Jim was born in Albany, moving to Adelaide at age two. After finishing school, Jim couldn’t afford to study full time, so worked for National Mutual in the short term money market while studying economics part time at the University of Adelaide.

After working as Schroders’ Adelaide State Manager, Jim moved to Melbourne and then Sydney to head the Bank’s trading desk at just 29 years. When appointed a Director of Schroders in 1980 Jim was the second youngest ever to achieve this position.

In 1982 Jim was seconded to Schroders & Chartered in Hong Kong to establish a foreign exchange and money trading function.

Jim was approached to become Treasurer of the State Bank of South Australia in 1984 and over the next six years he went on to establish the Bank’s treasury and foreign exchange trading capability, a comprehensive offshore borrowing program and its investment banking business. At the same time, Jim served as a Director of the South Australian State Government Financing Authority and was a Director of Tourism South Australia.

Jim’s next challenge was to advise and implement the historic merger of the Cooperative Building Society of South Australia Limited with the Hindmarsh Building Society in 1992 to become one of the country’s largest and most stable building societies. Subsequently, with Jim heavily involved, a banking licence was granted and Adelaide Bank was born. Jim stayed 10 years at the bank, set up the business bank, and went on to run all areas of the bank as Chief General Manager. Due to prior sector involvement, the bank became a major national lender to the retirement living industry under Jim’s leadership.

In 2000 Jim exited executive life to build his diverse board career. He became an independent director of Elders Rural Bank (a joint venture between Elders and Bendigo Bank) upon the granting of its banking licence in June 2000, and subsequently became Chairman of the Rural Bank. When Bendigo merged with Adelaide Bank, Jim became a Director and managed the internalisation of the Elders Rural Bank.

In 2003 businessmen Robert Champion de Crespigny and Ron Walker bought a stake in the publicly listed retirement village developer, manager and operator Primelife and asked Jim to be CEO. Primelife had grown through a multitude of aggressive syndicate schemes seeking tax treatment under TR 94/24, but upon the withdrawal of that ruling in 2004, its business and funding model was under pressure. At the same time, the company’s founder sold part of his stake to Babcock and Brown, and Jim embarked upon what he describes as a ‘rescue and resuscitation’ mission.

In the event, the business was recapitalised and reshaped and ultimately sold to Lend Lease. Had it failed, it would have been a catastrophe for the fledgling retirement village industry.

Jim’s deep involvement in retirement living and seniors housing was to continue, this time in the establishment of Ingenia Communities, born out of the reshaping of the ING Real Estate Community Living Fund in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.

Experienced retirement living executive Simon Owen was brought in to exit the Fund’s offshore assets, and he sought and received ING’s blessing to internalise management and launch the business as an independent entity. Ingenia Communities was established in March 2012 with a market capitalisation of $16 million. Jim was appointed Chair and Simon CEO and Managing Director.