Introducing GERAF: Michel Mamet on Our Strategy, Our Team and Why We're Launching Now
Updated: Jul 15
In our launch video, our Founder and CIO Michel Mamet sits down to tell the GERAF story in his own words — why he built it, how the strategy works, who's behind it, and why he believes now is the right time and what we believe makes this a compelling opportunity for wholesale investors.
Watch the full conversation below, and read on for the highlights:
What Is GERAF?
"The acronym stands for Gold, Energy and Resources Alpha Fund," Michel explains. "What we're trying to do is create a fund for wholesale investors to get exposure to real assets — the commodities complex, as we like to say — and do that with a global lens, across companies that are fast growing." GERAF focuses on the mid-cap space of the listed markets. "I still believe in the listed markets," Michel says, "and believe the best opportunities remain in the listed markets." The goal: a curated set of investment opportunities for investors here in Australia to invest globally.
Michel's Investment Background
Michel started his career in investment banking, spending around ten years with Credit Suisse and UBS across Australia and the US — first as a generalist, then covering natural resources, infrastructure and energy, and eventually specialising in energy during roughly five years based in the States. He returned to Australia to help set up Flagstaff Partners, a firm focused on mergers, acquisitions and strategic advice across those same sectors.
As he puts it, that investment banking background became "a wonderful set of building blocks for investing" — the same skills apply in both worlds: a deep understanding of industries and value, hours spent analysing companies and strategic positions, and, importantly, time spent around people who showed him what best-in-class really looks like. Taking those learnings and applying them to investment management, he says, is a genuine competitive advantage for GERAF.
Why We're Launching GERAF
The idea took shape when Michel went looking to deploy his own capital. "I was surprised at how few world-class global funds existed in our country for the commodities complex," he says — and that gap got him thinking about a genuine business opportunity. From there, he set out clear principles for how he'd allocate capital, and GERAF is the culmination of that thinking.
The journey started roughly two years ago and has been a full-time focus for over 18 months. Michel began with a strategic review of the landscape, deliberately retesting the views he'd built up over 25–30 years in the industry to check for bias, then developed a series of strategies designed to identify alpha — backtesting them over a decade before deploying his own capital in line with the strategy.
GERAF's Investment Strategy
GERAF's approach rests on four core principles.
Listed markets, developed jurisdictions.
GERAF invests in listed markets in developed countries — the ASX, London Stock Exchange, the European exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
A mid-cap orientation. Typically companies between $200 million and $10 billion in market value, with high levels of insider ownership and experienced management teams — businesses growing faster, and de-risking faster, than the majors.
A global lens. "Australia is facing major economic headwinds currently," Michel notes, pointing to a decade of policy settings — and especially the last five years — that haven't recognised or supported the competitive strengths of the local natural resources sector. GERAF looks instead to jurisdictions actively working to attract private capital, not chase it away.
Three deliberate sector pillars — precious metals, energy and industrial metals.
Precious Metals — strong commodity price performance over the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years, and a natural hedge that tends to outperform during adverse economic conditions.
Energy — two forces at play: years of underinvestment driven by the ESG movement's failure to recognise how critical hydrocarbons remain to daily life, creating opportunity; and an embedded geopolitical hedge, since supply disruption (Michel points to the Strait of Hormuz as a live example) transfers value from energy-short developed nations to energy-long ones.
Industrial Metals — riding long-term structural tailwinds from industrialisation, AI and data centre build-out, decarbonisation and electrification, all of which demand more metals at a time when supply has been under-invested.
Team GERAF
Eighteen months ago, Michel set out to build a senior advisory board of experienced executives around him, alongside the operational capability to grow the business. Together with Michel and Robin Polson, the Advisory Board brings over 150 years of combined experience in the energy and resources sectors.
Nino Ficca — CEO of AusNet Services for over 15 years, one of the longest-serving CEOs in the sector, and a former client of Michel's at Morgan Stanley and Flagstaff Partners.
Richard Taylor — over 20 years of executive experience; Michel met him working on a major hostile takeover, and has since worked alongside him across the gold, zinc and technology sectors.
Louis Rozman — former CEO across several resources and energy businesses, and co-founder of Pacific Road, one of the largest private equity groups in Australia's resources and energy sectors.
