Former Smartshares chief, Hugh Stevens, has resurfaced as deputy chair of the Government Superannuation Fund (GSF) board.
Stevens resigned from Smartshares this January, finishing a five-year term heading the now $10 billion plus NZX-owned funds management firm at the end of March.
He replaces Alison O’Connell who left the GSF board in April after first joining in May 2017.
Appointed by the Finance Minister, other GSF directors include Michael Sang and Sarah Vrede, whose terms are due to end or renew at the end of this June, along with chair Anne Blackburn, Angela Foulkes and Murray Brown who are all contracted until at least June 2024.
As at the end of June last year, the GSF held about $5 billion via a panel of 25 offshore and local investment managers.
The GSF, established to defray the costs of defined benefit public service pensions, is run by the Wellington-based Annuitas, which also oversees investments for the roughly $2 billion National Provident Fund – another government-linked set of pension liabilities.
Annuitas has been through a staff revamp over the last 12 months or so following the exit of long-time chief, Simon Tyler, last year.
Former global head of governance consulting, Tim Mitchell, replaced Tyler this January, however, three senior Annuitas staff have since left including: Paul Bevin, general manager investments; Keith Poore, head of asset allocation; and Nicky Rumsey, manager investments. Lawrence Young since joined Annuitas from Public Trust in place of Rumsey but the top investment role remains vacant for now.
Meanwhile, it is understood the NZX has short-listed candidates for the top Smartshares role with interviews now underway.
The NZX-owned funds shop reported almost $10.5 billion under management as at the end of May with the figures now including the $1.6 billion or so contributed by its most recent acquisition, QuayStreet.
Smartshares exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets reached $6.1 billion at the end of May with about $2.4 billion sourced from external clients.
The separately branded SuperLife KiwiSaver scheme sat just under $2 billion in the latest NZX monthly report while the group’s employer super master trust was a tad below $3 billion (including the former ASB scheme that held $1.8 billion when the NZX bought it near the end of 2021).