Australian Capital Equity

Ryan Stokes AO serves as CEO of ACE, with his father Kerry Stokes AC remaining as Chairman. Brian O'Donnell, as Director of Finance and Investments, handles the private portfolio's direct deployment. Board-level governance includes Christine Simpson Stokes AM, ensuring concentration of decision authority within immediate family and a single long-tenure non-family lieutenant.

ACE's most significant asset is a controlling voting position in ASX-listed Seven Group Holdings, a public company with its own independent board and equity financing capability. The private family office holds unlisted assets — land, art, royalties, and private credit exposures — outside of SGH, creating two separate pools of capital: one that reports quarterly to public shareholders and one that operates with no external disclosure obligation.

No. ACE is a single-family office and does not manage third-party capital. Its investments are funded entirely by the Stokes family's own balance sheet, which is replenished by dividends from its listed holdings, private royalty streams, and asset monetisations.

ACE does not publicly maintain a negative list, but observing its deployment history suggests no material allocation to early-stage venture, consumer internet, biopharma, or software-as-a-service. The portfolio concentrates overwhelmingly on asset-heavy, cash-generating industrial and natural-resource businesses, suggesting these are out-of-scope.

The Kerry Stokes Collection is one of Australia's most significant private art holdings, encompassing Indigenous Australian works, the Larrakitj Collection, and historically important Western pieces including the Rothschild Prayer Book. These assets are held by ACE and publicly exhibited but do not trade as part of any investment portfolio — they function as a multigenerational cultural legacy.

The wealth originates in Perth commercial-property development and regional broadcast media during the 1980s. Kerry Stokes built an early network of radio and television stations, consolidated under Seven Network, then redirected cash flows and listing currency into Caterpillar dealership WesTrac — a move that turned the family balance sheet from media speculation into industrial infrastructure.

Yes. The Stokes Family Foundation distributes charitable funding independently of ACE and SGH. The foundation supports health, education, and Indigenous community programs, and operates routes for the family to donate cultural assets — including Victoria Cross medals — to Australian public institutions.