28
F
or someone who spends a lot of
his time jetting around the world,
Andrew Day appears remarkably
relaxed and jovial. By mid-year, the Hast-
ings Funds Management (Hastings) chief
executive will have made six overseas trips
in 2014 from his Melbourne base to destina-
tions as far flung as North America, Europe,
India and Indonesia.
He confides that European travel has a
happy connotation since it enables him to
catch up with the older of his two sons, who
is currently living in London. But, at the
time of this interview, he is in Germany for
Infrastructure Investor
’s Berlin Summit – an
opportunity to network with peers. Although
he quips about the “grey hair” that he refers
to as evidence of his constant globetrotting
– together with the strain of running large
and small companies in the public and pri-
vate spheres – he gives the impression that
travel is, to him, a rejuvenating rather than
energy-sapping experience.
And maybe that’s just as well. In the
two years since he joined the firm, Day has
attempted to attach the rocket boosters to
Hastings’ internationalisation. Launched in
1994 and celebrating its 20th anniversary
this year, Hastings is a longstanding part of
a proud infrastructure investing establish-
ment in Australia. But as someone who has
worked extensively in Europe – for example
as chief executive officer of Eircom Hold-
ings and chief executive and chairman of
private equity-owned Truvo – Day appre-
ciates why planting flagpoles around the
world needs to be a strategic imperative.
UNDERSTANDING THE NUANCES
Explaining why he sought job opportunities
in Europe, Day says: “Basically I was keen
to gain a broader perspective. When you
look on a map, you realise that Australia is
a long way from anywhere. People in the
business world there have fantastic exper-
tise but they can sometimes underestimate
the complexities in the rest of the world.”
Since joining the firm, Day has sought
to bring his understanding of those
nuances to Hastings as it seeks to grow both
its investment activities and its investor base
around the world. Recent initiatives and
breakthroughs have been plenty in number.
The two most recent are in relation to Asia
and are fresh announcements at the time
of the interview.
Andrew Day joined Australia’s Hastings Funds Management
two years ago with the aim of spearheading the firm’s growth
on the international stage. He provides
Andy Thomson
with
a progress update
a n d r e w
d a y
,
h a s t i n g s
f u n d s
m a n a g e m e n t
Spreading the word
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW
››
infrastructure
investor
april
2014
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAOLO RISSER
