NZ SUPER FUND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Head of Strategic Tilting
Prior to joining the Guardians in 2009 Alex worked for Goldman Sachs JBWere (NZ) Ltd as Director of Derivatives for two years. Before this he worked at Merrill Lynch for seven years in London as Vice President. In this role he was a structured credit derivatives trader, managing a large trading book and market-making on tranches, bespoke CDOs, default swap options and other derivatives.
Job Titles:
- Head of Sustainable Investment at the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation
Anne-Maree O'Connor is Head of Sustainable Investment at the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation. She is responsible for the development and oversight of the Guardians' Sustainable Finance Strategy, which includes integrating environmental, social and governance considerations across the NZ Super Fund's investments. Anne-Maree was a Commissioner on the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (Liechtenstein Initiative) supported by the United Nations during its mandate. She was a member of the New Zealand Sustainable Finance Forum and represents the NZ Super Fund on the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund initiative on climate change. Anne-Maree is a past board member of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) and a recipient of the Women of Influence 2017 award for Board and Management.
Anne-Maree has over 20 years of sustainable investment experience in senior roles including Managing Director of CoreRatings and Associate Director RI at Aviva's Morley Fund Management.
Job Titles:
- Dip Head of Portfolio Completion
- General Manager, Portfolio Completion ( Acting )
- Head of Portfolio Completion
Brad joined the Fund in September 2013 having worked for Canaccord Genuity in London as Co-Head of European Equity Derivatives. Prior to that, Brad spent 11 years working in London for various investment banks including Bear Stearns and JP Morgan.
Brad joined the Guardians in September 2013 as Head of Portfolio Completion. Prior to joining the Guardians Brad had worked for Cannacord Genuity in London as Co-Head of European Equity Derivatives. Brad Spent 11 Years working in London for various investment banks including Bear Stearns and JP Morgan. Brad holds an BCom from the University of Canterbury and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. Brad is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and is currently the chair of the Kohimarama School Board of Trustees.
Charles joined the Fund in 2015. As Head of Asset Allocation, he oversees the construction of the Fund's Reference Portfolio, the allocation of risk capital across the Fund, the determination of the cost of capital, modelling/monitoring of portfolio flexibility and the Guardians' economics function. Dr Hyde's previous roles include Head of Quantitative Research at MIR Investment Management; Head of Equities Research at Commonwealth Bank of Australia; and Principal Economist in Transfer Pricing at Deloitte. Dr Hyde has also held a number of academic roles in finance and economics at the University of Melbourne, University of British Columbia, and the University of Sydney. He has a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Risk Committee
- General Manager, Corporate Affairs
Cristina is the Chair of the Risk Committee, she joined the Guardians in 2009 following roles in both law firms and as in house counsel in the financial services industry. Prior to going inhouse, Cristina spent several years as a senior legal associate at Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia and worked at law firm Bell Gully. Cristina has substantial experience in financial services with expertise across various facets of law including mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, health and safety, public law and governance.
David McClatchy was appointed to the Board of the Guardians for a five-year term beginning on 1 October 2021 (expiring 30 September 2026). A respected business leader and financial markets professional, Mr McClatchy has returned to New Zealand following a successful career based in Sydney, Australia. There he served as Group Chief Investment Officer of Insurance Australia Group and Managing Director at IAG Asset Management from 2012 until 2019, and before this held the role of CEO and Chairman at ING Investment Management Australia Limited (now ANZ Funds Management).
Before his move across the Tasman, David spent sixteen years with banking and investment management companies in New Zealand. Over the course of his career Mr McClatchy has run and directed multinational investment organisations across New Zealand, Australia and Asia, managing funds for insurance firms, corporates, sovereign wealth funds, superannuation funds, and charities.
David currently serves as a Director of Trust Investment Management Limited, Kingfish Limited, Barramundi Limited and Marlin Global Limited.
David holds a Bachelor of Commerce 1987 from the University of Auckland.
David Sara joined the Guardians in 2009. He has substantial experience in financial services, including as Head of Strategy with UK-based Platform Home Loans, Head of Venture Development for Lloyds Banking Group and Manager of Strategic Planning for the National Bank of New Zealand.
Job Titles:
- Head of External Investments and Partnerships
Prior to joining the Guardians in 2010 Del was Client Service Manager for Russell Investments, where she was responsible for all aspects of the institutional client relationships in New Zealand. Del also spent 5 years in London working as a Risk Manager for Pictet Asset Management, and before that held a variety of other roles in the financial services industry.
