About Us
Karyn West
Managing Director
Karyn established Apostle in 2008 and has over 30 years of experience in the finance sector. She opened the office of Natixis Asset Management Australia in 2000 and introduced a number of their managers to the Institutional market. Previously she was at Rothschild Asset Management and ANZ Treasury. Karyn holds a BA in Business Law and Politics from Macquarie University and has completed her PRI Certification.
Mitch Gunman
Director
Mitch Gunman is a Director at Apostle Funds Management, and member of the Apostle Board. Mitch leads institutional sales for the firm, working closely with Apostle’s institutional clients and consultants. He also works alongside the Managing Director on the company’s corporative initiatives and operations. In 2019, as part of a secondment, Mitch worked alongside one of Apostle’s managers, Kayne Anderson, to obtain further knowledge and insight of their products and to be able to better meet Apostle’s client needs. Prior to joining Apostle, Mitch worked for a Venture Capital firm in New Zealand and a private equity group in New York. Gunman holds a Bachelor of Finance and Accounting from Auckland University of Technology. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has completed his Responsible Investment Certification through the PRI Academy.
Eric Chu
Chief Operating Officer
Eric joins Apostle with 12 years of experience in financial services working in Fund accounting and COO roles. He has a breadth of experience including multi class unit trusts, investment operations, compliance and unit registry. He has expertise in statutory reporting, tax distributions, client transactions, AFSL requirements and year end operations.
Eric holds a Bachelor of Science, a Masters of Accounting and qualifications in SQL and RG146.
Joe Unwin
Portfolio Manager
Joe is a portfolio manager at Apostle who is responsible for undertaking specific research for macro and investment risk purposes across our investments. He works closely with the internal and external managers to assist in constructing and implementing the portfolios.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Chinese from the University of Sydney and his PRI Responsible Investment.
Steven Spearing
Portfolio Manager
Steven joined Apostle Funds Management in 2022 as a Portfolio Manager. Steven has over 10 years of experience in financial markets across Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange. He joined Apostle from FIIG Securities where he managed the Fixed Income Execution and Sales Facilitation team, specializing in domestic and global credit. He previously worked at BNZ in New Zealand in Corporate and Institutional FX risk management and JBWere New Zealand in Fixed Income portfolio construction and execution.
Steven holds a Bachelor or Economics from NMMU in South Africa, a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning from UFS in South Africa and is in the process of completing his Master of Applied Economics from Macquarie University. Steven holds an PRI Certification in Understanding RI.
Kylie Parkyn
Portfolio Manager, Responsible Investment
Kylie joined Apostle Funds Management in 2022 to lead the Responsible Investment initiatives and work on the development and implementation of Apostle’s Impact Investment Strategy.
Kylie has over 10 years’ experience in the financial services industry including responsible investing. Before joining Apostle, Kylie was an Investment Analyst in the Responsible Investment team at Aware Super, the ESG Analyst and Portfolio Analyst at Ausbil Investment Management and prior to that an Equities Analyst at BNP Paribas.
Kylie is CPA accredited and studied Sustainable Finance at the University of Cambridge and holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Finance from the University of Canterbury.
Sophie Barrie
Client Services Administrator
Sophie works strategically between the sales and marketing team to ensure successful and succinct execution of activity. In this role Sophie works alongside the Director of Apostle Funds Management on the companies’ corporate initiatives.
Sophie joined us after graduating from the University of Technology Sydney after attaining a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Finance and Marketing in June 2022. Previously she worked as a Profile, Relationship and Insights Associate at a Strategic Consulting firm.
Guro Bonesvoll
Investment Associate
Guro Bonesvoll joined Apostle Funds Management in 2023 as an Investment Associate. She works across the investment team providing support to the portfolio managers and is also involved in responsible investment initiatives.
Guro holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Technology from the University of New South Wales. Before joining Apostle, Guro worked as a contract administrator in the technology sector. She also has experience in quantitative research from a Sydney based hedge fund where her main tasks involved data analytics and modelling.
Shihe Li
Quantitative Analyst
Shihe is a final-year PhD candidate from the University of Adelaide. He has several publications in leading Finance journals such as the International Journal of Review and Finance and the Financial Research Letter. Before joining Apostle, Shihe was a co-lecturer for the course Fundamental of Business Analytics and the course Business Data Analytics at Adelaide Business School. Before that position, he worked as the tutor-in-charge of the course Derivative and the course Option, Future and Risk Management. Shihe is responsible for quantitative modelling for investment risk management and strategies stress-testing for Apostle’s Funds. Shihe holds a Bachelor of Accounting from Guangxi University in China, a Master of Accounting and Finance and a Master of Philosophy from The University of Adelaide.
Jade Zhang
Investment Operations Associate
Jade has recently joined Apostle Funds Management as Investment Operations Associate to provide a high level of support to the Chief Operating Officer and Investment Team. Before joining Apostle, Jade worked at State Street Australia for nearly 2 years, where she was responsible for all custody related work. Jade has also worked as Personal Banker at ANZ and Policy Support Advisor at Suncorp New Zealand.
Jade holds Bachelor of Commerce from University of Auckland and is currently studying her Master of Commerce in Finance and Accounting at UNI.
Luke Donovan
Partner, Global Carbon
Luke joined Apostle Funds Management as a Partner to manage the Apostle Carbon Credit Fund in January 2023. Prior to that Luke was the Executive Director of Carbon and Power Markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) where he was responsible for CBA’s Carbon Emissions trading globally reporting to the Executive General Manager Commodities, Trade and Carbon. The role involved significant participation in trading across Europe, US and Asia Pacific. Luke was integral to establishing CBA’s presence in the Australian Carbon Market.
Prior to CBA, Luke was an Investment Strategist and Advisor with Ilwella, the office of the Flannery family. At Ilwella Luke drove investment strategy for their portfolio. Luke holds a Bachelor of Business, is AFMA accredited.
David Storm
Sales Director
David has worked in the Financial Services Industry for over 30 years across Asset Management, Platforms, Advice and Trustee Services. David recently established Storm Capital Partners to assist and advise emerging Asset Managers and Platforms to design and implement contemporary Retail Product solutions. He has extensive experience in leading National Distribution Teams in the Retail Financial Intermediary market. David has worked for Citibank, Advance Asset Management, Ord Minnett, IOOF, Australian Wealth Management and Onevue in Senior Executive roles.
Claude Pasquali
Non Executive Director of Apostle Funds Management
Claude has extensive financial, taxation and operational experience gained over 35 years as a Chartered Accountant and Finance Executive in public practice and in industry. Claude is an Associate Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow Member of the Governance Institute of Australia and a Registered Tax Agent with the Australian Taxation Office.
Claude is a Principal of Forsyth GM Chartered Accountants.
Kate Mulligan
Independent Compliance Manager
Kate leads the legal practice for King Irving and specialises in fund creation and operation. Kate has over 30 years’ experience in Financial Services law and senior funds management roles.
In addition to being a Senior Associate at international legal practice Allens, she has been Managing Director of several funds management businesses, including Westpac’s Advance Asset Management. This combined experience gives her a practically informed approach. Kate is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and of the Law Society of New South Wales.
Kate is also a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Payments Network Limited (AusPayNet) and chairs its IAC Issuers and Acquirers Forum. She served as a Non-Executive Director of Netwealth Holdings Limited, where she was a member of the Superannuation Trustee Board and Chair of the Audit Committee.