Robert Priestley (OB 78)

Robert Priestley is the Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Australia and New Zealand and was appointed to this position in 2002.
Rob was the youngest of three Priestley brothers who attended BGS in his generation.  After completing school he undertook a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne.  Prior to joining JP Morgan in 1994 (then the Chase Manhattan Bank) Rob was a Director with Macquarie Bank’s Financial Markets Group in Sydney.

He joined JPMorgan in Australia as Head of Global Financial Markets business in Australia and has held a number of senior roles with JP Morgan around the world including Regional Head of Fixed Income and Debt across Asia Pacific, the Regional Head of International Fixed income across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as Head of Global Emerging Markets in that region. In addition to his current role Rob is a member of JPMorgan’s Asia Pacific Management Committee,

In 2004 The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) was created by a group of senior business leaders, including Rob, whose vision was to inspire, challenge and engage businesses to have greater positive impact in the community. The ABCN decided initially to focus on education and to provide mentoring, partnering and support programs to students and schools who would benefit the most. 

Rob’s close involvement with the ABCN includes mentoring the Principal of the South Granville High School, an underprivileged school in Sydney’s west. Rob has been a driving force in engaging the staff at JPMorgan to become involved in some of the important projects that the ABCN run in conjunction with the school, including mentoring staff and teachers, reading programs and each year the staff at JPMorgan have a day at the school known as “global Day of Service” where hundreds of staff volunteer painting classrooms, gardening, cleaning and generally improving the grounds and buildings.