NZX head of policy & legal Robin Dey resigns, position split

Thursday 26th February 2015

NZX head of policy and legal Robin Dey has resigned after seven years with the company, and her role has been split by the stock market operator.

The Wellington based company said Hamish Macdonald will become head of policy, while Kristin Brandon will assume a newly established head of compliance to ensure NZX meets various laws and regulations it operates under, with both reporting directly to chief executive Tim Bennett. The management changes take effect from March 2. Head of market supervision Joost van Amelsfort will continue to report directly to the board.

"In the past two years in particular, Robyn has led the strengthening of our regulatory function and played a key role in the development of NXT, NZX's new market for smaller, high growth businesses," Bennett said. "These appointments reflect NZX's commitment to ensuring that resourcing across our regulatory function can meet current market demands, and we can continue to respond effectively to regulatory developments."

This month the stock market operator reported an 8.3 percent increase in 2014 profit to $13.1 million after raising prices for securities data and benefiting from increased listing fees and funds management revenue.

NZX completed the purchase of SuperLife in January for $20 million upfront in cash and NZX shares, and a further $15 million provided SuperLife meets targets for growth in funds under management. SuperLife had $1.27 billion funds under management as at Jan. 31, giving NZX a total FUM of $1.7 billion once its existing Smartshares business is included.

The company said today Brandon's role as head of compliance was "particularly relevant" as NZX grows its funds management business.

NZX wants to use SuperLife as a platform to accelerate growth of its Smartshares exchange traded funds (ETFs) to benefit from growth in the New Zealand funds management sector seen at an annual 10 percent to 15 percent over the next 10 years, driven by KiwiSaver and increased household savings generally.

The acquisition prompted former Cabinet Minister Simon Power to step down from NZX's board to avoid any conflict of interest with his role as general manager of Westpac Banking Corp's New Zealand private wealth management business.

NZX shares were unchanged at $1.15, and have declined 1.7 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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