The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has appointed a chief operating officer, effectively joining up the previously separate investment operations and corporate services divisions.
Mark Fennell, who is company secretary of the Warehouse Group, will join the fund as chief operating officer commencing July 16. Reporting to him will include the head of operations, Peter Bennie, whose investment operations unit includes two investment operations managers and a portfolio manager. The corporate services division includes the head of strategic projects and IT, Glenn Read, the head of communications, Karine Fox, and office administration and management, who all previously reported direct to the chief executive, Adrian Orr. Also reporting to Fennell will be head of risk, Mark Thomas, who currently reports through to finance. However, the head of responsible investments, Anne-Maree O’Connor, will continue to report directly to Orr, as does the chief investment officer, Paul Dyer. The Warehouse Group is a large New Zealand discount department store operator. It sold out of Australia late in 2005. NZ Super had $NZ12.1 billion under management as at February 28.
The $34 billion Brighter Super is set to shift a significant proportion of equities assets in MySuper from passive to active management. Chief investment officer Mark Rider says the move is possible because of the scale created by mergers, and the fund will be looking to its newly appointed active managers to generate performance through the cycle by taking idiosyncratic risks.
Darcy SongJanuary 21, 2025