Doug Pearce was first appointed to the Board of the Guardians on 30 May 2016 and reappointed on 1 October 2020. His current term of office expires on 30 September 2024. Doug was the founding Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), one of Canada's largest institutional investors, with over $200B in assets under management. He held these positions from 1988 until he retired in 2014 and has over 35 years of experience in the capital markets.
Doug has also served as director and Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), the Pacific Pension Institute (PPI), and the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC). He has a keen interest in business strategy and good governance and has been a member of the advisory board at the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and the Faculty Advisory Board at UBC Sauder School of Business. Doug also currently sits on the boards of Fortis BC and the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia (elected in 2016).
Doug holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary.
Job Titles:
- Director of Summerset Group Limited
Fiona Oliver was appointed to the Board of the Guardians on 24 March 2023. Her term of office expires 30 September 2027. She is a highly experienced director and holds governance roles that span several business sectors including transport, renewable energy, natural gas, technology, commercial property, sport and financial services.
Fiona is a Director of Summerset Group Limited, Freightways Limited, Gentrack Group Limited, Kingfish Limited, Barramundi Limited and Marlin Global Limited and Director and Audit Committee Chair of the Clarus (previously named First Gas) Group companies. Fiona is also a director of New Zealand Water Polo.
Fiona was formerly a Director and Board Audit Committee Chair of Tilt Renewables Limited and BNZ Life Insurance Limited and BNZ Life Services Limited, Chair of Vinta Funds Management Limited, and a Director of Augusta Limited, Public Trust, the National Provident Fund and Wynyard Group Limited (in liquidation). Fiona was also a Member of the Inland Revenue Risk & Assurance Committee.
In her Executive career, Fiona has held leadership roles in funds management including holding the roles of Chief Operating Officer of BT Funds Management (NZ), Westpac's investment arm, and General Manager, Wealth Management for AMP NZ and commercial roles in asset management and private equity in Sydney and London. Before that, she practised as a senior corporate and commercial lawyer both in New Zealand and overseas with a focus on mergers and acquisitions.
Fiona was awarded the New Zealand Shareholders Association Beacon Award in 2021. This recognises outstanding performance in leadership and corporate guidance.
Fiona holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (1988) from the University of Auckland (New Zealand). She is also a qualified Solicitor in New Zealand, New South Wales (Australia) and England.
Prior to joining the Fund in 2011, Garry worked with large financial services organisations in New Zealand, as the Chief Internal Auditor at the ASB Group of Companies. His responsibilities covered risk management and leading the internal audit and credit review functions of the business. At the Fund, Garry heads Internal Audit and is a member of the Risk Committee.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Finance at the University of Auckland
Henk is a Professor of Finance at the University of Auckland and has a fractional appointment as research professor at the University of Sydney. He completed his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam and has published extensively in leading finance journals. He was adjunct director at Arthur Andersen Global Corporate Finance, and has acted as consultant for a number of multinationals and market regulators around the world.
Former directorships include SIRCA, ltd. a not-for profit organisation with the mission to promote financial research, and RoZetta Technology Ltd, a big-data analytics organisation based in Sydney. Henk also serves as president of the Dutch language school in Auckland. Henk was appointed to the Guardians Board on 1 October 2018 and his term ends 30 September 2022.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Strategy and Shared Services ( Acting )
John is Acting General Manager, Strategy and Shared Services, Director of the Palgrove Group of Companies (Guardians wholly owned Australian Beef Business), and Chair of the Health Safety Security and Environmental Committee. In addition, he is Chair of the New Zealand Corporate Taxpayers Group (CTG) which comprises 49 major corporate organisations. The CTG works with Inland Revenue and Treasury to achieve positive changes to tax policy and operational procedures. He is a business representative of the Inland Revenue Technical Information Co-ordination and Liaison Group.
Previously John was Head of Tax at the Guardians and before that he was Head of Tax and Treasurer at Carter Holt Harvey, Head of Tax at Vodafone New Zealand, Brierley Investments and Progressive Enterprises. He has also provided tax consultancy services to Fonterra and ASB and spent his early career with EY in Auckland.
John is a member of the Institute of Directors, has been awarded a Fellowship (FCA) by Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand. He is a committee member for the Tax Policy Charitable Trust and the New Zealand Branch of the International Fiscal Association and has a BCom from Auckland University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Guardians Board
John Williamson was appointed to the Board of the Guardians on 30 May 2016. His term of office expires on 30 September 2025. John is a private company investor. He has held leadership roles in listed and private equity-owned companies across multiple sectors, including Group Chief Executive of ACG Education (2016 to 2018), Group Managing Director of Hellaby Holdings (2007 to 2015) and senior leadership positions with Fletcher Building (1996 to 2003) and Bendon (1991 to 1996).
