Hygrovest Ltd (ASX:HGV, OTC:MMJJF) is keeping pace in the second half of 2023 with a new investment manager and some new faces on the board.
Back in late February, the specialist investment company kicked off the search for a new investment manager as the sunset date for its investment management agreement with Parallax Ventures loomed.
Since then, a preferred candidate has been chosen and is scheduled to start working with Hygrovest this month.
New board recruits ...
Ahead of the new manager’s appointment, Hygrovest has also flagged some changes to its board composition.
Corporate lawyer Jason Byrne will join the team as a non-executive director, leveraging more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience.
Byrne has exposure to a wide range of industries — everything from wagering technology to digital place based advertising, e-commerce to legal technology and apparel logistics to procurement technology and offshore development.
Byrne also has experience on the board at fellow ASX lister Motio Ltd and private digital consultancy Amblique Pty Ltd.
In addition to Byrne’s appointment, Warwick Sauer — who joined the HGV board back in March 2023 — is moving into a non-executive chair role.
Sauer brings boardroom experience and more than 25 years of commercial law, capital markets, M&A and litigation expertise to the Hygrovest team, having served as an independent director since March 2023.
He spent 14 years with Property Services Multinational, including seven years as general counsel for JLL’s $4 billion APAC business, where he managed a team of 75.
Sauer is also a director of a privately held investment company, which focuses primarily on investing in deep value and ‘net/net’ stocks.
The new Hygrovest chair has a bachelor of commerce majoring in financial accounting and a bachelor of law, both from the University of Queensland.
... And some goodbyes
With the new appointments come some farewells; Peter Wall and Doug Halley had previously flagged their intention to move on once a new investment manager was recruited and have subsequently tendered their resignation.
Wall served as Hygrovest’s non-executive chair and has been on the board since 2014. He was also a member of company’s the audit and risk committee, where he worked alongside chairman Halley.
Incoming chair Warwick Sauer thanked Wall and Halley for their efforts and input on Hygrovest’s board and audit and risk committee.
“I also welcome to the board Jason, who holds extensive experience in business management and governance which will assist Hygrovest in building shareholder value,” he told the market on Wednesday.
Following today’s board changes, the HGV board will assume the responsibilities previously delegated to the audit and risk committee, as the number of executives has reduced to three.
Hygrovest believes its core executive team is best placed to oversee these responsibilities as a full board, but it’s reviewing the board charter and its processes to uphold the integrity of corporate reporting.