NZ Private Capital Conference Speakers 2024
NZ Private Capital Conference Speakers 2024
Accelerating Shared Ambition
24 October 2024
Queenstown, New Zealand
Sean Keane - Founder & Managing Director - Triple T Consulting
Sean’s primary area of expertise is in the area of macro-economic policy analysis, with particular focus on the activities of the global central banks and the liquidity and stability of the funding markets.
Sean’s career spans more than 30 years in the financial markets, in a variety of senior roles in London, Wellington, Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo. Most recently he was Managing Director of Global Money Market Funding and Short Term Interest Rate Trading in Asia-Pacific for Credit Suisse.
In 2012 Sean joined the Board of Jarden Securities as a non-executive Director. In addition to this Sean is Chairman of the local property finance company Pearlfisher Capital Ltd.
Alongside providing policy advice to central banks and regulatory authorities in AsiaPacific, Triple T also provides market analysis and interpretation to a variety of hedge funds, asset managers and commercial banks. Sean is frequently called upon for media comment about market developments, and he regularly delivers presentations to senior business and industry groups around the world.
Triple T Consulting is best known for the respected daily commentary “What’s happening in the Money Markets”, which is circulated to a select list that includes many of the world’s largest money managers, financial institutions and central banks.
Sean holds an Honours Degree in Economics and Government from the Victoria University of Manchester, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business from Massey University.
Philippa Weston, Partner, Pencarrow Private Equity
Philippa Weston is a Partner at Pencarrow and has over 20 years' experience in investment management, including strategic planning, corporate governance, operational and financial management. Prior to joining Pencarrow in 2012, Philippa was Head of Investments at Kiwibank and was previously AMP Capital Investors’ Chief Operating Officer. Philippa is currently a director of Essano and Skin Institute and was previously a director of BeGroup, solarZero and MMC.
Sharon Zollner - Chief Economist, ANZ
Daren McKenney - Partner, Crescent Capital Partners
Daren is the Healthcare Partner at Crescent Capital Partners and has over 30 years’ of operational and private equity experience in the healthcare sector. His past and present healthcare portfolio includes PRP Diagnostic Imaging, MyHealth, SunDoctors, Nucleus Network, Pinnacle Rehabilitation and Healthcare Australia. Daren was co-founder and Chief Executive Office of LifeHealthcare Group Limited a company Crescent invested in 2006 and successfully exited via an ASX listing in December 2013.
Prior to joining Crescent, Daren’s executive experience spanned a wide range of healthcare businesses where he has held Chief Executive positions in the Acute Private Hospital, Diagnostic Imaging and Medical Device sectors. Daren holds a Bachelor of Business from Edith Cowan University and an MBA from the University of Western Australia. Daren is also a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Crescent Capital Partners (Crescent) is a Sydney-based private equity firm investing in middle market companies located in Australia and New Zealand with enterprise values between A$50 million and A$300 million. Crescent was formed in 2000 and has established itself as one of Australasia’s leading mid market private equity firms. Crescent’s investment focus is on high growth companies and sectors, or in industries that are undergoing structural change or that lend themselves to consolidation. Crescent’s role is to accelerate and support the senior management teams of these businesses in reaching their aspirational targets and goals.
Crescent has particular experience and skills in financial services, healthcare, branded and industrial businesses. In particular, Crescent has been the most active private equity manager in healthcare transactions in Australia measured by number of investments made in the past 10 years.
Louise Haslehurst, Investment Director, Quadrant
Louise joined Quadrant in 2019 and is focused on Quadrant’s A$530 million Growth Fund. She is on the Board of Directors of five of the Fund’s portfolio companies, specifically Bastion Security Group (NZ), Quad Lock, Papinelle, Circuitwise and Cancer Care Associates.
Prior to joining Quadrant, she was an Executive Director at Gresham Corporate Advisory Partners having advised on numerous transactions across the consumer, industrials, healthcare and financial services sectors. Louise commenced her career at EY within the Transaction Advisory Services team. Louise is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Investment Council (AIC) and is Chair of the AIC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Louise is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Investment Council (AIC) and is Chair of the AIC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee .Louise is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Investment Council (AIC) and is Chair of the AIC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Louise is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Investment Council (AIC) and is Chair of the AIC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Tracey Hook- Acting Chief Financial Officer, Tainui Group Holdings
Tracey recently returned to Tainui Group Holdings as Acting Chief Financial Officer after being away for 8 years. A Fellow Chartered Accountant, Tracey was previously CFO for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and CEO for the Eastern Bay of Plenty-based commercial iwi investment entity, Ngāti Awa Group Holdings.
