Foresight recruits sustainability experts Terence Jeyaretnam and Cameron Reid

Sustainability advisory Foresight Consulting Group has recruited former Ernst & Young partner Terence Jeyaretnam as its new chair, with ex-KPMG director Cameron Reid also joining the firm.

Terence Jeyaretnam crosses to Foresight Consulting Group as an executive director in Melbourne after previously spending more than a decade at Ernst & Young, where he led the Big Four firm’s climate & sustainability practice for the Asia Pacific.

Cameron Reid also joins the 2022-founded sustainability consultancy as a director in its Melbourne base, having earlier spent four years as a director at KPMG to late 2023, with more recent time in leadership roles at Mars and Commonwealth Bank.

“Foresight is at an exciting point in its journey – fast expanding, highly respected, and purpose-led. We are now the independent market leader in climate and sustainability.” said founder and CEO Josh Martin, who previously worked alongside Jeyaretnam for more than a decade at Ernst & Young and his climate business Net Balance, which was sold to EY in 2014.

Terence Jeyaretnam

Jeyaretnam established Net Balance eight years earlier after previously working for a number of engineering advisories, including SMEC and now AECOM-owned URS. Prior to that, he also served as environmental services leader for now KKR-owned ERM’s Melbourne and Perth offices, and has acted in numerous academic and director and chair roles throughout his career.

As just a small sample, he presently serves as a professor at Monash Business School, is a member of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, and chairs Amnesty International Australia, after arriving in the country in his youth as a Sri Lankan refugee. Among many other roles, he was also previously a senior advisor to the International Sustainability Standards Board.

“Foresight offers an independent and purpose-oriented alternative to a market dominated by the Big Four accounting partnerships and several environmental, climate and sustainability firms with private equity ownership models,” Jeyaretnam said in a somewhat pointed reference to his past employers and local sector competitors.

Notably, another pair of Jeyaretnam and Martin’s former EY colleagues, Matt and Simone Rennie, sold a stake in their own 2021-founded ESG consultancy Rennie to Pemba Capital Partners in 2023, while the private equity firm has also been recently rolling up a number of specialists under the Sequana brand. Quadrant likewise bought into EMM at the end of 2024.

“It’s fantastic to be working together again. Terence grew Net Balance into the largest sustainability practice at the time, and so brings a growth mindset to a boutique firm.” Martin said, adding that Reid is also “an extraordinarily talented strategist” who courtesy of his industry experience will ensure the firm understands both the operational and technical challenges of its clients.

Cameron Reid

In addition to his time at KPMG, and more recent stints at Commonwealth and Mars, the latter as the confectionery giant’s sustainability lead for A/NZ, Reid also spent around a decade at energy supplier AGL, along with a three-and-a-half year CSR stint at NAB after having joined Deloitte at the turn of the millennium on the back of a business and accounting degree at RMIT.

Martin said; “In recent roles, Cameron has helped organisations set frameworks and governance structures that bring climate & sustainability alongside traditional business functions, making them part of the business, not just an add-on or reporting requirement. We are also thrilled to bring in his energy sector experience, particularly his work on transition, climate policy, and decarbonisation.”

Currently on a major recruitment drive, the firm claims to have experienced very strong growth since its inception, with Air Trunk, Hoyts, John Holland, Chartered Accountants ANZ, Regis, and Super Retail Group among a long list of clients. Expectations are for that growth trajectory to continue apace, as Australia’s mandatory corporate climate reporting regime is introduced.