FNZ’s largest shareholder, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), has seen its man in Australia appointed to the board of the Wellington-domiciled entity that now has no locally based directors.
Jean-Étienne Leroux, CPDQ Australia head, joined the FNZ board at the end of May, bringing the director count back up to 14 after Charlie
Trotter stepped down in April.
Leroux, who is also CPDQ head of infrastructure for Australia and NZ, joined the Canadian pension giant in 2001, taking up the Sydney-based role in 2015.
A CPDQ company also came aboard as a named minority shareholder of the FNZ Group recently along with other institutional owners including US private equity firms, Summit Partners and Generation Investment Management and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, Temasek.
Close to 95 per cent of the FNZ Group equity is held via a Cayman Islands-domiciled vehicle. CPDQ owns about 44 per cent of FNZ, according to the fund’s latest accounts.
In June, the last remaining local FNZ board member, Charlotte Boyer, also relocated to the UK from Tawa in Wellington.
NZ companies must have at least one director who lives in the country but Australia counts, too, as long as the person also serves on corporate boards across the ditch.
Leroux is a director for Connexa, the Port of Brisbane, the WestConnex and Transgrid.
But the board and technical equity changes come amid a disputed capital-raising process that has triggered threats of legal action from diluted employee shareholders. No case has yet been filed, according to a FNZ spokesperson.
The global investment administration firm has also just landed a roughly US$1 billion contract to develop a “next generation wealth management platform” for the Canadian arm of US-listed advisory business, Raymond James.
In Canada, Raymond James manages C$88 billion through a network of almost 520 financial advisers.
Meanwhile, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has kicked off the search for a new head of dynamic asset allocation to replace David Iverson.
Iverson was named as chief investment officer for the almost $50 billion ACC fund in May after the retirement of long-time incumbent, Paul Dyer.
Among other duties, the dynamic asset allocation (DAA) role involves ongoing efforts “to improve investment processes, adopt new technologies and staying current with financial market developments and new investment products”, the job description says.
Iverson joined the ACC fund in 2020 from the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS), where he was head of asset allocation, along with colleague, Sam Porath. The pair established the ACC DAA program similar to the successful ‘strategic tilting’ process used by the NZS.
DAA “seeks to add value by dynamically altering exposures in response to changes to valuation signals and macroeconomic views”, the ACC recruitment ad says, with positions implemented via derivatives across equity, bond and currency markets.
Applications for the role, which reports to Iverson, close on July 8.
Also last week, software-as-a-service provider to the NZ financial sector, OMNIMax, revealed role switches for two of its senior leaders.
Under the change, OMNIMax founder and managing director, Jonathan Taylor, takes on the product manager job while Greg Hansen moves from head of sales to general manager.
“The leadership changes reflect a broader shift toward scaling product development while maintaining a focus on client outcomes and company growth,” according to a release.
Taylor said in the statement that the move would free him up to focus on product development.
He said Hansen was the “ideal person” to take on general manager duties.
Hansen joined OMNIMax in 2022 after more than 20 years in senior marketing roles across various industries.
“I’m looking forward to leading OMNIMax through its next phase and continuing to support advisers with solutions that save them time and help them improve their productivity,” he said in the release.
Founded in 2002, the company provides off-the-shelf KiwiSaver and investment client software for financial advisers as well as customised solutions.
Meanwhile, Craigs Investment Partners has taken on Arron Perriam in the newly created position of philanthropy and intergenerational wealth director.
Due to arrive late in August, Perriam will be part of the Craigs Specialised Wealth Advisory Team (SWAT) that services endowment-type clients such as community foundations, charities and iwi.
He has a more than 30-experience in the philanthropic sector with current governance roles in the sector including the Salvation Army in NZ and four South Pacific island as well as serving as national executive director for Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ.
Jeremy Williamson, Craigs head of private wealth, said in a release that Perriam would “work closely with our SWAT team to deliver exceptional outcomes for our philanthropic clients”.
“He will also work alongside our investment advisers to support and educate private wealth clients on all aspects of philanthropy and intergenerational wealth – helping them build clarity and confidence around these important conversations,” Williamson said.
Craigs, now half-owned by US private equity firm TA Associates, is the largest NZ advisory network by assets under management that currently sit at about $32 billion.
Elsewhere, the NZ Financial Services Council (FSC) has hired Aimie Hines in the newly created role of general manager advocacy.
The peak financial services industry body says in a note that the new position comes amid a heightened focus on lobbying the government and as “we amplify the voice of our sector and strengthen FSC’s presence in the policy and regulatory space”.
Hines was most recently a senior consultant with Wellington-based public affairs outfit, Capital NZ, follow a decade in various senior communications roles including a short stint heading the function for the National Party.