GroupM names Anita Munro as chief investment officer

GroupM has appointed Anita Munro as chief investment officer for Southeast and North Asia, as well as chair of its APAC Investment Council, effective today.

She was previously chief investment officer for Mindshare APAC, managing investment across 16 regional offices.

Munro will be part of GroupM’s APAC leadership team, reporting to Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of GroupM APAC, and Andrew Meaden, GroupM’s global chief investment officer. She takes on most duties of former GroupM APAC CIO, Nick Binns. 

“As the first woman to helm the chair role on our regional investment committee, I’m thrilled to be part of an organisation that’s leading the charge to cultivate greater equity and diversity across the entire industry," Munro said in a release. "Together with our investment community, I look forward to continue creating value for clients across the entire media supply chain, and propel us towards a more sustainable and vibrant media future.”

In 17 years at Mindshare and Maxus, Munro has worked in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. This included a stint leading the media business for LVMH at L’Atelier as well as time working with Unilever, L’Oréal, Huawei, Ford, Jetstar and Mondelez.

Munro's diverse experience across client leadership, investment, strategic planning and operations gives her a deep appreciation of the holistic business and the investment needs of clients and markets, Srivastava said, adding that she will be "a transformative force in stewarding responsible investment that will make advertising work better for people".

Munro was a member of Campaign Asia-Pacific's Women to Watch in 2017 and has also been involved in Campaign Leading Change. She is also a member of the identity committee at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Southeast Asia.