Tracey has vast governance experience, serving on the boards of iwi investment entities Whanganui Iwi Investments Limited, Te Ngakinga Investment Trust, Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa Developments. Additionally, Tracey is on the investment committee for Te Pūia Tāpapa, a $115 million fund responsible for investment in private equity for 28 māori entities.
Phil Wheeler - Partner, PWC
Phil co-leads the NZ Deal Strategy and Value Creation team and works with clients to identify new opportunities beyond Mergers and Acquisitions. He also works closely with companies globally to assess their competitive environments, solve important business problems, align future strategy, and assess potential M&A opportunities.
Prior to joining PwC New Zealand, Phil worked in global roles across Europe, the Americas, Singapore and Australia. He has extensive experience in advisory roles and within corporate environments.
Phil is a sought after leader and mentor who pushes organisations to embrace equity and diversity, builds happier teams, and encourages everyone to bring their full self to work.
Ross George - Founding Partner, Direct Capital
Sian Orr - Portfolio Manager, NZ Superannuation Fund
Sian is a Portfolio Manager (PM) in the External Investments team at the Guardians of the NZ Superannuation Fund (NZSF). NZSF is New Zealand's sovereign wealth fund, established to partially pre-fund the future cost of New Zealand universal superannuation. Sian joined NZSF in 2019 and in her role as a PM she is responsible for driving the implementation of active strategies across the global portfolio, with a focus on private markets (private equity, real estate and infrastructure). This includes researching, originating and onboarding new investments/co-investments, optimising existing investments and developing and maintaining key manager, peer and industry relationships. She is currently co-leading the design and implementation of the firms global buyout program. As a PM, Sian has governance responsibilities and holds numerous Limited Partnership Advisory Committee (LPAC) seats for the Fund’s investments. She was also NZSF’s Investment Committee (IC) secretary in 2021 and has sat on the IC as a voting member for short periods in the past as part of the firms rotational membership scheme. She also currently Chairs the firms External Investments Private Markets Committee and recently led the development of the Investment Team’s new Co-investment Guidelines. Prior to her role with the NZSF, Sian was a Manager with PwC’s Treasury Advisory team in London, where she was based for ~4 years. She has also held finance based roles with the New Zealand Treasury and Deloitte Australia. Sian has a Masters in Finance from Macquarie University (Australia) and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Victoria University of Wellington (NZ).
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Vignesh Kumar, GD1
At GD1 Vignesh focusses on emerging platforms across Hardware enabled Software, Deep Tech, and Health Tech, where he is an investor and board member of companies such as Foundry Lab (‘metal in minutes’), Dawn Aerospace (green propulsion for space + spaceplanes), Basis (the operating system of the home), Zenno Astronautics (supermagnets for space applications), Formus Labs (Pre-op planning software for orthopaedics), and Junofem (improving pelvic floor health).
Prior to GD1, and after successfully overcoming blood cancer, he co-founded Journey Health, a digital health patient reported outcomes platform for oncology care. Prior to this Vignesh was based in Cupertino and led hardware execution for Apple across the US and Asia. Previous to Apple, he was a product design engineer at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, working to design and bring to market products in the neonatal resuscitation space.
Vignesh holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was both a Wharton and Kaiser Fellow, as well as a Fulbright Scholar. Vignesh also earned a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master of Engineering Studies (Hons) in Medical Device Design and Technologies from The University of Auckland.
Lauren Williamson, Vice President Client Solutions Group, Hamilton Lane
Lauren is a Vice President based in the Client Solutions Group based in the firm’s Sydney office. She is responsible for leading and supporting all aspects of business development across Australia and New Zealand with a focus on institutional clients.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2020, Lauren worked in the investor relations team at AnaCap Financial Partners, a leading middle-market private equity and private credit manager in London, working across all aspects of fundraising and client services. Prior to this, Lauren worked in the distribution team of an Australian asset management firm and was responsible for marketing and fundraising predominately in the private wealth industry across several asset classes including private equity. Lauren commenced her career as a Financial Advisor at E&P Financial Group.
