Milford Asset Management is looking to beef-up its risk and compliance division with a couple of key newly established roles up for grabs.
The two openings follow the promotion of Michelle Corse-Scott to head of risk at the beginning of October.
Her appointment was “a reflection of Milford’s commitment to strengthening its risk, legal, and governance functions, to meet the needs of its clients and investment capabilities”, the manager says in a statement.
Corse-Scott, who came to Milford in 2017 to head the firm’s compliance and legal division, also retains her general counsel position while earning a spot on the executive leadership team.
She reports to chief, Blair Turnbull, who took over from long-time incumbent, Mark Ryland, in January this year.
Among the two senior vacancies, Milford created the new position of head of risk funds management as the business enters “an exciting phase of growth and maturity — a point where resilience, discipline, and efficiency are critical to sustaining future success”, the job specification notes.
“The Head of Risk will be pivotal in shaping this next chapter, ensuring the risk function is a dynamic enabler of performance and progress.”
Among other duties, the successful candidate would have responsibilities covering “investment, operational, conduct, and emerging risks” across Australia and NZ.
Similarly, the head of compliance role spans both jurisdictions.
Founded in 2003 as a specialist high net worth investment advisory firm, Milford has evolved into a managed fund and KiwiSaver juggernaut, boasting more than $30 billion of assets under management.
In 2018, the business established a presence in Australia where a large part of the investment team is now based – however, most of the funds under management still originate in NZ.
Meanwhile, Māpua Wealth has signed-on former NZ Superannuation Fund (NZS) portfolio manager senior, John Hepburn, as a senior investment consultant.
Hepburn spent more than two years at NZS as portfolio manager external investments and partnerships with a focus on private equity after serving a similar length of time as a senior investment consultant at Mercer NZ.
Previously, he also held consultant or research roles at PwC NZ, Stamford Associates, FirstEnergy Capital and ANZ Investments.
It is understood that Hepburn left NZS amid a significant investment team restructure at the sovereign wealth fund last month.
Māpua partner, Chris Douglas, said in a statement: “As our business continues to grow we are seeing increased interest in private equity and have hired John to help grow our research in this area.”
The Auckland-headquartered investment advisory firm (formerly known as MyFiduciary reported more than 75 clients with collective assets of $20 billion plus last year. In 2023 the business formed a joint venture with IwiInvestor, which took a quarter share of the firm.
Elsewhere, the start-up NZ implemented consulting outfit, Aurellan Asset Management, has added Resolution Capital co-founder, Rachel Weld, as an investment principal.
Most recently, Weld was a principal consultant at Implemented Investment Solutions – the Wellington-based business established by Aurellan co-founder, Anthony Edmonds.
But she has a long history in the NZ and Australian funds management sector dating back to an almost two-year stint as an equity research analyst at the seminal Southpac investment house ending in April 1997.
Post Southpac, Weld spent just under a year at BT Securities NZ in equities research before moving to Australia in 1998 to help found listed property fund manager, Resolution Capital. She left Resolution in 2009.
Aurellan partnered with US institutional manager and advisory firm, Wilshire Capital, last month to provide ‘outsourced chief investment officer’ and other services in NZ.
Also last week, Australian global equities shop, Insync Funds Management, hired derivative specialist, Paul Darwell, as risk manager.
Darwell has decades of experience in derivatives-based trading and management including almost nine years as director equity and fixed income product at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ending in September 2023.
He also served for about four years as head of Australasia equity derivatives for Macquarie Bank from November 2010.
Monik Kotecha, Insync chief, said in a release that the new appointment “enhances our ability to continue delivering strong, risk-adjusted outcomes for our investors”.
Insync launched a FundRock-hosted portfolio investment entity (PIE) version of its flagship fund in NZ in June this year.