Adrian Durham has quit as chief of FNZ to take on a governance role at the company he founded in Wellington more than 20 years ago.
Durham remains as FNZ non-executive founding director and senior adviser during a leadership change that coincided with a further US$1 billion capital injection from shareholders.
He makes way for Blythe Masters, the former high-ranking JPMorgan executive who was also a founding partner of US private equity firm, Motive Capital Partners, which took a share of FNZ several years ago.
Masters was head of Digital Asset Holdings from 2015 to 2018. Digital Asset Holdings was helping create the now-abandoned ASX blockchain-based replacement settlement system.
More recently she served on the boards of Credit Suisse and Santander.
At the same time, FNZ named Roman Regelman as group president. Regelman, who reports to Masters, comes to the financial technology firm from senior roles with BNY Mellon and the Boston Consulting Group.
The new leadership team will also be supported by Stephen Daffron as group strategic adviser. Daffron has deep technology experience with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the legendary quantitative hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies.
“Through this transition, FNZ will maintain its focus on sustainable growth, including continuous innovation and improvement of its unique offering, consistent delivery for clients, and maintaining high levels of retention,” according to a release.
In July this year the main FNZ global group entity, which is incorporated in NZ, reported a loss of more than US$500 million but with an eye to break-even in the following financial year.
Shareholders also extended bank credit lines and arranged an almost US$320 million interest-bearing loan during the period to fund ongoing growth.
Durham said in a release: “Over the last 20 years we have built FNZ into a global market-leader in wealth management, partnering with over 650 institutions and over 12,000 wealth managers. None of this would be possible without the support and hard work of more than 6,000 colleagues across the globe, who have been instrumental in the success of the company.”
The global group last reported about US$1.6 trillion in assets under administration and annual revenue of US$1.4 billion.
Peter Forster, BNZ investments chief, has left the business amid other changes in the wider FirstCape group.
A FirstCape spokesperson confirmed Forster had departed after almost five years atop the $6 billion plus KiwiSaver and retail funds division.
He joined the-then BNZ investment subsidiary in 2018 from parent firm, National Australia Bank (NAB), almost immediately embarking on a major shake-up of the bank’s KiwiSaver and fund proposition.
“Peter leaves an enormous legacy at BNZ Investment Services Limited and at FirstCape, having been instrumental in the formation of the business,” the spokesperson said.
Prior to BNZ, he spent about 17 years in various roles with NAB and its then wealth management subsidiary, MLC.
Forster was named as BNZ investment chief in May this year following its move to a new ownership structure under FirstCape, which also includes Harbour Asset Management and Jarden/JBWere NZ wealth management networks.
Chris Wilson switched from Jarden Wealth chief to co-head of Harbour last week. Meanwhile, JBWere NZ chief, Craig Patrick, assumed the leadership role of the Jarden network in addition to his current duties.
As part of the FirstCape transition earlier this year, the BNZ funds arm was bundled under Harbour control.
Harbour took over as underlying manager of the BNZ Australasian equities and local fixed income in March this year ahead of the formal change of ownership of the bank-based funds.
Forster said in May that BNZ was also reviewing the manager line-up for its global assets.
Headed by Malcolm Jackson, the FirstCape group ownership is split between NAB, which has a 45 per cent stake, Pacific Equity Partners (35 per cent) and Jarden (20 per cent).
A statement released after the deal was struck last December said FirstCape would emerge “with a combined 113 advisers, NZ$29bn of funds under advice and administration and NZ$15bn of funds under management, including NZ$5bn of KiwiSaver funds under management.”
