Following its $150 million NZ equities mandate win from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) earlier this month, Auckland-based boutique Mint Asset Management has named Brett Sutton as independent director.
Sutton, who ended a three-and-a-half-year stint as head of NZS direct investments in 2012, will take the second independent director spot alongside recently-appointed Mint chairman, Mark Todd.
In a statement, Rebecca Thomas, Mint chief, said Sutton would head the board’s audit and risk committee.
Prior to joining NZS, Sutton spent a 17-year career as investment manager with New Zealand’s largest family office, Todd Capital. He is currently on the boards of Datacom, Stevenson Group, Marlborough-based Iwi group, Rangitane and a trustee of Special Olympics NZ
“Brett is an experienced investor with a background in private capital markets and therefore brings a complimentary set of skills to our Board following the appointment of Mark Todd as chairman last month,” Thomas said in the release.
After securing the $150 million NZS mandate this month, Mint funds under management (FUM) leapt to $450 million. Thomas said the firm was on track to top $600 million with a “strong pipeline” of prospects.
NZS hired Mint under a flexible mandate that may see it allocate more to the manager as it builds ‘conviction’ over time. Mint inherited slightly more than half of the $260 million mandate managed by AMP Capital until last November.
NZS in-house local equities team will continue to manage the remainder of the ex AMP portfolio, along with the approximately $280 million in-suspense Milford Asset Management mandate, and the roughly $300 million it converted from passive to active in 2013.