Our People

Rob Hopkins, Managing Director
35 years investment experience

Rob jointly founded Smallco in 2000 and currently spends his time focused on securities listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Prior to Smallco Rob had been the head of small company research at Macquarie Equities, BT Alex Brown, ANZ Securities and Macintosh.

With a continuous career in the Australian investment industry since 1985 Rob was a Senior Industrial Analyst at Potts West Trumbull & Company, the General Manager for Australian Equities with Chase Corporation and an analyst with Potter Partners.

Bill Ryan, Executive Director
25 years investment experience

After first working together at ANZ Securities in 1996 within the small company research team, Bill and Rob jointly founded Smallco in 2000.  Bill currently spends the majority of his time focused on securities listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Bill was awarded the University Medal for Academic Achievement from the University of Western Sydney in 1995 after completing his Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction.

Bill began his working life in the early 1980s owning, developing and managing agricultural businesses which involved understanding asset valuations, working capital management and general accounting.

Whilst not the 'traditional' background of an investment manager it has proven to be a key advantage in his career as a small company analyst.

Andrew Hokin, Portfolio Manager
26 years investment experience

Andrew joined Smallco in July 2007 from Macquarie Bank where he was a Division Director and led the Banking sector research team for Macquarie Securities.

During more than eight years with Macquarie, Andrew was responsible for coverage of a range of sectors including small companies, diversified financials, and developers prior to moving into the Banking sector. During this time Andrew built a professional relationship with Rob Hopkins and Bill Ryan, including working with Rob in Macquarie's smaller companies team in 1999.

Prior to Macquarie, Andrew spent five years at Adelaide stockbroker Day Cutten where he gained research experience across a range of businesses, in particular utilities and property trusts. Andrew's career started in 1992 at William M Mercer where he worked as an Actuarial Analyst for two and a half years.

Paul Graham, Portfolio Manager
26 years investment experience

Paul joined Smallco in June 2014. Paul has over 20 years of experience as an equity analyst in Australia and the UK with the majority of this time covering Australian small caps, including working with Rob Hopkins and Bill Ryan in the late 1990’s.

Paul has worked at a number of international investment banks including Citi, Credit Suisse, Nomura, and HSBC (UK). Paul has Commerce (Hons) and Law degrees from the University of Queensland.

Adam Simpson, Portfolio Manager
18 years investment experience

Adam joined Smallco in July 2017 from Macquarie Group where he had been a Division Director and Head of Emerging Leaders Research.

During his 15 years at Macquarie, Adam was a highly rated analyst responsible for all aspects of equities research in the emerging leaders sector. This included financial modelling and valuation analysis, assessment of industry fundamentals, management capabilities, and involvement in numerous equity capital markets transactions.

During his time at Macquarie, Adam worked with Andrew Hokin for five years and dealt professionally with Rob Hopkins and Bill Ryan over the 15 years.

Adam has an MBA (Distinction) from London’s Cass Business School and a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (First Class Honours) from University of Queensland. Prior to Macquarie, Adam practised as a Veterinarian for seven years in Australia and the UK.

Han Xu, Portfolio Manager
13 years investment experience

Han joined Smallco in November 2018. Han has over 11 years of experience as an equity analyst on the buy-side and sell-side in Australia.

Before joining Smallco Han spent over three years at Ellerston Capital as the senior analyst in the emerging companies fund investing in AusNZ small caps.

Prior to Ellerston Capital Han worked in equities research at UBS Australia as a top rated analyst and covered various sectors including infrastructure & utilities and emerging companies, as well as worked on a number of capital market transactions. 

Han spent over seven years at UBS where he began his career as an intern/graduate and moved up to the rank of Director. During this time, Han also worked professionally with members of the Smallco team from both the sell-side and buy-side.

Craig Miller, Portfolio Manager
15 years investment experience

Craig divides his time at Smallco between researching securities and business management. As the "face" of Smallco he is available during business hours to discuss any relevant issues or to provide ongoing SIF and SBF updates.

Prior to joining Smallco in June 2005 Craig was the head of the Tax Compliance division for GE Commercial for three years.

Craig is a chartered accountant and spent seven years with Ernst & Young in the Taxation, Audit, and Business Services divisions prior to GE.

Leading a relatively active life Craig also played water polo for Australia for a period of 13 years which included the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games.

Lisa Xu, Financial Controller
12 years fund accounting experience

Lisa joined Smallco in April 2011. She spends a significant amount of her time at Smallco reviewing the funds’ daily unit pricing and distribution calculations, overseeing investor transactions, and managing other fund administration and reporting matters.

Lisa is a Chartered Accountant and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Accounting and Finance in University of Sydney in 2008. Prior to Smallco Lisa was a fund accountant at TMF FundServices (Australia) for 2 years.