John is Chair of Ritchies Transport Holdings and a former Chair of Hockey New Zealand. Previous directorships include Global Academic Group Holdings, Hellaby Holdings and associated companies.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (1986), and a Master of Laws (1990) from the University of Auckland (New Zealand).
Kathryn joined the Guardians in the newly created role of Head of Data Analytics in March 2022. She is a seasoned data and analytics leader with extensive experience in predictive modelling, operations, and technology. Kathryn previously held leadership positions within supervisory stress testing at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She holds a Master of Science in Business Analytics from NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Princeton University where she graduated with honours.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Investment Committee
- Senior Investment Strategist, Direct Investments
Lucy is the alternate Chair of the Investment Committee. She joined the Fund in 2014 as a Senior Investment Strategist. In this role she has a strong focus on assessing investments and asset classes and their fit within the overall portfolio. Prior to this she was a Managing Director at Macquarie in their London Commodities team, where she was involved in developing new markets and options trading. She also spent time in Macquarie's Risk management team in Sydney.
Job Titles:
- Guardians in 2007 As General Manager, Operations
- Member of the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand ( INFINZ ), Member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand ( MInstD ) General Manager, Risk
Mark joined the Guardians in 2007 as General Manager, Operations. In 2012 he was appointed General Manager, Portfolio Completion and in 2021 he was appointed to the newly created role of General Manager, Risk.
Prior to this, he worked for The Warehouse Group where he held roles as Company Secretary, Treasurer and Chief Risk Manager. Mark also has considerable public sector experience in State Owned Enterprises, working as Treasurer for the Forestry Corporation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NZ Railways Corporation respectively.
Michael joined the Fund in 2005 to establish the Fund's Responsible Investment processes. Since then, he has switched his focus to the Guardians' risk requirements and has been instrumental in establishing the Risk Record framework, the development of the in-house trading for liquidity and reference portfolio completion. Prior to starting at the Guardians, Michael worked for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in Wellington before moving on to Morgan Stanley, Westpac Investment Management and ABN Amro.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Human Resources
Prior to joining the Fund as Head of Human Resources in 2012, Ms Austin was a Senior Associate with Russell McVeagh, specialising in commercial litigation. She has also worked for the Financial Services Authority in London. Ms Austin has a LLB/BA from the University of Auckland.
Job Titles:
- Head of Portfolio Investments
Joining the Guardians in 2008, Mr Sosa has held various roles across Finance, Risk, Strategy and Portfolio Investments. Pablo is responsible for leading the Portfolio Investments Team, and driving the Guardians' Tactical Credit Opportunities mandate.
Prior to his role at the Guardians, Mr Sosa held various finance roles at Unilever Argentina including Supply Chain Finance, Marketing Finance and Treasury.
Mr Sosa graduated Cum Laude from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, specialising in Finance at the Universidad de San Andrés.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer ( Acting )
Paula joined the Guardians in July 2021, from ASB Bank where she was the Chief Internal Auditor. Paula has 25 years experience in financial services and banking, starting her career as an auditor with professional services firm Deloitte and holding various executive finance and general management roles with AMP, ANZ and ASB. Paula is a Chartered Accountant, and has a BCA majoring in Accounting and Commercial Law from Victoria University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Investment Committee
- Director, External Investments and Partnerships
Rishab is the Chair of the Investment Committee and a Director in the External Investments and Partnerships team - leading a team that manages the Fund's global investments in equities, credit, insurance and liquid alternatives via investment managers and partnerships. Rishab joined the Guardians in 2014 as a Senior Advisor and has previously contributed to a range of strategic development, asset allocation, portfolio design and sustainable investment topics. Rishab started his career as a research economist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. He has an MPA from the London School of Economics and Columbia University's SIPA, and a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University.
Stephen joined the Guardians in 2019. As Chief Investment Officer, he is responsible for overseeing the Asset Allocation, Strategic Tilting, Sustainable Investment, Investment Data & Analytics, External Investments & Partnerships, and Direct Investment teams.
Prior to this, Stephen was the Chief Investment Strategist at the Future Fund, Australia's sovereign wealth fund. In this role he was responsible for Investment Strategy, Investment Risk, Derivative Overlays and Investment (technology) Solutions. Earlier in his career Stephen held senior strategy roles in London and Hong Kong with AIG Financial Products and Morgan Stanley. He has also worked with the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Job Titles:
- MAF Head of Direct Investments
Will joined the Guardians in 2016 having spent 2 years as CFO at Todd Minerals, based in Sydney. Prior to this he held various senior executive roles across the Todd Corporation in Corporate Development and Private Equity.