Board Of Directors

Australian Shareholders' Association is overseen by an experienced Board of Directors comprising eight directors.

Steven Mabb GAICD, Chair

Steven was appointed to the board on 16 June 2020 and is a member of the Education Committee, the Remuneration & Nominations Committee and the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee. A successful entrepreneur, in 2007 he helped develop and launch the Vionic footwear brand with his business partners in the U.S., which went on to become a top 20 brand and was subsequently sold to a large U.S. listed company in 2018. He then returned to Queensland with his young family to become a full time, committed investor and quickly joined the ASA after discovering the many benefits it could offer.

Since joining ASA he has given many member presentations, contributed to EQUITY and ASA podcasts and is an active member of the Queensland company monitoring team. He brings a range of skills to the board including strategic planning and ways to develop culture. He is also a confident spokesperson on the benefits ASA can provide to potential members and is passionate about progressing the quality of education and advocacy support ASA will provide members going forward. He has been the most recent Queensland State Chair and is now handing over the role, in order to focus on Chairing the ASA Board moving forward.

He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has also completed further educational courses at AICD including The Role of the Chair and Governance for NonProfit Directors.

Michael Jackson  LLB GAICD

Michael was appointed as a director and company secretary of ASA in February 2021.  He has over 30 years’ experience as a director, company secretary and corporate executive.  His experience includes setting strategy, managing risk and structuring, negotiating and implementing complex projects and contracts.  He has experience in both the private sector and government.

Michael led a team of lawyers and contract managers at a global aerospace, space, transportation, defence and security group.  Earlier in his career he was Chief Operating Officer at a financial institution, with responsibility for a diverse range of corporate services.  He is an experienced General Counsel and Company Secretary.

Michael has worked in environments with complex stakeholder relationships and has deep experience working with regulators. He is a keen investor.

Andrew Kearnan

Andrew was appointed to the ASA Board as an independent Non-Executive Director in February 2020 and has joined both the Audit and the Policy committees.  He has extensive Executive, Corporate Advisory and Non-Executive Director experience, across a number of companies, at various life stages, and in multiple industries.

As a Country Head, Equity and Macro Research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Andrew helped lead a significant transformation of the business and concurrently was consistently rated as one of Australia’s best equity analysts, advising investors on portfolio composition and stock selection.

At CBA, he led a team of investment specialists accountable for making strategic, financial and risk-based recommendations to the Executive team on all internal and external investments including oversight of M&A, divestments and significant annual project spend and accountability for some of CBA’s responses to various regulatory actions.

He is a past Director of the Australian Accounting Standards Board, Complii FinTech Solutions, Hollard Insurance Australia, Greenstone Financial Services, Colonial First State Group Limited, Merrill Lynch Equities Australia and various CBA entities in Insurance, Wealth Management and Platforms markets.

Andrew has an Honours degree in Science (Biochemistry), an MBA and is a Member of the AICD. He is 53, married with twin, 20 year old daughters.  His passions include most water sports, including sailing, for which he has won National titles and competed in multiple Sydney to Hobart yacht races.

Carol Limmer BBus FAICD FGIA FIML CHAHRI

Carol was appointed to the Board on 1 March 2019. She is currently a non-executive director of The Whiddon Group, a member of its Audit & Risk and Property & Services Committees and was previously Chair of its HR & Nominations Committee and a member of its Governance Committee. Until recently Carol was Deputy Chair of Pyrmont Community (Bendigo) Bank where she is still an Adviser.

She is a member of Jacksons Landing Pyrmont Community Association and also actively engaged in a range of local community organisations. Carol had a long career in the banking/finance industry, including senior executive roles, which took in human resources, public relations, retail banking and involvement in mergers and acquisitions. Carol has been an ASA company monitor for over 10 years.

Peter Rae Grad Dip App Fin

Peter has been a member of ASA for more than 25 years. Since retiring from full-time employment in 2014 he has been actively involved in ASA activities, including company monitoring, contributions to EQUITY, presenting to local groups and assisting in the development of educational programs. Peter has been ASA Victorian State Chair since February 2018 and has been a company monitor for four years. Peter has extensive experience in banking and finance in a career spanning four decades and currently works part-time as an investment analyst. He has held senior positions in bank balance sheet risk management and securities analysis and has led teams of analysts based in Australia and Asia. Peter is highly regarded in the investment industry and has been instrumental in achieving changes that benefit retail investors.

Mike Robey BSc PhD

Mike started his working life as a research scientist and spent 10 years with ICI in a range of applied R&D areas. He spent a further 18 years in Telstra in middle and senior management positions and was the founding COO of Telstra’s HK-based mobile Operator HKCSL. He returned to Australia to lead Telstra for the marketing of 3GSM services in Australia and left Telstra in 2009 to form his own business consultancy. He brings a range of skills to the board, from strategic planning, customer service management in digital businesses, technical management and organisational development to marketing and product management.

He has a PhD in Chemical Physics from the ANU and was a recipient of the German Government Alexander Von Humboldt fellowship for Postdoctoral research in Munich. He has served as a Director of an ICI Credit Union and as an adviser to entrepreneurs in the Fudan Software Park in Shanghai.

He has been a company monitor for three years and is currently joint Company Monitoring Committee Chair for Victoria.

Lelde Smits

Lelde Smits is an experienced finance journalist, awarded entrepreneur and advisor to ASX listed companies with more than 10 years of experience as a communications and governance professional working to drive economic empowerment in our community. Following a successful career as a broadcast finance journalist in Australia, Lelde relocated to Wall Street to work as the New York foreign correspondent for Australian Financial Review's digital division and a markets reporter inside the New York Stock Exchange for an independent media company in New York.

Returning to Sydney Lelde co-founded Australia's premier investor and media relations consultancy - The Capital Network. Under Lelde's leadership the growing team has serviced more than 150 listed companies and fund managers and has been recognised with industry awards. Lelde specialises in digital investor communications and has guided hundreds of people and companies to establish and grow their profiles and enhance communications. While her own online professional, informative and educational investor video content has been viewed more than 1 million times she has dedicated her voluntary work to providing independent thought leadership and service to the investment community to foster economic empowerment. 

Julieanne Ranford Mills GAICD

Julieanne joined the board in 2022 and has been a member of the ASA since 2017 and a company monitor since 2019.  She is an experienced long-term investor who believes in good governance and investing for the future in a rapidly changing world.

A graduate and continuing member of the AICD, Julieanne brings to the board a retail investor perspective, an understanding of good corporate governance, a continuing interest in organisational strategy, risk and opportunity, and an interest and passion for ethical and sustainable investing. Her background in the design and creative industries brings creative thinking, design skills and diversity to the board. She is married with two sons in their twenties.

“My experiences as a member of the ASA has given me an enormous respect for the contributions, skills and experience reflected in the membership, especially the volunteers, and the value and integrity of the ASA as an educator and advocate for retail shareholders. I believe the key challenges for investors are sustainability and governance. It is important that the ASA appeals to a broad membership.”