Scott Rochfort
February 21, 2012
CBD 
''Male champion of change'' … Kevin McCann. Illustration: John Shakespeare
Broking legend Brent Potts and some of his old Southern Cross Equities mates have shied away from adopting the name of a 1980s spray-on deodorant or a failed pay-TV operator for their new outfit.
Three months since retiring from the board of Bell Financial Group, Potts has set up offices in the RBS Building with a few Southern Cross buddies (some who have finished their gardening leave from the Bell acquisition).
But the new advisory and broking firm will no longer be called Australis Advisers. It has been renamed Blue Ocean Equities (not to be confused with Blue Oyster).
The firm's directors include Southern Cross co-founder Peter Gray, Southern Cross's former head of research, Rex Adams, Paul McCarthy, David O'Halloran and Richard Granger. Blue Ocean's stockbroking operations will be cleared by the Bank of New York Mellon-owned Pershing Securities.
It is unclear if the naming of the firm has anything to do with the best-selling book of a similar name. Blue Ocean Strategy outlined six ways a firm could create demand in an uncontested market space.
SORE POINT
Harry ''Kevin'' McCann has a ready response when it comes to questions about the male-dominated club of Sydney directors: it is not as bad as Melbourne.
The Macquarie Bank and Origin Energy chair addressed a Committee for Economic Development of Australia Women in Leadership lunch in Sydney yesterday, highlighting his role as a ''male champion of change''.
The daunting statistics - only 14 per cent of directors on ASX 200 boards are women - led to predictable questioning from the floor about barriers to getting on boards.
While Mr McCann agreed there was an issue about the male club, he was quick to point the finger south.
''They went to the same schools, they went to the same universities, they married each other's sisters,'' the former Barker College schoolboy said, adding that they also all went to Portsea for summer.
Still, McCann is ever an optimist. After his ''Damascus'' conversion in 2008 about the issue, he is confident the companies he chairs will soon leave what he identifies as phase one - ''getting in the game'' - and make it to phase two - ''getting serious''.
INJURY LIST
The results season injury list continues to grow. With Asciano's managing director John Mullen already ruling himself out of tomorrow's results owing to complications resulting from a diving incident on the Great Barrier Reef, the chief financial officer of Bendigo Bank Richard Fennell hobbled into his company's profit briefing in Melbourne yesterday.
Fennell sported a large cast around his foot yesterday courtesy of an incident on the second day of his visit to the slopes of the Canadian skiing town of Whistler.
RIGHTS RELIEF
OZ Minerals expressed its relief over the sale of one of its businesses yesterday, which it said ''did not fit'' within its strategy.
The miner announced ''it was pleased'' about the sale of its Cambodian gold exploration rights ''to a group which has strong ambitions to see them developed''.
OZ made no mention of the corruption allegations made last year regarding its Cambodian operations. Last May, the miner rejected a Cambodia Daily report that related to OZ's buy-out of one of its goldmine partners, Shin Ha, in 2009.
The paper said more than $US1 million of the proceeds went to three women on the Shin Ha board who were reported to be closely related to officials in government departments, including the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.
The buyer of OZ's Cambodian operations, Renaissance Minerals, yesterday noted how Cambodia was ''emerging as an attractive mining jurisdiction open to foreign companies with a supportive government''.
It also noted the ''recent implementation of anti-corruption law''.
POWER OUTTAGE
Has the Sun King lost his mojo? In his company's in-house newsletter (aka The Australian), Rupert Murdoch has been ranked the third most influential person in the Australian media. The News Corp boss came behind the federal communications minister, Stephen Conroy, and Seven Network big kahuna Kerry Stokes.
Got a tip? srochfort@fairfax.com.au
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