Meet our team – Ellen Allardice

Read excerpts from our Q&A below:
In the last Market Insights, we highlighted Income Asset Managements’ expansion into the West Coast with the opening of our Perth office this month. In this week’s “Team Spotlight” we are delighted to be joined by Ellen Allardice, our new starter in the Perth office to discuss Ellen’s career journey, bond market insights and what led to her role at IAM Perth.
Ellen began her career in South Africa, working for an investment management company that focused on providing income to the retired investor. The primary asset classes they invested in were listed property and corporate bonds. Ellen says that that was what first sparked her passion for assisting everyday investors to understand their investments further. “This as well as providing a solution to them for their life savings grew to become the most rewarding part of my role”. Ellen says that after more than a decade of working with them, her family decided to make the move to Australia.

We asked Ellen what motivated her to pursue a career in fixed income. Ellen feels that broadly speaking, there is a low level of understanding of bonds as an asset class. Ellen thinks the opportunity to educate investors on the benefits of bond investing is enormous and having a footprint to do this face to face with financial advisers and investors is an exciting prospect. “We have moved into a digital world, and I feel Covid-19 fast tracked this but I think, when it comes to building a solid foundation for a trusted business relationship, nothing quite matches physical human interaction, particularly for us in the already isolated state of WA.”
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As Ellen settles into her role at IAM, she plans to educate investors as well as financial advisers on the benefits of including a corporate bond portfolio as part of one’s broader investment strategy. Historically, accessibility into the bond market has been limited which has always been a hurdle for both financial advisers and investors. “I am really excited about the way the team at IAM have been working on the various distribution channels to improve this.” An investor can open an account directly with IAM or alternatively access the bonds through a platform already used by their financial adviser, thus achieving consolidated reporting, simplicity in transacting and ease of access in an already formed investment plan or strategy.
After moving to Australia, Ellen decided to take a few years off to raise her 2 boys. She used this time as an opportunity to dive into another passion of hers which was adventure travel. “I started a business which was really a hobby and something I could do part time whilst the children were young. This was a wonderful adventure but after a few years I felt it was time to settle back into finance.” Four years ago, Ellen’s interest in educating and assisting the retired investor led her to dive further into the world of fixed interest which ultimately led her to join the team at IAM.
Ellen said that with her recent time off before starting at IAM, she spent the time travelling with her family, spending time with friends, exercising as much as she could, cooking, reading, and enjoying the odd day nap! ”The highlight for me was being available for my kids which can often be a juggle when managing a career. I can’t say I have found it difficult to return to work as I have been excited to tackle this new challenge, but it will take some time to work out life’s new and revised balance!”
Marking IAM’s entry into Perth, Ellen is excited to be collaborating with Darryl on the WA front and working together with the broader national team to ensure they are effectively servicing all channels. “Our goal is to be face to face with as many people as possible to communicate our story but more importantly to build relationships, hear their story and develop a brand as the trusted bond professionals in WA.”

With central banks nearing the end of their tightening cycles, we asked Ellen for her current insights in the bond market. Ellen is in favour of medium to longer dated fixed rate bonds, which will secure a solid income stream in what is likely to be a declining interest rate environment as well as benefit from the capital appreciation that will naturally follow as yields decline. Further to this, with the recent upgrade in outlook by the larger rating agencies towards Australian T2 bank and insurance securities, increasing exposure to these securities seems like a sensible idea. Ellen notes that in an environment of global economic slowdown, she would focus on high quality investment grade credit with a selective approach to high yield opportunities.
Finally, we asked Ellen what she finds the most rewarding about working in fixed income. “For me, it is ultimately about making a difference to both financial advisers and investors”. Ellen says that although she may not always have the answers, she aims to be someone they can trust to put their best interests first and assist them in making decisions aligned with their or their clients’ investment objectives.