, agricultural products and processed food, IT, tourism and industrial products.
Earlier in his career, he was appointed Director of the Australia-Japan Economic Institute (AJEI). This was one of only six offices funded by the Government of Japan worldwide. Subsequently he established a specialist Japan advisory firm The Australia-Japan Link, catering for both private and public sector clients. David was also an advisor to JETRO Sydney for a ten year period and was the Australian Representative for the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s hi-tech (IT and biotech) business matching event, the Global Venture Forum. He was also the Australian representative for the Osaka Prefectural Government until 2009.
David is a graduate from the University of Sydney, with an Honours Degree in Economics (Economic theory) and a major in politics. He commenced Japanese language study in 1969 with his first visit to Japan. David was an industrial product market consultant at the then Philip Shrapnel & Co in Sydney (now BIS Shrapnel) before becoming Director of the Australia-Japan Economic Institute.
In 1989 he established The Australia-Japan Link and in 2004 became a Director of Hunter Phillip Japan Limited. David is a Board Member and Vice President of the Australia-Japan Society of NSW, a member of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee, a Member of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sydney, Inc., a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Member of the Alumni Working Group, University of Sydney, Business School.
Stephen Menzies
Director
Stephen is a Partner at Ashurst. He is a corporate lawyer with a broad policy and regulatory background. He specialises in securities issues, product development, funds management, corporate finance and new technologies.
In the area of corporate law, he has acted for clients in mergers and acquisitions, schemes of arrangement as well as privatisation (telecommunications). In financial services, Stephen has expertise in financial structures designed for efficient capital management and has implemented large structured transactions and financial product design for banking clients. In the area of corporate governance, Stephen has advised clients both in Australia and the Asian region. In addition, Stephen has acted extensively in the Biotechnology sector. He is also currently a Director of Century Australia Investments Limited.
Previously Stephen served as a partner at other leading Sydney law firms. Earlier in his career he was National Director of Enforcement for the Australian Securities Commission (ASC) between 1990 and 1992, which saw him take full responsibility for the enforcement, surveillance and compliance procedures of the ASC.