Pie Funds chief operating officer (COO), Paul Gregory, has returned to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) after landing the newly created director of investment role.
The regulator began recruiting for the director of investment this July in a role that will see Gregory head a new FMA team with responsibility for the managed investment scheme (MIS) sector.
Included in the senior executive team, the director of investment reports to FMA chief, Rob Everett.
“This position has been created to reflect the FMA’s role in working closely with KiwiSaver and MIS providers and relevant industry associations to ensure the FMA has strong influence over and a good understanding of key issues for the industry,” the July job ad says.
Gregory joined Pie in 2017 as head of investments following a two-year stint with the FMA as communications director. Prior to the FMA, he spent six years in a similar role with the NZ Superannuation Fund.
During his Pie period, Gregory was involved in the launch of the Juno KiwiSaver scheme as well as several product restructures – most notably, the removal of the boutique’s performance fees in 2019.
In June this year Pie cut seven employees across the group while also reshuffling several positions including Gregory, who moved from the investments team to operations. Under the reboot, he assumed the full-time COO job (after serving in an interim capacity since April), dropping the head of investments title.
The FMA is in the first period of a multi-year funding increase that will ultimately see its budget rise from under $40 million to more than $60 million in the 2022/23 financial year.
In a release, FMA chief, Rob Everett, said: “This new position reflects this sector’s importance to the FMA. Paul has been living and breathing retail funds management in his prior role and I am delighted to take advantage of his passion for getting the best investor outcomes from fund managers and KiwiSaver providers.”
Gregory takes up the role in November.