Affinity Funds Management appoints Ben Palmer

Insights

Affinity Capital Group has launched Affinity Funds Management, a new specialist fund management arm targeting the key forces shaping Australia's economic future.
Ben Palmer has been appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, joining from GESB where he was Chief Executive Officer from 2018.
Under his leadership GESB grew to over $46 billion in assets and 250,000 members, and launched the landmark One Fund reform.

Affinity Capital Group today announces the launch of Affinity Funds Management and the appointment of Mr Ben Palmer as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The appointment marks a defining step in Affinity’s ambition to build Western Australia’s leading funds management business.

Affinity Funds Management is a new specialist fund management arm targeting the key forces shaping Australia’s economic future: infrastructure, natural resources, energy transition, food and water security, and Indigenous engagement.

Mr Palmer joins from GESB, Western Australia’s largest superannuation fund and a global top 300 pension fund, where he served as Chief Executive Officer since 2018.

Under his leadership, GESB grew to over $46 billion in assets and 250,000 members, achieved top five national balanced fund performance in 2025, and launched the landmark One Fund reform, opening the fund to non-government employer contributions for the first time.

Mr Palmer was previously head of investments for GESB’s global investment portfolio and earlier had responsibility for GESB’s private equity investment program and asset allocation strategies.

Prior to GESB, Mr Palmer spent eight years with Schroders in London, most recently as Head of Portfolio Management for the group’s UK private wealth business, building deep international investment expertise across asset classes.

Mr Palmer’s appointment brings together world-class institutional investment experience with Affinity’s specialist understanding of the Western Australian market, a combination that positions Affinity to execute on its unparalleled access to specialist opportunities.

Mr Palmer's appointment is a milestone moment for Affinity. He brings an exceptional track record, unmatched depth of institutional investment experience, and importantly, a genuine personal commitment to the values that underpin everything we do at Affinity.

Ben shares Affinity's vision: to build a funds management business that is deeply Western Australian in character, genuinely excellent in its investment approach, and built on relationships of trust with investors and partners alike.

We are delighted to welcome Ben to the Affinity Group.

Adam Santa Maria

Managing Director, Affinity Capital Group

Affinity has built something genuinely distinctive, a platform with a compelling investment philosophy, strong deal flow across infrastructure, sovereign capability, natural resources and the energy transition, and with a unique partnership approach to Indigenous engagement. Its reputation in the WA market is second to none.

I am excited to join a highly credentialed, globally experienced team and help build a Perth-based funds management capability that Western Australians can be proud of for generations to come.

Ben Palmer

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Affinity Funds Management

Affinity Funds Management is the specialist investment management arm of Affinity Capital Group, one of Western Australia’s leading integrated corporate finance and advisory firms. It is a Perth-based specialist investment fund manager focused on the key themes shaping Australia’s economic future: infrastructure, natural resources, energy transition, food and water security, and Indigenous engagement.

Speak directly with:

Simon Tan

Director

simon.tan@affinitycap.com.au

Demetrios Pynes

Executive Director

demetrios.pynes@affinitycap.com.au

Adam Santa Maria

Managing Director

adam.santamaria@affinitycap.com.au

Affinity Funds Management appoints Ben Palmer

Insights

Related coverage

Specialist fund manager launched by Perth firm

Former GESB chief to head up Affinity Fund arm

Former GESB CEO heads to asset manager