The Trustees Executors (TE) board has been almost cleaned out ahead of a fresh influx of directors.
Last week TE chair, Sarah Roberts, and director, Mark Darrow, stood down from the board leaving Matthew Sale as the sole member: all three were appointed near the middle of 2018.
However, TE chief, Ryan Bessemer, said four new directors – including himself – were poised to join the board within days.
Aside from Bessmer, the new TE board will include: Graeme Kirkpatrick, a chartered accountant; digital technology specialist, Victoria Grace; and, a yet-to-be-named chair.
Grace will also represent the interests of ultimate TE owner, Sterling Grace, on the board – a slot that has been vacant since the departure of David Neidhart in February. She is the daughter of Sterling Grace owner, John Grace.
In addition to the corporate board, TE also has a ‘local board’, which supports the licensed supervisory arm. Juliet Moses and Nick Williams serve on the local board with another long-standing vacancy about to be filled.
Bessemer said the changes were part of the strategy to strengthen the board with the “right mix of governance, technology and financial expertise” as TE broadens it horizons.
“We wanted all [directors] to have international experience to help with our long term strategy,” he said.
TE is looking to expand into the Australian superannuation administration market competing with the likes of Link and Mercer. The company struck up an agreement with Grow Super this year to use its technology in Australia and NZ.
Bessemer said TE had already begun to transition some of its NZ clients to a new blockchain registry system built on the Grow system.
He said the NZ client conversion to the Grow platform – helped along by local data transfer firm, Tenzing – could take up to a year.
Currently, TE uses the Bravura Sonata software.
According to Bessemer, TE is pitching for a number of back-office contracts in both Australia and NZ.
The Wellington-headquartered firm also offers corporate trustee and private wealth services in NZ.
“Over the next year we’re looking to grow all parts of the business,” he said. “We’re reinvesting over $6 million back into the business to ensure we have the right structures and processes to support that growth.”
Also last week, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) named two new senior executives, including a replacement for capital markets director, Garth Stanish, who left the regulator under a cloud this February.
Stanish has been replaced by Sarah Vrede, who headed the NZ Debt Management Office (DMO) until last June. Prior to joining the DMO in 2013 she spent 13 years at BNZ in various senior securities trading roles.
Vrede takes up the FMA job in November, relieving Liam Mason, regulation director, who took over from Stanish in an interim position.
Finally, the NZ financial regulator has poached Clare Bolingford from its UK equivalent to fill the newly-created director of banking and insurance role.
At the FMA, Bolingford will, at least, have a less-wordy title than at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where she is head of cross-cutting policy and head of supervision for retail banking groups.
Bolingford officially switches allegiances from the FCA to the FMA next January. As of next year, the FMA will have broader oversight of the banking and insurance industries under new ‘conduct and culture’ legislation currently being prepared in the parliamentary laboratory.
