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Duncan Kauffman

PartnerMelbourne

Leads McKinsey’s client work with institutional investors in Southeast Asia and is a core member of the firm’s Asia-Pacific Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice

Duncan advises pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds, private-equity firms, asset-management companies, and corporates on questions of strategy, organization, technology, and risk. He also supports clients on transactions, including diligence, post-acquisition value creation, and exits.

Duncan leads McKinsey on Investing, McKinsey's flagship publication of insights relevant to investors, and has contributed to several McKinsey Global Institute reports.

Examples of Duncan’s recent client work include the following:

  • crafting a comprehensive corporate strategy for an Asian institutional investor, including mandate, performance benchmarking, asset allocation, funds flow, portfolio management, and organization
  • crafting the corporate strategy for an infrastructure-focused institutional investor
  • developing the risk appetite framework for a globally active institutional investor
  • developing the three-year technology strategy for an institutional investor
  • designing a portfolio-management strategy for an institutional investor in Asia
  • supporting several private-equity firms to conduct commercial due diligence on assets in Southeast Asia and Australia
  • advising several private-equity firms regarding their fundraising activities
  • shaping the environmental, social, and governance strategy for a leading corporation in Asia
  • reshaping the strategic asset-allocation capability of an institutional investor
  • providing an Asian institutional investor with an independent perspective on its reputation among market participants

PUBLISHED WORK

Performance edge: Investors hone their strategies for a new era, McKinsey & Company, July 2023

Purpose for asset owners: Climbing a taller mountain,” McKinsey & Company, February 2021

Insurance strategy in Asia: Using programmatic M&A during the pandemic,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020

Look out below: Why returns are headed lower, and what to do about it,” McKinsey & Company, November 2016

Overcoming global turbulence to reawaken economic growth,” McKinsey Global Institute, September 2016

Turbulence ahead: Renewing consensus amidst greater volatility,” Singapore Summit, September 2016

Why investors may need to lower their sights,” McKinsey Global Institute, April 2016

Investing in growth: Europe's next challenge,” McKinsey Global Institute, December 2012

PAST EXPERIENCE

Linklaters LLP
Strategy analyst

EDUCATION

Harvard Business School
MBA, finance

University of Melbourne
LLB, commercial law, public law
BCom, economics, finance