Biography

David Toomey
David Toomey

How a farm-boy from country Australia became an international investment specialist before directing his expertise and passion to save the planet.

David Toomey grew up on his parent's Avocado Farm on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. His first investment was in some zucchini seeds which he successfully planted, grew and sold to the local supermarket at age 9.

He thanks his parents for providing such a great environment to grow up in. The Sunshine Coast is world renown for its amazing beaches, estuaries and hinterland rainforest. David attributes his appreciation for the environment to spending a lot of time camping, surfing, fishing and hiking. Being so close to nature, and spending 10 years in scouts taught him to 'leave things as you found them'.

After graduating from High School, he had two options:

  1. A Degree in Aquaculture, where he could live out his passion for protecting the ocean by providing a sustainable food source in commercially farmed seafood.
  2. A Degree in Accounting, which would provide him with a solid foundation in business to support his entrepreneurial spirit.
He went with the latter as he acknowledged his could always "get back to" the first option.

His first job in 'big city' Brisbane was a defining moment. Until then he thought he was not smart enough for a city job. He learnt it was all about perception and realized everything was possible. As a Chartered Accountant he traveled the Queensland coast auditing large and small companies which gave him a good understanding of the why different businesses were successful (or not). During this time he was seconded to Sydney at age 21 to assist an Australian company to be listed on the US Stock Exchange. This is where he got his first taste of the international marketplace.

He then jumped on a plane to London, via a challenging solo back-packing trip through Brazil and America, and straight into a role as a Financial Analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston. ABN AMRO was next in line which offered a satisfying role as Management Consultant, but one which didn't quite keep up with Toomey's spirit for challenge and self-improvement.

A career change to become an Equity Analyst was next in sight and what better place for this tenacious young Australian than the largest Private Equity Investor in the world - AlpInvest Partners in The Netherlands.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. The technology bubble had just burst, he was changing careers, only had a 1 year visa and he didn't speak the local language. Toomey needed to embark on the Chartered Financial Analyst Program (CFA) to set himself apart.

While at AlpInvest, he fulfilled his 10 yr long dream of working on the largest leverage buy out deals in the world in the largest financial capitals in the world - New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam.