Special Reports

Perth-based fund manager Oceanic Asset Management broke new ground when it established its first investment fund in 2005, and it plans to do the same when it launches Australia’s first specialist uranium fund this year.

WhenWestern Australian companies want to raise large sums of capital, they usually have to jump on a plane so they can pitch to fund managers in cities such as Sydney, Toronto and London.

Former BankWest and Perpetual executive, Robert Marie, has teamed up with Sydney-based fund managers Brian Eley (formerly of Patersons Securities) and Ben Griffiths to carve an unusual niche in the financial services industry.

Investment bank Argonaut Group is planning to substantially expand its fund management activities by raising up to $125 million for two different funds.

Entrust Funds Management and Growth Equities stand apart from their peers in Perth because they shy away from mining and resources stocks, preferring to focus on industrial companies.

John Poynton has shed some fresh light on the events within Alinta Ltd that ultimately resulted in the sale of the business and significant public bloodletting.

Only two weeks ago, Azure Capital was listed as number two in Western Australia’s active mergers and acquisitions sector this past financial year.

The strength of any deal maker is to walk away and cut your losses.

The RAC has emerged as one of the big movers in this year’s WA Business News battle of the brands.

A straw poll on the streets of Sydney or Perth would turn up a high recognition factor for Fin, the iiNet guy.

Gage Roads Brewing Co Ltd’s hard work over the past year to develop its distribution channels appears to be paying off.

There’s a woman standing at the edge of a beach looking over the ocean with her arms outstretched towards the sky.

For two years running, BankWest has the dubious distinction of topping the underachieving/waning brands segment of WA Business News’ annual survey.

A recent recruitment ad by Iluka Resources Ltd promised the company and “you” were “making a difference every day.

The RAC’s brand reinvention, and the West Coast Eagles’ uncanny ability to overcome significant negative sentiment, has propelled the two brands into the top three most improved brands of the past year.

Synergy’s efforts to position itself as a leading consumer brand following the break-up of state-government controlled Western Power in early 2006 has been applauded by the advertising industry in WA Business News’ annual branding survey.

As Western Australia enjoys one of the most prosperous economic periods in its history, some in the advertising industry are paying close attention to the perceptions being created by the boom.

Two of the world’s biggest resources giants, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, have spent a lot of time researching what employees want.

The children of Multiplex Group Ltd founder John Roberts opted to take the cash and run this year, while Wesfarmers Ltd managing director Richard Goyder decided to embark on Australia’s biggest corporate shopping trip – a $22 billion takeover of Coles.

Blake Dawson Waldron, Freehills, and Cochrane Lishman are firmly entrenched as the dominant law firms in Western Australia’s M&A market, having advised on the vast majority of big takeovers in the past financial year.

Private equity investors have played a major role in some of Western Australia’s biggest takeovers of the past year, although contrary to popular commentary, private equity is not new to the WA market.

Gresham Advisory Partners and Azure Capital have emerged as Perth’s top corporate advisers, in WA Business News’ inaugural M&A survey.

Mining entrepreneur Michael Kiernan last week outlined to WA Business News his plan plan to bring together his non-gold companies under the joint ownership of iron ore miner, Territory Resources Ltd.

At a time when the state government is reviewing several contentious resource projects, one of its top business advisers has questioned whether the mining industry can be trusted.

The Office of Development Approvals Coordination is quietly but effectively helping dozens of Western Australian mining projects clear their way through the regulatory maze, according to its inaugural head.

Former premier and political lobbyist Brian Burke heads the group of people who have fallen off the list of Western Australia’s most influential in the past year.

Newspaper editors are meant to focus on writing headlines, but the editor of Western Australia’s only daily newspaper, Paul Armstrong, has actually generated more than his fair share over the past couple of years.

This year’s most influential lists include some new faces and even more familiar names, but politics and the big end of town still dominate.

If the amount of money invested in Western Australia is a measure of influence, then the top executives at a handful of big resource companies are among the most influential people in the state.

Tony Howarth is one of Western Australia’s most highly regarded company directors, yet he is becoming as well known for his philanthropic activities as his commercial achievements.

The Carpenter ministry has experienced extraordinary turnover in the past year with several ministers sacked or demoted, leaving the same handful of senior campaigners in charge.

Western Australia’s main public universities have some of the state’s most influential people serving on their governing councils and among their senior staff.