The Accident Compensation Commission (ACC) is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer after incumbent, Mark Dossor, accepted the top job at Wellington-based Rangatira Investments, last week.
Dossor replaces former Rangatira chief executive, Phil Veal, who finished a three-year stint with the $230 million investment vehicle last November.
In a statement announcing his resignation last September, Rangatira said Veal was leaving “to pursue new opportunities”.
The incoming Dossor will formally take up Rangatira duties in July with the investment firm sitting on $50 million of cash to invest.
Rangatira, which trades on the Unlisted platform, invests in a mix of private – mainly NZ small-to-medium firms – and both local and offshore listed assets.
David Pilkington, Rangatira chair, said in a release last week: “Mark’s appointment follows a comprehensive search for someone with the full range of skills necessary to take Rangatira into the future.”
Pilkington said Dossor’s experience overseeing portfolios including the ACC fund (now at about $40 billion), carrying out due diligence on potential investments and hands-on corporate director roles would help Rangatira “continue a sustainable growth strategy”.
As CFO Dossor is in charge of “financial and management reporting, investments [and] procurement”, according to the ACC website.
Rangatira, which formed in 1937, is majority-owned (51 per cent) by the philanthropic JR McKenzie Trust while other charitable trusts own a further 15 per cent and private investors
Dossor said in the statement: “Rangatira is a company with a reputation as a trusted investor and partner to many successful New Zealand companies. Through this it has delivered strong returns for over 80 years… I am looking forward to continuing this great heritage…”
In its most recent private equity placement, Rangatira took a 50 per cent stake in NZ boutique biscuit-maker, Mrs Higgins, adding to a portfolio that includes: Hellers; Polynesian Spa, Rainbow’s End and Bio-Strategy.
The group sold down about a third of its public equity holdings in the 18 months to September last year. As at the end of September 2017 Rangatira owned about $29 million in equities ($13.1 million in NZ and $15.7 million offshore) compared to over $43 million in March 2016.
Rangatira pared back global shares holdings to just half a dozen stocks in 2017 (valued at $15.7 million) from a portfolio of 15 as at March 31, 2016: the current international shares exposure includes two oil companies (Shell and BP), two mining firms (BHP and Rio Tinto), UK-listed consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, and an Australian bank (Commonwealth).
In its September quarterly update, the ACC says the investment fund generated income of $696 million over the year to date. “However, the portfolio performance of 2.02% net of costs is slightly under-performing benchmark,” the ACC statement says.
Prior to joining the ACC Dossor was CFO of NZ Post Postal Services Group. He has also served as managing partner of NZ private equity firm, Endeavour Capital, and chair of the NZ Venture Capital Association.