QIC big wig leaves to set up e-sports outfit

Queensland investment flagship QIC has lost a veteran executive, who has set up a new business in an exploding new industry.

GAME ON

MORE on the changes unfolding at the $80 billion Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Veteran QIC executive Matthew Strotton left the firm earlier this month to set up a business dedicated to the burgeoning e-sports industry. The company called Ultimate E-Sports will help “host events and encourage investment in the industry,” according to Strotton’s LinkedIn Page.

Strotton served as head of US property funds at QIC between 2000 and 2014 before being promoted to director of capital - global real estate. It’s not clear whether his departure is related to what QIC calls a “strategic review” that has resulted in what it calls “a small number of changes” at the money manager. Strotton did not respond to a request for comment. City Beat believes a number of other people have left QIC in recent weeks, possibly in relation to troubling developments at its US shopping malls.

Shoppers in California look for early bargains as the Black Friday sales began last year.

Last year, it was reported that QIC was preparing to sell stakes in a $1 billion group of US malls amid increasing wariness about investing in retail properties.

As of 2018, QIC had stake in shopping centres in California, Nevada, Florida and Virginia. Some of the US’s most prominent retailers are shuttering stores or declaring bankruptcy in amid sagging sales in the troubled sector.

The rise of ecommerce outlets like Amazon has made it harder for traditional retailers to attract customers to their stores and forced companies to change their sales strategies.

HANGING TEN

REAL estate tycoon Warren Ebert has come a long way since his taxi driving days. Ebert held court at a private dinner at the Brisbane Club on Wednesday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his Sentinel Property Group. From a single property, Sentinel now controls a portfolio of more than 50 retail, industrial, office, land, tourism infrastructure and agribusiness assets with a total value in excess of $1.2 billion. Ebert (illustrated) revealed at the dinner it was only fate that got him his first job in the real estate industry.

Warren Ebert from Sentinel Property Group.

Picking up a passenger one night from Expo 88, Ebert gleaned the bloke worked in the property industry and managed to get his business card. The next day he rang the passenger and was soon after offered a job.

The rest as they say is history. Ebert’s investment strategy is simple - don’t follow the crowd. “To make money, you have to do unpopular things,” Ebert told the dinner. “We buy s#*t because there is money in s#&t. We don’t have a business plan because then you have to have a start and a finish.” While he now has enough money to buy up all the caviar and champagne in the city, Ebert revealed his tastes remain very humble and he enjoys nothing more than chowing down on some good corned beef.

GUARD DUTY

STILL on Sentinel and kudos to Cam Scott, one of the group’s in-house lawyers, who welcomed guests to the 10th anniversary celebrations dressed as, you guessed it, a Roman Sentinel. Even the air-conditioned atmosphere of the Brisbane Club could not counter being encased in leather and metal in what was a humid and sticky Brisbane night. Thankfully Scott was able to change back into his civvies when everyone sat down for dinner.