Stafford Capital Partners (Stafford) has appointed Stephen Milburn-Pyle, former head of the Australia Post Superannuation Scheme (APSS), to its Credit Investment Committee.
What does Stephen bring to Stafford in the role?
Stephen joined Australia Post in 2005 to manage the investment strategy of the APSS and was made the company’s GM of Superannuation in 2011. He held executive responsibility for the strategic and operational management of the APSS, a c. $8bn defined benefit corporate superannuation fund, until its transfer into Australian Retirement Trust (ART) in 2022.
Since being appointed to the Australia Post Superannuation Scheme, Stephen has worked with Stafford in the timberland, infrastructure, private equity and private credit sectors.
In 2017 Stafford launched a dedicated private credit strategy or the APSS, the Stafford Credit Opportunity Trust (SCOT). In 2022 Stafford launched the Stafford Private Credit Income Opportunities Fund (CIO), which was seeded with a $132m NAV secondary transaction.
What does the appointment mean for Stafford?
Brett Himbury, Chair of Stafford Capital Partners, commented: “Stephen’s experience working at APSS, including his oversight of SCOT, makes him a strong addition to our Credit Investment Committee. He will work with the other members of the IC – including our co-founder Geoff Norman – to oversee and drive Stafford’s credit investing activities worldwide.”
Stephen Milburn-Pyle said: “During my time as manager of the APSS, we developed a strategic relationship with Stafford, where we focused on ways to diversify the portfolio.”
“The Stafford team worked closely with us to develop and deliver on our private credit strategy which could provide current income, low market correlation and attractive overall net returns. They have been a long-valued partner in this respect. I’m very pleased to be joining the IC to support Stafford’s ongoing work in the private credit market.”
