7 questions with ACC Australia member, Andrew Goldstein, Head of Legal, Product, Challenger Limited

1. Tell us about your current role and team?

I am currently Head of Legal, Product at Challenger. That means I look after that part of the legal team that supports Challenger’s financial product and service initiatives. This includes annuities and retirement income products issued by Challenger Life, and investment management activities run out of our Fidante Partners, Challenger Investment Partners and Challenger Investment Solutions businesses.



My team is part of the Challenger Legal and Corporate Affairs Team - headed up by Michael Vardanega, General Counsel and Executive General Manager. This team comprises 24 people working in legal (my team and the Corporate and Investments team headed up by Catherine James), company secretarial (headed by Andrew Brown) and Corporate Affairs (headed by Michelle Taylor). We work with pretty much all parts of the organisation from time to time, but I work mostly with our product teams, compliance and risk, operations, distribution, HR and business services.



We are currently working towards new distribution channels for our annuity business and supporting the continued growth of our funds management businesses, Fidante Partners and Challenger Investment Partners. One of our key current matters is supporting the opening of an office in Japan, which will focus on asset management.

2. What LegalTech does your team use?

Our document management functions rely on Sharepoint, and we have recently introduced Confluence as a collaboration tool within our team and with our clients (local and international) as well. One aspect I find particularly pleasing is that with technology like Confluence, you don’t need to be particularly IT savvy to be able to produce really useful workspaces. We are working on getting the most out of our core systems as well, upgrading to Windows 10 recently, and initiating more functionality into our Legal DMS.

3. Tell us about your work-life balance?  

Mine is pretty good. I try and make the most of our Sydney CBD location and will often head out for some fresh air, sun and exercise at lunchtime.

I have a young family, so I will typically leave the office in time to join my lovely, supportive wife Sarah (I know she will read this), and three kids (Oliver (14), Camille (5) and Yvette (2)) for dinner, and I try to not miss the “bath, story and bed” routine too often.

I work from home on a reasonably regular basis (once or twice a month).

4. What are some of the factors that led you to pursue an in-house legal role?

After a graduate traineeship at BT Financial Services, and a long stint in hospitality, my law career started at the age of 30 when I signed up for a part-time law degree at University of Technology, Sydney and a full-time job as a financial services paralegal at Ebsworth & Ebsworth (now HWL Ebsworth).

The majority of my legal training was in private practise, working with Ian Enright and Peter MacKenzie at Ebsworths, followed by tours of duty at Freehills (now HSF) and Deacons (now Norton Rose). After doing an in-house secondment at Zurich, I quickly recognised my preference for a less formal client relationship and method of interaction. I liked being involved in projects, and not simply providing technical advice, that extra step removed from context and events. I interviewed with several financial services firms and was offered a job at Macquarie, working in the financial services legal team under Bill Stanfield.



5. What is the one thing a law degree doesn’t teach you about being a lawyer?

I think there are many things that lawyers won’t pick up from law school, but one that jumps out, in particular, is around the personal and interpersonal skills required to thrive in either private practise or an in-house environment. There are plenty of highly intelligent lawyers who are difficult to deal with and don’t give great legal advice. Brains alone just isn’t enough.

6. What is one ACC Australia member benefit or resource that you can’t live without?

The National Conference. The 2016 Conference in Canberra was just great! It was well organised and it was a real pleasure to meet with a bunch of interesting people with whom I had so much in common. I missed this year’s conference with great regret but look forward to 2018.



7. Finish this sentence… If I wasn’t an in-house lawyer, I’d be… a talk show host. I’ve always found people and their stories fascinating, and I find good interviews really engrossing (thinking Andrew Denton, Richard Fidler as examples). I love history, and interviews can be amazing at showing historical events from the ground up, rather than just what happens at the political centre.

 

Posted 8/01/2018