Robert Estcourt (MA Finance & Investment, 1973) was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the financial management sector.

Alumnus made Member of the Order of Australia

Exeter alumnus Robert Estcourt (MA Finance & Investment, 1973) was this year recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours list and awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to the financial management sector.

Robert, who lives in New South Wales, is originally from South Africa and came to Exeter to complete his masters in the early 70s.

He is now Chairman of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Australia, and is also on the Finance and Investment Committees of The Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, the Australasian Sleep Association, and the Lung Foundation Australia.

Of his time at Exeter, Roberts says: “I was able to get a scholarship specifically for students in South Africa who had English heritage and that meant I could pick any university in the UK. I went for an interview at Exeter to study economics but actually it didn’t go as well as I hoped and afterwards I was walking down the corridor a bit disconsolately when suddenly Dr Desmond Corner popped his head out his office. He was setting up a new course in financial investment planning and management, and I had some experience of this coming from South Africa. So that was how I ended up on the first cohort of the new course.

“At that time the University of Cape Town, where I did my undergraduate studies, was under a lot of pressure from the apartheid regime for its liberal stance. There were lots of student protests against the government, demonstrations, police on campus, and so forth. Coming to Exeter was much calmer, without the political unrest. I mean, there were blackouts and a three-day working week of course, but it was still a much more relaxed atmosphere!

“There were a number of international students on the course which I thought was great. Coming from what was quite an odd society and isolated country at the time, to be able to mix with people from Tanzania and Malaysia as well as the UK was a wonderful experience. And occasionally a little eye-opening, I remember being surprised that one of the Malaysian students was there with both his wives!

“I have great memories of the people I met, and Exeter was a beautiful place to study. I had been sponsored to bring a car back to South Africa – it was very expensive to import back then – and you had to have owned it for a year in order to make the trip. So I was lucky that I also got to travel around the UK a bit during my first year adding a few miles to this car!

“After the course finished I went back to South Africa and got a job as an Investment Analyst with an Investment Bank owned by Anglo American.  I stayed there for quite a few years. However the political situation in South Africa was getting worse and the violence was growing. South Africa had a quite sophisticated financial markets at that time, more financially sophisticated than many other countries which had larger and more open economies. Australia was one and the Australian government of the day was looking to instigate a financial revolution so they came looking for people. That was how I got a job with AMP and I worked there for about 18 years, in Australia, New Zealand and London. Following that I had a short stint in private equity before I started to get involved with non-profit organisations and that is how I came to be at Woolcock.”

The Order of Australia recognises Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. Membership is amongst the country’s highest honour and recipients are announced twice a year, on Australia Day (26 January) and The Queen's Birthday public holiday (June).

On receiving the honour, Robert says: “I feel very humbled by it. When you see the work that a lot people put into charities and non-profit organisations it is quite astonishing – the amount of time that they give and the contributions they make. It seems amazing that out of everyone they would honour me! I am incredibly humbled that people would take the time and trouble to nominate me, and it is wonderful to receive recognition in that way.”

Date: 14 December 2021