Swing to right ‘won’t change fundamentals’ of doing good business: Rob Chapman

Adelaide-born businessman Rob Chapman says the election of ­Donald Trump will move the ‘pendulum’ right, but says the fundamentals of doing business will remain intact.

Robert Chapman, executive chair of Chapman Capital Partners. Picture: Matt Turner

Adelaide-born businessman Rob Chapman says the election of ­Donald Trump as US President will move the “pendulum” right, but says the fundamentals of doing business will remain intact.

“Trump says what he thinks, and his language is probably going to insult some people, but some of his decisions will be understood by a large part of the population,” Mr Chapman told The Australian on the eve of his being awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day honours.

“The pendulum can go from being too conservative to too aggressive. I like it when it is sitting somewhere in the middle, but I think we are going to see the pendulum move to the right a bit.”

The former chief executive of St George Bank, managing director of BankSA and long-time chair of AFL club Adelaide, maintains the fundamentals of doing business well have not changed over the years.

“You focus on your customers, and you focus on your staff and-by and large, if you have a good business model, the rest of it looks after itself,” he said.

Mr Chapman’s advisory company, Chapman Capital Partners, has raised funds for about 30 start-up businesses in South Australia in recent years.

“We are well regarded and well known for raising money,” he said, noting business confidence was continuing to rise in South Australia.

The combination of increased investment from the defence and space industry, high-profile sporting events and the state’s lower cost of living compared to Sydney and Melbourne had helped attract people back to the state.

Chapman Capital Partners has raised funds for about 30 start-up businesses in South Australia in recent years. Picture: Matt Turner

“I’ve spent the best part of my working life in boardrooms on the eastern seaboard. I’ve always had to defend South Australia and its economic contribution to Australia,” he said.

“But now the economy of South Australia is as strong and prosperous as it has ever been, with a great deal of hope.

“Business confidence is up, we’ve got full employment, our traditional industries are booming, and we have newer industries – particularly defence – which will hold us in great stead for the next 30-40 years.

“I’m very optimistic for South Australia’s future.”

One of Adelaide’s most influential people, Mr Chapman is chair of Adelaide Airport, chair of Barossa Valley water company Barossa Infrastructure, a director of Coopers Brewery and a director of Export Finance Australia.

He is also executive chair of Adelaide-based corporate advisory company Chapman Capital Partners, which he set up in 2019 with others including Australian Submarine Corporation chair Bruce Carter, former banker Jim Hazel, and former KPMG partner Jennifer Ma, who is managing ­director of the firm.

His former roles have included being president of Business SA and chair of the advisory board of Investment Attraction South Australia.

Mr Chapman started his career in the insurance and funds management industry, initially in Adelaide, before spending time in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

He was working for Colonial State Bank in Adelaide, a role that saw him meet Commonwealth Bank executive Gail Kelly.

Mrs Kelly appointed him regional general manager of the Commonwealth Bank’s operations in South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia.

When she moved to run ­St George Bank, he was appointed managing director of its BankSA operations, later running ­St George from 2009 to 2011.

He returned to Adelaide in 2012, moving into company director roles including chairing the BankSA advisory board for two years.

Mr Chapman, who has been awarded his AM for services to the financial sector and to Australian rules football, joined the board of Adelaide Football Club in 2007 and was its chair from 2009 to 2020.

He argues that sporting events such as LIV Golf and the AFL’s four-day Gather Round have helped to bring more attention and business investment to the state. “There’s a lot of people, particularly from the boardrooms of big companies, who have come here for the first time [for a sporting event] and have got a sense of what is going on here,” he said.

“We’ve seen big chunks of capital invested in South Australia as a consequence of those sporting programs.

“Sport is a very big industry, which employs a lot of people and brings joy to a lot of people.”

Mr Chapman argues that the fact that South Australia did not have a lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic had also played a role in bringing people to the state.

“The brain drain from South Australia to the east is starting to reverse,” he said.

“Covid had an effect in encouraging people back to Adelaide.

“We didn’t have a lockdown here.”

He said this meant a lot of changes in other cities affected by Covid did not happen in his state.

“People still come into the ­office,” he said. “We don’t have the office vacancies that the eastern seaboard does.”