Rob B Thomas

Biography

Mr Thomas has a strong background in financial services and capital markets and is non-executive director of several Australian listed companies. Formerly he was a partner of Potter Partners (now UBS) where he was also Head of Research. He is the former CEO of County NatWest Securities and then became CEO and then Chairman of Citibank Corporate and Investment Bank in Australia. Mr Thomas has also held the position of Chairman at Australian Wealth Management Ltd (ultimately IOOF Ltd), TAL (Australia’s largest life insurance company) and Heartware Inc, the second largest global manufacturer of left ventricular assist heart pumps. For many years Mr Thomas was regarded as one of Australia’s leading financial analysts and regularly lectured with FINSIA. He has considerable expertise in Mergers & Acquisition and capital markets including advising on the floats of Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Qantas, and vast experience in the area of Audit and Risk Management. Mr Thomas has served as the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of Virgin Australia Limited for 11 years and at various times has Chaired the Audit Committees of Heartware Inc, REVA Medical Ltd and the State Library of NSW. He is also approved under the NSW prequalification scheme for Audit and Risk Committee Independent Chairs and Members for government/public sector agencies. Mr Thomas holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University, a Diploma of Business (Accounting) from Swinburne and is a fellow of FINSIA. He is also a Master Stockbroker and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Specific skills and experience areas In addition to Mr Thomas’ significant finance and capital markets experience, Mr Thomas’ non-executive roles with various ASX listed companies have deepened his skills and experience in relation to financial accounting, audit and risk; licensing and commercialisation of innovation; governance; strategy and risk management; OH&S; and remuneration. He has also had significant experience with US based companies as they progress from research to commercialisation.

Research Interest

In addition to Mr Thomas’ significant finance and capital markets experience, Mr Thomas’ non-executive roles with various ASX listed companies have deepened his skills and experience in relation to financial accounting, audit and risk; licensing and commercialisation of innovation; governance; strategy and risk management; OH&S; and remuneration. He has also had significant experience with US based companies as they progress from research to commercialisation.