Hobson Wealth chief operating officer, Anna Scott, will take the helm at NZX funds shop, Smartshares, in September, filling the void left by predecessor, Hugh Stevens.
Stevens officially left Smartshares in March with NZX chief financial officer, Graham Law, picking up the slack in the interim.
In a statement, NZX chief, Mark Peterson, said Scott “is a seasoned financial services leader with strong operational skills, experience and commercial acumen”.
Peterson said the new hire, to be based in Auckland, would “help drive the necessary synergies, efficiencies and leverage Smartshares needs to deliver to its growth ambitions”.
Smartshares grew from about $2 billion to more than $10 billion under Stevens on the back of organic growth, new institutional clients (including in the South Pacific) and acquisitions: the NZX paid $25 million for the ASB superannuation master trust and over $30 million for QuayStreet Asset Management in deals inked in 2021 and 2022, respectively, adding almost $3.5 billion in funds under management (FUM).
However, the NZX has set a medium-term target of at least $15 billion in FUM.
“Our market analysis indicates $15- $20 billion of FUM is the point when cost bases are at their most efficient for New Zealand fund managers,” Peterson says in the 2022 NZX annual report.
Prior to joining Hobson in 2016, Scott served in several senior market operations roles both in NZ and offshore, including more than eight years as general manager for the JP Morgan currency trading division in London.
She is also a current board member of the NZX technology committee and a former ‘future director’ of the local bourse.
Elsewhere last week, Schroders has promoted Simon Doyle to chief executive officer of the Australian business to replace Sam Hallinan, who exited recently after only taking up the role in April 2021.
Doyle, a 20-year Schroders veteran, will retain the chief investment officer title he assumed in February last year.
In a release, Chris Durack, Schroders head of Asia-Pacific, said: “Simon’s new dual CEO and CIO role reflects our ongoing commitment to helping solve for our clients by being an investment-first and insight-led business in Australia, and allows for further direct engagement on investment solutions with our clients, the needs of whom are becoming increasingly complex.”
Schroders is also well-known on this side of the Tasman, primarily as an institutional manager but the firm recently signed up with NZ third-party distribution business, Heathcote Investment Partners, to broaden its reach into the financial advisory market.
As part of the management reshuffle, Sebastian Mullins, has also been bumped up from deputy to head of Schroders multi-asset. Mullins has managed multi-asset funds for about 12 years.