It was November 2011 and AMP Capital had just been appointed infrastructure investment manager of a new fund backed by the Irish state that was being established by fund manager Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM.)

With €120 billion already under management around the world, landing the Australian investment company – and its skills and experience – was seen as a vote of confidence in the fund, which was to become important in shaping the future of the Irish economy.

The new fund, called the Irish Infrastructure Fund, was set up to buy Irish assets being sold by the Irish government and semi-states to invest in other infrastructure assets in Ireland. 

Ireland had publicly committed to selling €3 billion in state assets in 2013. Between that and the private sector, there were plenty of interesting opportunities to look at.

“This fund aims to provide long term investors with a stable income yield as well as the potential for capital growth from a substantial portfolio of assets which underpin the Irish economy,” ILIM’s then chief executive Gerry Keenan explained.

The National Pensions Reserve Fund (today known as the Irish Strategic Investment Fund) was the biggest single investor, putting up €250 million as a keystone backer of the fund. In total, it planned to raise €1 billion.

The announcement was yet another coup for AMP Capital’s head of infrastructure Europe, Boe Pahari.

“We are very pleased to be appointed as infrastructure manager for this Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) which will provide institutional investors globally with a unique opportunity to invest in the Irish infrastructure sector,” Pahari said.

“We have over 20 years’ experience in owning and managing infrastructure assets and are well positioned to effectively manage and add value to the fund’s investments. With the first close of the fund we are progressing an active deal pipeline consistent with our strategy of investing in quality Irish infrastructure assets across a range of sectors.”

Once the fund launched, the deals started to flow rapidly.

In June 2012 the IIF bought a 75 per cent stake in ten wind farms from Viridian for €150 million.

“Ireland benefits from one of the most attractive wind resources in Europe, with exposure to the prevailing south-westerly winds of the Atlantic Ocean making it an exceptional location for wind energy generation,” Pahari said on closing the deal.

In September 2013 the Fund closed another big deal, buying a company that controlled 400 telecoms masts called Towercom. “Towercom offers an excellent platform from which the Fund can consider further growth in the telecoms sector,” Pahari, said, now head of infrastructure not just in Europe but also the Americas.

More deals followed. In May 2015 the Irish Infrastructure Fund was named preferred bidder to run the Convention Centre Dublin for 21 years. In July 2017 the fund bought a 78 per cent stake in Enet, which was at that stage the frontrunner to develop the National Broadband Plan, in a deal that valued the business at €200 million.

Enet went on to win this ginormous contract and the IIF took a 100 per cent stake in the business in October 2018 when it bought out Granahan McCourt Capital’s residual stake.

The IIF also owns Valley Healthcare, which owns primary healthcare in Cork, Kerry, Wicklow and Mayo.

It has built out a team in Dublin and it has been a heavy investor in critical projects here.

Bo Pahari was less involved in Ireland in recent years, but he was still in charge of AMP’s infrastructure investments. 

Having used his magic in Ireland, Pahari was now out there looking for new markets and new deals. He was AMP’s rainmaker, a role which earned him millions a year.  

*****

Boe Pahari

On July 1 The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that AMP had promoted Boe Pahari from his position as global head of infrastructure to chief executive of AMP Capital.

The promotion was made despite AMP knowing he was fined after his employer settled a sexual harassment claim against him brought by a female employee.

The timing of its report coincided with Pahari’s first day in his even more powerful new job, as overall boss of AMP Capital.

The financial newspaper said it had decided not to publish the name of the employee to protect her privacy but it did reveal that AMP had appointed a British QC called Andrew Burns to carry out an independent investigation in 2017.

“The external investigation identified lower level breaches of AMP’s code of conduct for which Mr Pahari had appropriate consequences imposed, including a financial penalty and counselling for his conduct,” AMP said in a statement in response to the newspaper.

“Mr Pahari accepted the findings and apologised to the colleague.” He was also fined AUD $500,000 (€309,000) – roughly a quarter of his bonus that year. 