Helen Bullick, Head of Specialised Wealth Advisory, Craigs Investment Partners
TENURE WITH CRAIGS: Helen re-joined Craigs to lead the Specialised Wealth Advisory Team in October 2021. Helen previously worked at ABN AMRO and Craigs from 2007-2010. QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance & Economics, Victoria University of Wellington (2007) Bachelor of Laws, First Class Honours, Victoria University of Wellington (2007) |
Helen leads the Specialised Wealth Advisory Team at Craigs Investment Partners and is a member of the Craigs Private Wealth Leadership Team. The Specialised Wealth Team works alongside Craigs’ investment advisers to support large and sophisticated clients such as family offices, community trusts, iwi and charities. They have expertise in asset allocation, governance, investment strategy, portfolio construction and client education. The Specialised Wealth team are also responsible for alternative assets at Craigs, covering both retail and wholesale investors.
Coming from Fonterra as a Mergers and Acquisitions Manager, Helen ran the sale of Tip Top in 2019 and provided commercial leadership across strategic projects in functional nutrition, sales disruption and global operations. Prior to this Helen’s experience was in commercial, strategic and business development roles with local software firm, Orion Health, including the 2014 IPO. Before joining Orion Health Helen worked in investment banking for Jarden, Craigs Investment Partners and ABN AMRO.
Helen has completed Maurea’s Te Kaa cultural competency programme. |
Colin McKinnon - Executive Director of New Zealand Private Capital Association
Nigel Bingham, Managing Partner, Pencarrow Private Equity
Nigel is a Managing Partner of Pencarrow Private Equity, New Zealand’s longest established private equity firm.
Nigel currently represents Pencarrow on the boards of portfolio companies Netlogix, RedShield, NZ Frost Fans and Pacific Clinical Research Network. Nigel previously served on the boards of MMC, BrewGroup, Rishworth Aviation, NZ Crane Group, Phil & Teds, BJ Ball and Seequent.
Nigel is part of an investment team of ten that is currently investing Pencarrow’s most recent fund, Pencarrow VI, raised in 2022 which has $300 million of committed capital. That fund is targeting small to mid-market buyouts and succession and expansion capital opportunities in the New Zealand market for businesses in the size range of $20 million to $150million.
Nigel has over 35 years’ experience in private equity and investment banking in New Zealand. Prior to joining Pencarrow in 2005 Nigel was a partner with investment bank, Cameron Partners, and before that was an executive at investment bank, Fay,Richwhite.
Robbie Paul, Managing Director, Icehouse Ventures
Robbie is Managing Director of Icehouse Ventures, an active investor in New Zealand technology companies. Icehouse Ventures has invested >$470m into 337 companies and was among the earliest investors in Halter, Hnry, Tracksuit, Dawn Aerospace, Tradify, Partly, and Crimson Education.
Jamie Rihia, GM Commercial Strategy & Investments, Tauhara North No2 Trust
Jamie is an experienced business adviser with a background in professional services, banking and finance working with small and large Māori businesses across the motu. He is the GM Commercial Strategy & Investments for Tauhara North No2 Trust that is one of the largest Maori commercial entities in Aotearoa and renowned for its development programs for shareholders and their whanau. His key task to grow the asset base within energy and diversify into other industries to lift its ability to increase whanau outcomes.
Rajnesh Tarsoloo, Director, EY
Raj is a Director in the Strategy and Transactions team with 17 years’ experience in transaction diligence and corporate finance. He has supported private equity and corporate clients on transactions across wide range of sectors including consumer, healthcare, agriculture, technology, financial services and energy. He has worked with EY in New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America.”
Duncan Orr, Director, Pacific Equity Partners
Duncan joined Pacific Equity Partners since 2007. Prior to joining PEP, Duncan was a consultant with McKinsey & Company in New Zealand. In 2009 Duncan attended business school and spent the following four years with McKinsey & Company in the United States and Australia, before joining PEP in 2016. Duncan received an MBA with honours from the Wharton School and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) form the University of Auckland.
