Meet the team
July 2026
James Hawkins
Partner & Head of the Catalyst Fund
What is your connection with Ironbark and Cornerstone?
I’m Partner and Head of the L1 Capital Catalyst Fund. That fund is part of the investment mix in the Cornerstone portfolios.
We invest differently from other fund managers in that we can only hold 10 companies at any one time. The stocks we choose offer a compelling combination of value and quality, plus a catalyst we believe will push their share price higher.
We are an “activist” investor – which simply means we engage with companies to bring ideas and a shareholder’s perspective to their boards and management. In other words, we are “hands-on” owners. You can think of us as being similar to private equity investors in publicly listed equities.
As at June 30, our biggest holdings of the Catalyst Fund include building product group James Hardie, BlueScope Steel and Mineral Resources.
The fund recently celebrated its fifth birthday and ranks as the best performer since inception in its category in Australia, according to research house Morningstar. It has returned around 13% per annum over that period (compared to the ASX200 Accumulation Index of approx. 8%).
What are your qualifications and experience?
I studied commerce and law, majoring in finance, at Monash University in Melbourne, and initially worked as a solicitor at Clayton Utz early in my career.
I then switched to investment banking for 20 years, working at firms including Macquarie Group (in Melbourne and New York) and also the independent corporate finance adviser Flagstaff Partners.
I joined L1 Capital just over five years ago in order to launch the L1 Capital Catalyst Fund.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career?
The world is becoming more unpredictable, particularly from a geopolitical standpoint. That uncertainty continues to increase and makes our job much more dynamic. By that I mean the macroeconomic outlook today may be quite different to the backdrop that applies tomorrow.
We therefore need to constantly reassess the macro backdrop to make sure we’re making the optimal decisions on behalf of our investors.
How do you relax outside work?
I have two children, 12 and 14, who are my primary focus outside of work. Other than that, I love sport (particularly AFL) and play a lot of tennis. I'm the son of two PE teachers, and sport is an important and enjoyable part of my life.
Ironbark Advice is the sponsor of the Cornerstone Financial Group Pty Ltd.
Ironbark Advice is comprised of the following wholly owned entities of Ironbark: Advice First Pty Ltd, Advisory Group Pty Ltd, ARTT Group Pty Ltd, Brisbane Financial Services Pty Ltd, Elevate Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Emohruo Financial Services Pty Ltd, Invest Blue Armidale Pty Ltd, Invest Blue Brisbane Pty Ltd, Invest Blue Coffs Harbour Pty Ltd, Invest Blue Direct Pty Ltd, Invest Blue Gladstone Pty Ltd, Ogilvie Financial Services Pty Ltd, TDT (Tas) Pty Ltd, The Bravien Group Pty Ltd, Vintage Wealth Pty Ltd and Wainscott Financial Planning & Advice Pty Ltd, trading as Ironbark Advice are authorised representatives and credit representatives of Akumin Financial Planning Pty Limited, Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence No. 232706.
Countrywide Advice Pty Ltd and GrowUp Financial Pty Ltd trading as Ironbark Advice are authorised representatives and credit representatives of Charter Financial Planning Limited, Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence No. 234665.
GR & LC Thompson Pty Ltd trading as Ironbark Advice, is an authorised representative and credit representative of Hillross Financial Services Limited, Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence No. 232705. LFC Advice Pty Ltd (ABN 19 647 509 466) trading as Ironbark Advice, is a Corporate Authorised Representative of LFC Group Pty Ltd (ABN 35 644 576 965), AFSL 526600.