Robin Polson, Chief Operating Officer — a former client of Michel's and a trusted colleague of over 15 years, previously a Partner at Deloitte with 40 years of experience across the resources sector.
Andrew Lye, Chief Technology Officer — a good friend of Michel's from university, recently returned to Australia after a career in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore, bringing tech and marketing expertise to the team.
"I'm very excited to have this team," Michel says. "It's a great team, and we're looking forward to creating a great business together with our investors."
How Close Is GERAF to Launch?
"It's quite exciting, actually — we're just about to launch," Michel shares. The plan: open GERAF up to third-party capital. Getting here has meant Michel designing the portfolio over roughly two years and running it with his own capital for the last 18 months — long enough, as he notes, to have lived through several political crises and major conflicts and to see firsthand how the portfolio behaves.
That track record matters for three reasons, in Michel's words: it demonstrates the strategy delivers over a reasonable timeframe; it shows his own commitment, having invested his own liquid capital — and two years of full-time work — ahead of any third-party capital; and it means the macroeconomic and microeconomic research behind every investment was already done before capital was deployed. "We're not really starting a new fund," he says. "We're really continuing what we've been doing for the last 18 months" — meaning new capital simply upsizes existing positions from inception.
Who Is Supporting GERAF's Launch?
Around four to five months before recording, once he had full confidence in the product and strategy, Michel secured three cornerstone investors — each someone who has known him well for years and agreed to be named publicly.
John Wylie — Michel's first boss in investment banking, who hired him out of the University of Queensland while running Credit Suisse. John now runs Tanarra Capital, a family office and alternative fund manager with around $3 billion in capital.
Tony Burgess — Michel's last boss and colleague at Flagstaff Partners, and the firm's founder. They've worked together for over 15 years, and Tony is regarded as an exceptional M&A banker.
David Gillespie — one of Michel's larger clients at Flagstaff Partners, and CEO of Jemena, a roughly $15 billion energy business owned by Singapore Power and State Grid of China.
Beyond these three, a number of other wholesale investors have also committed to supporting the fund.
How Does GERAF Ensure Investor Alignment?
Michel points to three fundamental principles underpinning the business. First, exceptional corporate governance from day one — including an independent trustee, which he notes isn't typical for a fund of GERAF's size or strategy, plus an independent administrator, to ensure the right protections are in place for investors from the outset.
Second, better value for investors: GERAF's fee structure was deliberately benchmarked to come in around 20% below the peer group average, through a combination of below-market management fees and below-market performance fees.
Third, genuine alignment of incentives. As Michel puts it, paraphrasing Charlie Munger: "show me the incentives, and I'll predict the behaviour." Every member of the GERAF team invests their own capital alongside investors, and a substantial portion of performance fees will be reinvested back into the fund — keeping the team thinking, and incentivised, for the long term.
Our 3–5 Year Outlook
"What we've said from the outset is that we're really looking to target double-digit returns after fees, through the cycle," Michel says — an objective built for partners and investors thinking in the medium term, on 3-to-5-year horizons. The return profile is designed around uncorrelated elements, with the precious metals and energy exposures offered as examples of the differentiated, uncorrelated returns GERAF aims to bring to a portfolio.
How Do You Find Out More About GERAF?
Michel points people to three places. First, the GERAF website — it covers the team, the strategy, performance to date, and insights from the macro research the team has done, plus a newsletter subscription for regular investor updates. Second, the team itself — reach out directly and they'll point you in the right direction. Third, the website will carry the application form once it's open to investors, along with the required background documentation.
Why We Believe GERAF Is a Compelling Investment Opportunity
As Michel closes the conversation: GERAF is looking to launch and open more broadly to the wholesale investor market. "We think it'll provide a wonderful opportunity for investors to partner with us and invest across the commodity complex globally," he says. "Combined, we think that's going to provide a compelling long-term opportunity for investors. So we look forward to you joining us."
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full strategy on our website
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance of this Fund. Returns are not guaranteed, nor is the return of capital. Prospective investors should consider their own objectives and obtain independent financial, legal and tax advice before deciding whether to invest in the Fund.
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