PROGRAM
The Capital Partners Project is hosting a series of expert-led webinars, designed to provide an in-depth appreciation of the issues outlined.
Whether you have already decided to issue mutual capital instruments (MCI), or co-operative capital units (CCUs) or are at the stage of considering your options, the program will provide valuable insights for your business:
Legal, constitutional & membership issues
Constitutional and legal considerations for issuing MCI or CCU
Making your mutual constitution MCI or CCU -ready
Designing bespoke MCI
Collective structures for issuing mutual capital
MCI and taxation
Member engagement and management
Relating MCI to your business strategy
How to decide whether to issue MCI or CCU
Retail or wholesale? Which MCI is for you?
Member engagement and communications
MCI - International experience case studies – Mutual capital issuers
MCI - International experience case studies – A Regulator’s perspective
CCU - Australian experience case studies
CAPITAL FOR THE IMPACT INVESTMENT MARKET
Designing Impact Investments: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliant MCI/CCU
Leveraging the impact of your mutual status
ESG and credit ratings
Market issues for MCI
Making your co-operative or mutual investment-ready
Presenting your business to wholesale investors
Preparing to roadshow
Insights into accessing international investment markets
Managing liquidity through a listing
Credit ratings for mutuals
Next Capital Partners EVENTS
More webinars and interviews coming soon.
BCCM members are entitled to access this program free of charge.
Please contact BCCM to register for upcoming events and gain access to Partners Home.
Global Mutual Leaders’ Symposium

Wednesday, 8 September 2021, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm AEST, Online
The Global Mutual Leaders’ Symposium brought together mutual business leaders from Australia and the UK, to share their experience of leading major mutual businesses and will focus on how CME purpose creates sustainability and how this fits the expectations of global investors.
Past Interviews

Interview: Greg Hammond OAM
Peter Hunt sat down with Greg Hammond OAM for our first interview in the Capital Partners’ series. In a wide-ranging conversation covering Greg’s Independent Review into reforms for co-ops and mutuals and his career as a senior lawyer, Peter and Greg discussed the potential for new capital to change the face of the mutual sector.

Interview: Martin Stewart, Ex Director, Bank of England
Peter Hunt talks global economics with Martin Stewart. Following an executive career in mutual banking, Martin held senior positions at the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority and the UK’s Financial Services Authority. He was a key influencer on global financial services policy development post the financial crisis, with special responsibility for co-operatives and mutuals.

Interview: Peter Burrows, CEO, Cambridge Building Society, UK
Peter Hunt speaks with Peter Burrows, CEO, Cambridge Building Society, UK about his experience of attracting a placement investment to his mutual.

Interview: Colin Melvin, Managing Director, Arkadiko Partners
Colin is a pioneer of impact investing. He has been at the forefront of global developments in corporate stewardship, sustainability and responsible asset management for over twenty years. We talk to him about his views on the potential for ESG investment.

INTERVIEW WITH HILDE VERNAILLEN, CEO OF GROUPE P&V, BELGIUM
Hilde is a leading mutual business leader in Europe, and currently Chair of ICMIF, the global representative body for co-operative and mutual insurers. In this interview, we discuss Covid, co-operation and capital raising, as well as collect some tips for a successful career for mutual leaders.

