Former Westpac NZ general manager, Mariette van Ryn, has joined the board of Milford Asset Management.
Mark Cross, Milford chair, said van Ryn’s “considerable governance experience” would bolster the board as the $3.3 billion funds management firm moved under the new Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC) regime.
Cross said van Ryn’s appointment would increase the Milford board seats to seven, most of which were now filled by non-executive directors.
Last month, Milford managing director, Anthony Quirk, revealed he would stand down from the role once a replacement was hired while retaining his place on the board.
Excluding Quirk, the executive members of the Milford board are founder and portfolio manager, Bryan Gaynor, and chief operating officer, Bryce Marsden.
Richard Somerville and Lester Gray fill the remaining non-executive director board spots along with Cross and now van Ryn.
Prior to joining the Milford board van Ryn spent almost five years at Westpac (ending last April) in a “broad range of portfolios”, Cross said, including “enterprise change programs, customer solutions, regulatory affairs and compliance”.
She was also Westpac market disclosure officer and director of several the bank’s operating entities as well as adviser “to the boards and responsible for all governance requirements of the Banking Group”, according to van Ryn’s Linkedin page.
Before taking up the Westpac role in 2007, van Ryn completed a close to 20-year stint with national law firm Simpson Grierson in Auckland, finishing up as senior partner and director.
Her legal career dates back to 1981 with a number of education upgrades along the way including completing an advanced management program at the Paris Insead University in 2012 and a litigation skills diploma issued by the New Zealand Law Society in 1987.
In addition to her Milford directorship, van Ryn is also board member of the NZX New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal.
Meanwhile, Milford has reclassified its Diversified Income Fund (DIF) under the international fixed income asset class. Previously classed as a local fixed income product, Milford told the ASB-owned investment platform Aegis last week the DIF was now “Cash 4%, NZ Fixed Interest 6%, International Fixed Interest 51%, Australasian Equities 22%, Listed Property 17% ”.
“Due to the requirement to select a single report class within Aegis, in consultation with Milford Asset Management, we have allocated this to the most dominant, being, International Fixed Interest,” the Aegis note says.