McGregor Fea, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Altered Capital
Altered was founded in 2022 as a management spin-out from a global venture fund, and backs companies with proven product market fit to reach their greatest ambitions.
Wayne Panapa, General Manager, Ahuahu Group
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Waikato-Maniapoto te iwi
Ko Ngati Ngawaerō te hapū
Ko Kakepuku te maunga
Ko Waipā te awa
Ko Te Kopua te marae
Ko Ngawaihonoitepo Potatau Te Wherowhero te Tuawaru te Ariki
Current Role:
- General Manager for Ahuahu Group Limited – Commercial Arm of Te Nehenehenui (Post Settlement Governance Entity) for Ngāti Maniapoto
- Responsible for giving effect to our strategic focus including direct investment/commercial settlement assets/private equity-credit opportunities
- CFO of Te Nehenehenui for Ngati Maniapoto
- Led development of the SIPO for Te Nehenehenui
- Strategic focus:
- Our intent is to engage in commercial activities and build connections that creates economic opportunity for Maniapoto and lifts the economic prosperity of our whānau and communities.
- Strategic Outcome
- A diverse, resilient, and sustainable economic base to support improved educational and vocational achievement, improved health, confidence in Te Reo, Tikanga, and connection to our marae and hapū.
William Fletcher - Portfolio Manager, Alternative Investments, Fisher Funds
William joined Fisher Funds in May 2024 and is leading the firm’s strategy with respect to investments in global alternative assets. William’s previous experience includes investment banking at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan and private equity at AlpInvest Partners (part of The Carlyle Group).
Heath Kerr - Partner & Director, Direct Capital
Heath is a partner and director of Direct Capital. Founded in 1994, Direct Capital is this year celebrating its 30th anniversary as a leading investor in private companies in New Zealand and Australia. Direct Capital is currently investing Direct Capital Fund VI, a $425 million fund raised in 2020 focussed on mid-market buy-outs, growth capital, and founder succession opportunities. Heath joined Direct Capital in 2013. He has more than 25 years' experience in investment banking and private equity in both New Zealand and Australia. Prior to his role at Direct Capital, Heath was a partner at Greenstone Partners in Sydney. He has also worked at Credit Suisse / First NZ Capital and PwC in New Zealand. Direct Capital’s current portfolio includes ten investments across Direct Capital Fund V and Fund VI: AS Colour, Qestral Corporation, Caci, TR Group, Beca, Mondiale VGL, Fusion Insurance, Wet N Forget, Bayleys Real Estate and Hiway Group.
Mel Homer - Broadcaster - Host of The Sunday Cafe on Today FM
Mel Homer is a seasoned broadcaster, having worked in radio and television both in New Zealand and overseas for over 20 years. She has a relaxing and engaging interview style, she works hard to make her guests feel at ease, so she can get the best from them. She has helped many “first timer” interviewees through their nerves.
She currently hosts The Sunday Cafe on Today FM, which is long form interviews with well-known New Zealanders broadcast live from a Cafe each week.
From 2016-2020 she was the host of Three’s lifestyle mid-morning TV show, The Cafe, where she interviewed on camera everyone from environmental specialists and beauty gurus to the likes of Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk, Magician Dynamo, Engelbert Humperdinck and Sir Russell Coutts.
During her radio career she has worked for a variety of stations as both a newsreader and a presenter, and has interviewed Nigella Lawson, Mick Fleetwood, numerous Black Caps, All Blacks and a variety of other sportspeople, actors, musicians, and just people doing cool things.
As well as her New Zealand radio career, which has seen her work on stations such as Coast, Hauraki, The Hits and Magic Talk, she spent 6 years in Hong Kong working for the public broadcaster, Radio Television Hong Kong, where she hosted a talk show, and created radio documentaries.
She’s a published travel writer, voiceover artist and MC. She’s equally at home MC'ing a sports awards night or moderating a panel on workplace diversity and inclusion.
When she’s not working, she will be either in the ocean or on it, sailing or surfing, sometimes with her 3 sons, if she can drag them away from the PlayStation long enough.
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