Prior to Pahari’s promotion, AMP said its board and chief executive had reviewed the matter and saw nothing to prevent him taking up his new job which comes with an “uncapped” potential for a performance bonus.

Its chief executive Francesco De Ferrari said: “His comments were not acceptable, but he has shown genuine remorse and accepted the consequences. He has demonstrated he has learned from the matter and is committed to being a leader on appropriate workplace behaviour as AMP Capital CEO.”

The AFR said that the incidents of harassment had taken place up until mid-2017 when the female employee felt compelled to leave her job as a senior private equity specialist.

The AFR had some details about various incidents of alleged inappropriate behaviour but the full story was not public yet.

Despite the allegations, AMP at the top stood behind its decision to promote Pahari.

Whatever had happened was in the past, it insisted. 

AMP’s employees however were not as happy. At a town-hall meeting on Microsoft Teams, some staff demanded Pahari explain what happened and guarantee that he could ensure a safe working environment for its diverse workforce.

“It’s not an easy day for me, it’s not the kind of day I thought I would have as day one,” Pahari told employees.

“But in life you can’t always choose what life will deal you. The only choice you have is how you respond.

“I hope that you can see that the response that I want to give is one of contrition and one of openness and also one of moving forward with a huge level of excitement, responsibility but also both inclusion, diversity and a huge amount of passion.”

At 3am, Szlakowski allegedly asked her to stay on in Britain for another night but not to tell the company. He also offered to buy her clothes using cash so she could go for dinner with him in a restaurant at the top of the Shard skyscraper.

AMP was now under fire from both within and outside the company.

To try and dampen down complaints, its public relations department circulated a note from nine women in AMP Capital’s business in the UK supporting Pahari.

“We have never experienced harassment or inappropriate behaviour in the workplace from Boe or any other colleagues, nor felt that there is a systemic issue regarding sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour in the AMP Capital London office,” the note said.

It looked like the crisis was going to be contained.

*****

Julia Szlakowski

On August 17 Julia Szlakowski made a statement through her lawyer Josh Bornstein revealing she was the employee. In her statement, she challenged AMP to release the full investigation report into what happened to her.

The Sydney Morning Herald said Szlakowski found filing a complaint against her boss was “one of the most nerve-racking decisions of my life”.

“It was impressed upon me that my success at AMP was inextricably tied to my harasser’s support and mentorship. That ultimately proved to be true,” she said. “Now AMP has two choices: it can continue to downplay a credible sexual harassment complaint, which impugns all survivors, or take action to bring about lasting and meaningful change.”

The Sydney Morning Herald also published details of her seven-page complaint for the first time.

In this complaint, she alleges Pahari insisted she fly to London for a meeting. He then asked her to join him in a members’’ only club called Loulou’s along with his friends who shared a mutual interest in owning Ferraris.

“ISIF has raised its concerns about these matters with AMP Capital and discussed them with Irish Life and shareholder advisory groups,” it added.

Szlakowski said she felt uncomfortable leaving her colleagues to go to this club. “It is very problematic, and perhaps prohibitive, to tell a man who holds the keys to your future, ‘no’,” she said in her complaint.

At 3am, Szlakowski allegedly asked her to stay on in Britain for another night but not to tell the company. He also offered to buy her clothes using cash so she could go for dinner with him in a restaurant at the top of the Shard skyscraper.

When she turned this down, she alleged he told her this was “humiliating” and made him feel like a “limp dick”. Phone records showed Pahari calling her between 3.19am and 3.35am. He also suggested, she alleged, that they communicate via Whatsapp rather than using work email or phones.

Szlakowski rang her fiance to tell him about what happened. The following morning, she rose early and flew back to America. She lodged her complaint in June 2017 and resigned in March 2018.

Szlakowski’s lawyer Bornstein said he felt that AMP’s statements were “deceptive and misleading because they trivialise what happened to Julia Szlakowski”.

