Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett dives into corporate CEO role

Experts Daniel Paproth
Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett dives into corporate CEO role

Grant Hackett during his 2016 swimming comeback. Pic: Quinn Rooney

Three-time Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer Grant Hackett has become a small cap CEO, taking on the top job at Generation Development Group, an ASX-listed investment company.

Hackett is  most famous for his swimming career, in which he won seven Olympic Medals and eight Commonwealth Games medals. He has held the world record for the men’s short course 800m freestyle for over a decade.

He has also had his fair share of challenges.

Less known is that he also holds a double degree in commerce and law and a diploma of financial services.

Generation Development Group (ASX:GDG) operates as a pooled development fund that provides development capital to financial sector businesses. It announced today that Hackett has been appointed CEO starting immediately after today’s annual general meeting.

The company’s shares rose 3pc to 98c on the news.

Generation Development (ASX:GDG) shares over the past year.

Hackett’s main priority is to grow the Ascalon business, another investment company that Generation Development is planning on acquiring.

“Grant’s initial focus will be to grow Ascalon with the launch of a seeding vehicle to invest in alternative investment funds in the Asia Pacific region,” the company said in a statement. “He will also maintain responsibility for the distribution of Generation Life’s investment bond business in Australia until the 2019 financial year end.”

Hackett joined GDG in September last year and the company says he lifted sales performance in its Generation Life division by over 70 per cent in the 2018 financial year.

He will report to chairman Rob Coombe.

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