Whitehelm Capital, an independent infrastructure manager, has appinted Saji Anantakrishnan as Head of Australia and Asia.

Mr Anantakrishnan was formerly a senior investment director at Challenger and worked on a wide range of transactions for over 10 years. He will lead the Australian investment team and will join the Management Group.

In addition, Alexander Waller, Head of Infrastructure Debt based in London, will also join the Management Group, to lead the development of the debt business.

Mr Anantakrishnan is responsible for the development of business in Australia and Asia, leading the firm's infrastructure investment and management activities in the region. Prior to joining Whitehelm, he was the CEO of the Emerging Markets Infrastructure Fund where he will continue on as co-CEO, and worked in the UK, Australia and Asia with Challenger. He had previously worked in corporate finance roles at Deutsche Bank in Sydney; EDS in Asia; and, was a Management Consultant with Anderson Consulting.

Mr Waller leads the debt investing activities for the business and has experience in financing, investment banking and principal investment. Prior to joining Whitehelm, he was responsible for infrastructure debt investment origination and raising finance for infrastructure equity investments at Challenger across the span of the capital markets, joining the firm in 2007. He has also worked in debt financing groups at RBS and Barclays Capital.

Gary Withers, CEO Whitehelm Capital, commented;

"I am delighted that Saji will be leading our activities in Australia and Asia. He brings a broad knowledge of different markets and is a highly experienced investor. We are seeing a strong pipeline of investment opportunities in the debt market, and with Alex on the management team we will look to build this business significantly in the next few years."