Argonaut Funds Management is a high conviction investor in the Australian resources sector that operates two open resource funds;
- Argonaut Natural Resources Fund – An actively managed wholesale fund that primarily invests in ASX & internationally listed mining and resource companies.
- Argonaut Global Gold Fund – An actively managed wholesale fund that invests globally in gold and precious metals companies and physical gold and precious metals exchange traded funds.
Argonaut Funds Management is part of the Argonaut Group, which provides corporate advisory, research and stockbroking services to retail, high net worth and institutional clients. The group is based in the tier 1 mining jurisdiction of Western Australia and is recognised as a leader in the resources space.
Argonaut operates independently from the broader Argonaut Group with strong governance and compliance structures in place.
The group has a rigorous three stage investment process:
- Market – An assessment of general market conditions
- Macro – An evaluation of global economic conditions that drives our strategic views of commodity markets and investment risks.
- Micro – Our “FIVE BRICKS” analytical approach involves stock specific analysis based on five investment criteria : Management Strength; Business Strength, Financial Strength, Valuation and Responsible Investing.
Read on to learn more about our investing and operations teams.
Investment Committee
David has over 25 year’s financial markets experience including almost ten years as Head of Research at a leading small company’s stockbroker and 10 years as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of a boutique funds management business. David is also an experienced business executive, having held senior roles in ASX listed and unlisted companies. David is Co- Head of Argonaut Funds Management and Portfolio Manager of the ANRF.
Ben has over 25 years of Equity and Debt capital markets experience including equity trading, portfolio management, equity underwrites, IPO’s and capital structure advisory for leading global listed corporates. Most recently he was Head of Equities and Board Member at Goldman Sachs Australia & NZ for over 5 years and held senior trading roles at Macquarie Bank in both Tokyo and Sydney for over 12 years. Ben served as Portfolio Manager at Blue Sky Macro and also NIB Capital in London. Ben is a Managing Director and main Board member of Argonaut Limited and is Co-Head of Argonaut Funds Management and Portfolio Manager of the AGGF
Dianmin is a mining engineer with more than 35 years’ experience in metal mining. He has had a wide range of roles in mining technical, production and management in Australia, China and Canada. Dianmin held executive roles with Sino Gold (General Manager), Citic Pacific Mining (Chief Operating Officer), CaNickel (Chief Executive Officer) and Northern Goldfields (Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer) and has served as a Non-Executive Director of publicly listed companies in Australia and Canada.
John began his career as an exploration geologist with Newmont. He subsequently moved into the finance sector and has had in excess of 30 years’ experience as a mining / research analyst with responsibility for company coverage across multiple commodities and operating jurisdictions. John has worked for a number of well-known investment houses including as Head of Research at CIBC World Markets. John was a Mining Analyst with Hartleys. Most recently, John was a Director at Argonaut in Metals & Mining. John holds a BSc Geology, a Grad Diploma in Business and a Master of Science (Geology).
Lee is an external member of the Investment Committee. He is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Fivemark Partners, providing strategic, corporate financial and business development advice focused on the listed Australian mining sector. Prior to starting Fivemark Partners, Lee spent 10 years at Macquarie, beginning as a mining / research analyst and ending as Head of Australian Mining Research.
Investment Team
David Franklyn
Co-Head of Argonaut Funds Management / Fund Manager ANRF
David has over 25 year’s financial markets experience including almost ten years as Head of Research at a leading small company’s stockbroker and 10 years as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of a boutique funds management business. David is also an experienced business executive, having held senior roles in ASX listed and unlisted companies. David is Co-Head of Argonaut Funds Management and Portfolio Manager of the ANRF.
T: +61 8 9224 6807
E: dfranklyn@argonaut.com
Benjamin Clifford
Co-Head of Argonaut Funds Management / Fund Manager AGGF
Ben has over 25 years of Equity and Debt capital markets experience including equity trading, portfolio management, equity underwrites, IPO’s and capital structure advisory for leading global listed corporates. Most recently he was Head of Equities and Board Member at Goldman Sachs Australia & NZ for over 5 years and held senior trading roles at Macquarie Bank in both Tokyo and Sydney for over 12 years. Ben served as Portfolio Manager at Blue Sky Macro and also NIB Capital in London. Ben is a Managing Director and main Board member of Argonaut Limited and is Co-Head of Argonaut Funds Management and Portfolio Manager of the AGGF.
T: +61 2 4086 9411
E: bclifford@argonaut.com
Marketing & Operations Team
Jenna Converse
Marketing Manager, Investor Relations and Operations
Jenna has over a decade of experience in marketing / capital raising / client service in the finance industry. Most recently, Jenna worked as Vice President in the Alternative Asset Management business of The Blackstone Group, managing capital raising campaigns for Blackstone’s GP Stakes and Seeding business, and external hedge fund managers.
T: +61 8 9224 6822
E: jconverse@argonaut.com
Alison Thompson
CFO & Company Secretary
Alison is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years experience. She commenced her career with PwC in Perth, and held several senior finance positions at various companies across Australia, United Kingdom and New Zealand before joining Decmil Group Limited in 2007 where she held the role of CFO & Company Secretary. After leaving Decmil in 2021, Alison worked as a consultant for various companies assisting with ASX listings, mergers and business improvement projects before joining Argonaut as the CFO & Company Secretary in August 2022.
T: +61 8 9224 6833
E: accounts@argonaut.com
