The Wall Street Journal-20080206-Macquarie CEO Moss to Retire- Moore to Succeed Him in May

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Macquarie CEO Moss to Retire; Moore to Succeed Him in May

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SYDNEY, Australia -- Macquarie Group Ltd. said Chief Executive Officer Allan Moss will retire in May after nearly 15 years at the helm of Australia's biggest investment bank.

Mr. Moss will be succeeded by Nicholas Moore, who spearheaded the development of Macquarie's pioneering infrastructure-funds business, which has been the linchpin of its rapid international expansion.

Mr. Moore is taking on the role at a time of volatility and heightened uncertainty in financial markets. But he is viewed as a steady hand who will continue with Macquarie's successful strategy.

In an operational update, the bank affirmed that it expects to post a profit of at least 1.8 billion Australian dollars (US$1.6 billion) for the year ending March 31. However, Macquarie has earned a reputation of underpromising and overdelivering and often upgrades its profit expectations throughout the year.

Mr. Moss, 58 years old, joined Macquarie -- then known as Hill Samuel Australia Ltd. -- in 1977 when it was an organization of 50 people operating in two small offices in Sydney and Melbourne. Today, the firm employs nearly 12,500 people across every major financial- services center in the world.

Mr. Moore, who turns 50 this year, is currently head of the group's investment-banking operation Macquarie Capital, which has contributed more than 50% of the group's profit for the past six years.

Mr. Moore joined Macquarie's corporate-services division in 1986 and headed a range of transactions that led to the development of Macquarie's infrastructure business. He was behind Macquarie's first infrastructure fund, the Hills Motorway Trust -- an operator of a toll road in Sydney -- which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1994.

He also led Macquarie's acquisition of a number of merchant banks, including Chemical Australia, Boston Australia and Security Pacific. Along with Mr. Moss, he led the acquisition of Bankers Trust Australia in 1999.

Mr. Moore pointed out to analysts Wednesday that these acquisitions followed similar periods of market upheaval that made the target companies vulnerable. Macquarie is assessing a range of acquisition opportunities as it looks to take advantage of market volatility, he said.

However, he said the firm isn't looking at any significantly large acquisitions that would transform Macquarie into something substantially different.

Mr. Moss will step down May 24, shortly after the group reports its annual results.

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Susan Murdoch in Melbourne and Dave Rogers in Sydney contributed to this article.