Interview with Simon Nuttall and Barry Clavin, The Co-operative Group
The UK Co-operative Group raised £300 million in sustainability bonds. In this interview, Peter Hunt is joined by two of the Co-operative Group’s sustainability and investment experts - Simon Nuttall, Head of Tax, Treasury and Insurance and Barry Clavin, Head of Ethics and Sustainable Reporting. The three talk investment, sustainability and living your values as a business.
Register
BCCM members are entitled to access these interviews free of charge.
Please contact BCCM to access the Members' Only resources.
2022 WEBINARS
Capital raising for co-operatives webinar
Thursday, 10 March 2022, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm AEDT, Online
A one hour webinar covering:
Capital raising for co-operatives
Case studies from Australian and NZ co-ops with experienced share registry provider Syndex.
2021 WEBINARS
The first issuance of MCIs – with Australian Unity
Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 5 pm AEDT
with Rohan Mead, Group Managing Director and CEO, Australian Unity; Adam Vise, Group Treasurer, Finance & Strategy, Australian Unity; Esther Kerr-Smith, CEO Wealth & Capital Markets, Australian Unity; and Damian Pretty, Director, Acacia Partners
On 4 January, the first Mutual Capital Instruments (MCIs) began trading on the ASX. This marked the culmination of several years’ work by BCCM members who drove the advocacy for enabling legislation, as well as the pioneering efforts of Australian Unity to initiate this inaugural capital raise.
Rohan Mead, Group Managing Director and CEO of Australian Unity, joined by members of his team, provides first hand insights into the decisions and steps taken by Australian Unity to bring the first offer of mutual capital to market. Facilitated by Peter Hunt (Mutuo), the webinar describes the challenges overcome in the process and offer tips for others considering issuing MCI and offer the opportunity for Q&A.
Towards an ASX listing: Practical issues to consider when seeking to raise capital from listing Mutual Capital Instruments
Wednesday, 3 March, 5 pm AEDT
In this webinar, Ken Chapman, Head of Strategic Delivery, Capital Markets and Kimberley Brown, Principal Adviser, Listing Compliance, both from ASX, provides an overview of the ASX listing requirements and what mutual organisations need to consider when seeking to list MCIs.
This webinar provides practical advice and information on how to become ‘listing ready’.
Demutualisation – do we need to prepare for a new wave?
Wednesday, 19 May 2021, 4 pm AEST
with Peter Hunt, Mutuo
Peter Hunt will outline the events unfolding in the UK and offer an analysis of the factors driving this. The session will consider the legislative and political environment affecting the sector and how CMEs can prepare themselves to protect their capital assets. Read the synopsis of this issue: Demutualisation is bad for members, for competition and choice and for market stability.
Co-op registry management – for member engagement and investment-readiness
Friday, 29 October 2021, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm AEST
A one hour webinar covering the role of digital registry management in engaging members and raising and managing capital in co-ops. The webinar included case studies from the Co-operative Farming pilot project and NZ co-ops. Experienced share registry provider Syndex and the BCCM launched their new partnership aimed at supporting Australian CMEs member and share registry functions.
2020 WEBINARS
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ISSUES FOR MUTUAL CAPITAL INSTRUMENTS
Tuesday, 7 July 2020, 2 - 3:30 pm
Led by Jo Dodd, Partner at King & Wood Mallesons
The first handful of mutuals have now amended their constitutions to give themselves the option to issue MCI in the future. The 36-month window to complete this under the special ASIC procedure now has less than two years left.
The webinar covered what constitutional amendments are needed to make your mutual ‘MCI-ready,’ what options you have to tailor the changes to suit your own circumstances and hear how to present these changes to your members, for the best chance of success.
This seminar considered:
Constitutional requirements under the Act
Options to match your culture, history and likely use of MCI
Early ideas for designing instruments
MCI, CCU AND BUSINESS STRATEGY: MARKETABILITY AND KEY ISSUANCE CONSIDERATIONS
Wednesday, 15 July 2020, 2 - 3:30 pm
Led by Matt A Price, Director, Financial Institutions Group, National Australia Bank
The decision whether to issue Mutual Capital Instruments (MCI) or Co-operative Capital Units (CCUs) will be a key part of a mutual’s overall business strategy. Led by capital management and capital market experts from National Australia Bank, this seminar explored how MCI and CCU can be factored into your existing strategic decision making.
It considered some of the practical questions related to the potential markets for new instruments.
Relating MCIs/CCUs to business strategy – including:
Capital structuring 101 – overview of different capital types and structures
Capital planning and how MCI/CCUs can play a role
An introduction to Mutual Capital Instruments
Friday, 24 July 2020
Led by Peter Hunt, Managing Partner, Mutuo
This briefing provides an opportunity to hear about Mutual Capital Instruments in a way that sets this development in context and gives you the information you need to understand what MCI are, and how they are likely to work.
The presentation is set out in eight sections, which lead you through the story of MCI and how they can help to improve the business environment for mutuals. We examine how they actually work, and the sort of thought process that you might apply if you are considering issuing. We then look at some international examples of mutuals that have issued this type of capital already. We briefly describe what the legal changes mean for your mutual and talk about how best you might approach communicating these constitutional changes to your members. Then we will look at the options for different types of MCI and finally say a few things on the potential market for MCI.
Credit ratings and capital markets
Thursday, 20 August, 4 – 5:30 pm AEST
Led by Daniel Yu, Vice President - Senior Analyst, Financial Institutions at Moody’s
Assessing Investment Options and the Suitability of MCIs and CCUs
Thursday, 27 August 4 – 5:30 pm AEST
Led by Rade Musulin, Jon Tindall, Sen Nagarajan from Finity Consulting
Prior to undertaking an issue of Mutual Capital Instruments (MCIs) or Co-operative Capital Units (CCUs), mutual organisations need to assess their suitability relative to other funding options.
In this webinar Rade Musulin, Jon Tindall, and Sen Nagarajan from Finity Consulting walk through factors organisations should consider such as valuing members’ benefit from investment opportunities, balancing member equity, risk management, and assessing/ranking available funding options. In addition, Finity will outline the type of financial projections and scenario analysis that mutual organisations should consider as part of assessing whether MCIs and CCUs are suitable and to facilitate the engagement of all stakeholders.
Mutual entities and fundraising - Understanding the regulatory framework
Wednesday, 30 September, 4 - 5:30 pm AEST
Led by Claire LaBouchardiere, Senior Executive Leader, Corporations and Fiona Laidlaw Senior Specialist, Corporations, from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Firms considering issuing mutual capital instruments will wish to weigh up the option of a retail offering to members and beyond, to the general public.
This webinar, led by Claire LaBouchardiere and Fiona Laidlaw will describe the regulatory environment for retail share issues.
They will outline ASIC’s rules for share offers and the expectations that firms will need to meet.
The power of balance – retail vs wholesale markets
Wednesday, 7 October, 4 – 5:30 pm AEST
Led by Steven Wright, Executive Director, Fixed Interest and Philip Lee, Executive Director, Corporate Finance at Morgans Stockbrokers and Wealth Managers
This webinar will examine how mutuals and co-ops can approach fundraising markets.
Steven and Philip will consider a range of issues for firms considering issuing new capital:
Defining your potential investors
The concept of balance – wholesale vs retail
- Investor education
- A balanced investor register
- Target investors and examples
- Aftermarket – support and success
Project managing a share issuance
Wednesday, 28 October, 4 – 5:30 pm AEST
Led by Alison McGuire, Link Group
This webinar will examine how to project manage a share issuance. It will cover how to prepare a prospectus and communicate your offer, manage the transaction, maintain member communications and systems management before looking at ongoing registry management and investor relations.