Francois Richeboeuf has resigned from BT Funds Management after almost 15 years at the Westpac-owned investment house to take an asset allocation role at the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS).
Currently BT senior manager investment solutions, Richeboeuf joined BT in 2010 as a portfolio manager for the group’s diversified funds.
He officially exits the Westpac funds management outlet in February next year to assume a senior investment strategist position at NZS in the asset allocation team headed by Charles Hyde.
Richeboeuf serves under BT head of investment solutions, Philip Houghton-Brown, who took on the job late in 2020 following over eight years at Mercer NZ, the last four as chief investment officer.
A Westpac spokesperson said: “We are currently working through our plans for the team and will be happy to provide updates on any changes in the new year.”
BT manages more than $17 billion on behalf of Westpac including about $12 billion in the bank-owned KiwiSaver scheme.
At the same time, NZS has named former Australian Future Fund chief investment officer and interim ANZ Investments NZ head of asset allocation, Sue Brake, as a new board member.
In a statement, NZS board chair, John Williamson said: “Sue’s career as a senior investment professional with the NZ Super Fund and former Chief Investment Officer of the Australian Future Fund, and as an advisor to organisations including the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the IMF, has given her a clear understanding of the philosophy and practices necessary for success as a long-term investor.”
Brake, who also served as a senior investment strategist at NZS from 2009 to September 2016, left the Future Fund mid 2022 to establish a consultancy business. She stepped in as ANZ head of asset allocation briefly in March this year following the departure of incumbent, Maaike van Tol, to the NZS in what turned out to be a one-for-one swap: Qing Ding took on the ANZ head of asset allocation job in August, moving from the sovereign wealth fund where she was a senior investment strategist.
Cecilia Tarrant is stepping down as chair of the Green Investment Fund (GIF) in the wake of the SolarZero debacle that left a $145 million loan from the government-owned ‘sustainable’ financer in jeopardy.
In a shock move that left both GIF and company owner, BlackRock, sporting black eyes, SolarZero, was forced into liquidation late in November.
BlackRock bought the NZ solar panel financing business in September 2022 for about $100 million via a private equity vehicle but booted it to liquidators citing unsustainable losses.
According to the latest GIF annual report, the lending operation founded by the-then Labour government in 2019 to support local clean energy firms “typically will not allocate more than 33 percent of capital to any single technology or industry and no more than 20 percent of our capital to any one counterparty”.
The $145 million SolarZero loan represents about a third of the total GIF balance sheet as at the end of June this year.
“I am immensely proud of the progress achieved in more than 30 transactions, showcasing the market potential of low-emissions investments across diverse sectors,” Tarrant said in a statement.
“I leave the role with confidence in the foundation we’ve built and wish the organisation every success in driving New Zealand’s critical journey toward decarbonisation.”
Tarrant was paid $98,000 per annum to chair GIF.
The 2024 accounts show the green lender splashed out almost $530,000 on remuneration for interim chief executive, Chris Day, in the latest financial year. Sarah Minhinnick took over as GIF chief in August this year, moving from her role as NZX general manager capital markets origination.
Foundation GIF head, Craig Weise, was paid more than $1 million during his final year as chief after quitting in June 2023.
Also last week, specialist index player, Scientific Beta, hired Warwick Schneller as head of investment solutions Australia and NZ.
Schneller comes to Scientific Beta in Australia from factor firm, Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA), where he was a senior member of the research and investment solutions groups.
At DFA he “led research initiatives and provided thought leadership, analysis and client education on a wide range of investment-related topics across Australia and New Zealand”, according to a release.
Susan Rodgers, Scientific Beta Australasia business development director, said the appointment would support the firm’s growth in the region.
“Warwick will work closely with research, index construction, and business development, linking investors to Scientific Beta’s global leading research and index design capabilities,” she said.
Former Scientific Beta Australia senior investment strategist, Mike Aked, left the indexing provider – now owned by the Singapore stock exchange – in February this year for a quant role at UBS Australia.
The group launched in Australia in 2022.
Earlier in December Scientific Beta also landed a key client after inking a partnership deal with Australian superannuation and financial services collective, Future Group.
Under the arrangement, Scientific Beta will create a bespoke global equities index for the multi-party group that “screens out fossil fuel, tobacco, weapons, nuclear energy and gambling” stocks.
The strategy will be implemented by State Street with Equity Trustees as responsible entity (or supervisor in NZ terms).
The Future Group ensemble accounts for about A$15 billion and 383,000 Australian super fund members.