Investment Team
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Australia

Russel Chesler
Head of Investments & Capital Markets
An actuary with over 25 years’ experience in financial services, Russel is responsible for managing VanEck's passive solutions. Prior to joining VanEck, Russel was a partner at Sunstone Partners, specialising in Asset and Wealth Management. Russel also worked for Perpetual Limited as General Manager of Protected Investments and Lending, and has held positions at Grange Securities, Alexander Forbes and Liberty Life. Russel has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
Jamie Hannah
Deputy Head of Investments & Capital Markets
Jamie provides portfolio management and capital market trading across the full range of VanEck’s passive solutions. Prior to joining VanEck, Jamie worked at Source ETFs in investment management and he held various roles at ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Morgan's and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Jamie has a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Management Accounting) from the University of Newcastle and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.
Cameron McCormack
Portfolio Manager
Cameron leads investment performance analytics for the firm and is responsible for trade execution for equity and fixed income ETFs. Cameron was previously at Pacific Life Re Australia where he worked in the pricing and client solutions teams. Cameron graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Actuarial Studies and Finance from the University of New South Wales and is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA).
Alice Shen
Portfolio Manager
Alice manages equity portfolio trading and oversees fund operations. Her area of focus is Chinese equities, ESG and stewardship. Formerly at State Street where she was a fund operations analyst, Alice has also held a number of roles at RBC Investor & Treasury Services and Bank of China International. Alice is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Master of Actuarial Studies from Australian National University, as well as a Bachelor of Mathematics and Statistics from Imperial College London.
Pranay Lal
Senior Associate, Investment & Capital Markets
Pranay supports the investment management team by executing equity and fixed-income trades and providing investment performance analytics. Formerly, Pranay held roles in capital strategy for Macquarie Group and management consulting for PwC Australia. Pranay holds a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies (Co-Op) from the University of New South Wales and is both an Associate of the Institute of Actuaries Australia (AIAA) and a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA).
Daniel O'Connell
Senior Associate, Investment & Capital Markets
Daniel is responsible for fund operations and investment portfolios, monitoring tracking error and cash flows as well as managing the post trade lifecycle. Daniel previously worked at Bennelong Funds Management where he was a Senior Investment Operations Analyst, and has also held positions at Link Fund Solutions and Colonial First State. Daniel is a CFA Charterholder and graduated with a Bachelor of Business at the University of Technology Sydney.

International Bonds

Eric Fine
Portfolio Manager
Eric oversees the Emerging Markets Fixed Income Team including asset allocation, fixed income research and security selection. He joined VanEck in 2009 having previously held senior leadership positions at Morgan Stanley including founding and managing Morgan Stanley's Emerging Markets Proprietary Trading group. Eric has advised numerous governments on economic policies and debt profiles. He has an MPA, International Trade/Finance from Harvard University and a BA, Public Policy from Duke University.
Natalia Gurushina
Chief Economist
Natalia is the Chief Economist for the active Emerging Markets Fixed Income Strategy. Prior to joining VanEck in 2013 Natalia worked at Roubini Global Economics in emerging markets currency/fixed income and G10 currency strategies. Natalia has a PhD, Economic History from University of Oxford and a BA, Economics from Moscow State University.
David Austerweil
Deputy Portfolio Manager
David is the Deputy Portfolio Manager for the active Emerging Markets Fixed Income Strategy and has been at the firm since 2012. Prior to VanEck, David was Vice President at ING Financial Services on the Emerging Markets Credit Trading & Structuring desk David has a MS, Financial Engineering from Columbia University and BA, Computer Science from Columbia University.
Robert Schmieder
Senior Corporate Analyst
Robert joined VanEck in 2015 and was previously Executive Director/Head of Latin America Credit Research at BBVA Securities. Prior to that Robert was Managing Director/Head of Latin America Corporate Credit Research at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. Robert has an MBA, International Finance, MA, Spanish Literature, and a BA, Spanish Language and Literature all from New York University.