He added: “There is nothing in AMP’s public statements that acknowledge that Ms Szlakowski was [allegedly] sexually harassed and traumatised and that her career with the company was prematurely finished as a result of what happened.”

Szlakowski was paid a settlement by AMP because of her treatment. She did not however sign a non-disclosure agreement freeing her to speak out.

*****

Shareholders in AMP now began to demand change. The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), representing various big funds, said the company needed to give a detailed public explanation of what had occurred.

In response AMP issued the conclusions of the Burns investigation. 

“I find that there was poor judgment exercised by [Pahari] during this evening and one moderate and two minor incidents which overall added up to a relatively modest breach of the AMP workplace behaviour and equal opportunity policy,” Burns wrote.

“However, this involved a senior manager who ought to have been observing a high standard of equality and diversity practice and who ought to have had a much better understanding of how his actions might be perceived by and may affect a junior colleague.”

Releasing the report was not enough. On Monday August 24, David Murray, AMP chairman resigned, as did John Fraser, a non-executive director.

Pahari stepped down as AMP Capital chief executive. “Mr Pahari will resume work at his previous level with a focus on AMP Capital’s infrastructure equity business,” AMP said.

“These changes respond to feedback expressed by some major shareholders regarding the appointment of Mr Pahari as AMP Capital CEO on 1 July 2020,” the AMP said in a stock market statement.

Murray stuck however to the decision to promote Pahari.  “My view remains that it was dealt with appropriately in 2017 and Mr Pahari was penalised accordingly.”

“However, it is clear to me that, although there is considerable support for our strategy, some shareholders did not consider Mr Pahari’s promotion to AMP Capital CEO to be appropriate.”

Reports in Australia are continuing to emerge of other cases of alleged sexual harassment.

Politician Deborah O’Neill, using parliamentary privilege, has revealed how she claims a former AMP employee was threatened with being sacked if she did not sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from talking about sexual harassment she faced at work.

Other allegations were now emerging, putting more pressure on AMP.

*****

Bo Pahari now finds himself back in charge of AMP Capital’s infrastructure equity business.

AMP continues to work with the Irish Infrastructure Fund but there is unrest among its partners.

AMP has a team on the ground here who regularly attend board meetings involving its numerous investments. 

Philip Doyle, a former ESB alumni, is its fund manager and a director of the IIF.

Julie O’Neill, the former secretary general of the Department of Transport and current Ryanair director, became a senior advisor to the IIF, representing AMP, last February.

Both Doyle and O’Neill are highly regarded, but like thousands of people working for AMP globally, they find themselves embroiled in controversy.

The Irish Strategic Investment Fund – the single largest investor in the fund – has raised its concerns about the goings-on at the top of AMP.

It told The Currency: “ISIF is a founding signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and expects high standards of its investee companies and investment partners, in accordance with global best practice standards for corporate governance and responsible investment.

“In relation to this investment, ISIF is the largest of approximately 30 investors in the Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF), which is an entirely separate legal entity that is managed by Irish Life Investment Managers and which makes investment decisions independently of ISIF and the other investors.”

“ISIF has raised its concerns about these matters with AMP Capital and discussed them with Irish Life and shareholder advisory groups,” it added.

ISIF said it had noted the recent resignations and demotions in AMP.

“ISIF is examining these executive changes and will keep the situation under review,” it said.

ILIM is understood to have also raised its concerns with AMP, as well as discussed them with ISIF.

*****

AMP so far has lost a chairman and a board director. Bo Pahari has held onto his job.

Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins predicted last week the fallout from AMP would not stop at just that business, and that it might encourage others to speak out. 

“Our business world at the moment is very fearful of public reporting about sexual harassment, about the brand and reputational damage that it causes,” she said.

“They are fearful for good reason. I think this will be a watershed year.”

Part of ensuring that happens, will require major investors to step up and force companies to change if they are not prepared to do so themselves.