Milford Asset Management chief, Mark Ryland, is to step down… for real this time.
Ryland was due to retire as Milford chief last March after tendering his resignation in February 2023 but later agreed to stay on for an unspecified term.
But in a note to clients earlier this month, Milford confirmed he would end his six-year turn as chief – and 10 years at the firm – “at the end of May 2025”.
“Mark brought total focus and high energy to the CEO role, and the Board is appreciative of Mark extending his CEO tenure in March 2023,” the note says. “However, after May 2025 Mark intends to have an extended period in the UK with family, before embarking on potential non-executive director opportunities.”
Before joining Milford in 2014 as head of risk, Ryland was chief of the now-extinct seminal NZ boutique funds management outfit, Brook Asset Management. He also previously served as head of the-then ASB-owned Aegis investment platform (later bought by MMC, now Apex) among other senior financial services roles in NZ and the UK.
Since assuming the top job late in 2018 from outgoing chief, Troy Swann, Milford has seen funds under management soar from $6 billion to above $20 billion – in a milestone notched earlier this year.
“Mark has provided an extended notice period, which enables a thorough process to be completed to appoint and transition a new CEO,” the note says.
Elsewhere last week, the chief financial officer of property funds management group PMG, Nigel Lowe, has resigned to “focus on new governance opportunities”.
PMG chief, Scott McKenzie, said in a note that Lowe had been “instrumental in driving our growth”.
McKenzie said the CFO had also guided the NZ property investment business through important developments such as securing a managed investment scheme licence and “building our reputation as a trusted investment partner”.
Despite relinquishing his executive duties, Lowe would remain on the PMG board, investment committee and the firm’s charitable trust.
“The search for Nigel’s successor has begun, and during this transition, he will remain actively involved to ensure a seamless handover,” McKenzie said.
PMG offers six unlisted commercial real estate funds with a collective $800 million plus under management.
Another Castle Point co-founder, Jamie Young, has exited the boutique just months after its takeover by Perpetual Guardian.
Young follows in the footsteps of Richard Stubbs and Stephen Bennie who both left immediately post-sale in June this year.
Gordon Sims remains as the sole Castle Point founding member under the new ownership.
Perpetual Guardian picked up the boutique for an undisclosed sum in the wake of a mandate loss for Castle Point that reduced its funds under management to about $300 million. BNZ dropped Castle Point, along with a couple of other firms, from an Australasian equities portfolio as the bank-owned fund business moved to the new FirstCape entity.
Harbour Asset Management, part of the FirstCape group, took over the BNZ Australasian shares gig.
Tim Chesterfield, Perpetual Guardian Investments chief, now has oversight of Castle Point as a stand-alone brand within the broader funds business.