Kiwi Wealth head of wholesale and private investment, Peter Verhaart, is set to leave the group in November as the government-owned organisation tilts further to the retail market.
Verhaart will formally end his five-year stint at the Wellington-based firm on November 3, according to a Kiwi Wealth spokesperson. It is understood he will take up a consultancy role with EriksensGlobal. Jonathan Eriksen, founder of the Auckland-headquarted firm, declined to comment.
But Verhaart’s departure follows a string of senior executive exits at Kiwi Wealth during the previous few months including acting chief investment officer, Susan Easton, who resigned last week.
At the same time, Kiwi Wealth also sold off its burgeoning US stock-trading unit, Hatch, to FNZ last week as part of a strategic makeover at the group.
Rhiannon McKinnon, Kiwi Wealth acting chief, said in a statement that the business had been “been purposefully evolving and refining its business and market strategy over the last 12 months, which includes upweighting our focus on serving the millions of aspiring Kiwi in the retail wealth market”.
“We will continue to look after our existing clients in our wholesale business with the support of our diverse and talented team,” McKinnon said.
Kiwi Wealth manages about $7.8 billion across its retail and wholesale arms including the $6 billion plus KiwiSaver scheme.
Last month Kiwi Wealth appointed MMC to retool its back-office systems – including a switch to daily unit-pricing – ahead of moving to the new default KiwiSaver regime at the end of November.
Kiwi Wealth was one of the four incumbent default providers reappointed for the next seven-year round. The change will see Kiwi Wealth develop a low-cost, mostly passive (managed in-house) balanced fund option for default members.
In other news last week, former Kiwi Wealth chief customer officer, Joe Bishop, has left the job he assumed last year as Police and Families Credit Union (PFCU) chief executive.
Bishop resigned from the PFCU job near the end of September after about 18 months in charge. He quit as Kiwi Wealth chief customer officer in February 2020 after serving in several senion positions during an eight-year career with the business.