Hon David Cunliffe
Finance Spokesperson, Labour Party

The Hon. David Cunliffe is the incumbent MP for the New Lynn electorate. He has held Associate Minister responsibility for the Revenue, Commerce & Economic Development portfolios, and has sat on many Select Committees in the areas of Finance and Commerce. He is currently a member of the Finance & Expenditure Select Committee. David will open the Conference with the Opposition's vision for the retirement savings sector heading to 2020.
 

Rob Cameron
Executive Chairman, Cameron Partners Ltd
Chair of Capital Markets Task Force

Rob established Cameron Partners in July 1995. With more than 20 years experience, he is recognised as one of New Zealand's most experienced and skilled investment bankers.

Rob has led many of New Zealand's high-profile transactions and advisory mandates including: advising the Directors of Fonterra Co-operative Group in relation to their potential capital structure reorganisation, advising the Independent Directors of Carter Holt Harvey in relation to the takeover offer from Rank Group Limited; advisor to Fletcher Challenge Forests on the sale of forest assets and Wrightson on a range of initiatives. In 2001 Rob was appointed leader in the Crown negotiating team to resolve regulatory and commercial issues in relation to a proposed recapitalisation of Air New Zealand. Subsequently he co-led the negotiations on behalf of the Crown which led to the restructuring and recapitalisation of Air New Zealand.

In August 2008 Rob was appointed Chairman of the Capital Markets Development Task Force. The Task Force produced an Interim Report in December 2008. Most of the recommendations of that report have been implemented and have transformed capital raising procedures for listed companies within the New Zealand equity market. In December 2009 the Task Force produced its final report. The Government has given a favourable response to the report and has indicated it wishes to implement most of its 60 recommendations.

Andrew Hunt
International Economist 

Andrew Hunt Economics was formed in 2001 when Andrew left Dresdner RCM Global Investors, where he had been Chief International Economist.
Andrew worked for four years in the Dresdner / Thornton London office, covering the G7 Economies, before moving to Hong Kong in 1991 in order to spend more time working in the Pacific Area.
Whilst in Hong Kong, Andrew formed strong links with many regional central banks, and the local hedge fund community. Consequently, he was heavily involved in the analysis surrounding the Asian Crisis.
In 1997, Andrew returned to London and took up his international role in the renamed Dresdner RCM Global Investors. During his time at DRCM, Andrew was a frequent traveler to a large number of central banks for research purposes.
Since 2001, Andrew has operated his own economics consultancy.
His current client list of 45 includes a number of prominent asset managers, hedge funds and family offices, together with a number of central banks and other official institutions.
In order to fulfill his research role, Andrew travels extensively in the USA, Europe and the Asian Pacific region.

Craig Stobo
International Funds Services Development Group

Craig is an entrepreneur and professional director.  He is Chair of the International Financial Services Development Group which was asked by the Government in 2010 to recommend steps towards developing an NZ Funds Domicile and Associated Activities.

Greg McAllister
Head of ASB Group Investments

Greg heads the ASB Group Investments business, responsible for the production, investment management and administration of ASB's managed fund products. Prior to being appointed to Head of ASBGI he was responsible for Distribution and Product. ASB Group Investments is one of six default KiwiSaver providers, and is one of six default KiwiSaver providers, and the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme is the largest single KiwiSaver scheme with over 240,000 members as at 1 June 2010.  ASB Group Investments holds a position as a significant player in the retirement savings market as both a leading KiwiSaver provider and the provider of the ASB Superannuation Master Trust. It also supports a range of retail investment products distributed by the ASB Group of Companies.

Prior to joining ASB Group Investments in September 2007, Greg was the General Manager Human Resources for ASB Bank.  Greg joined ASB Bank in February 2000 having developed his career as an HR professional within consulting, health and telecommunications environments. For a short period he lectured in Management Studies at Waikato University and has also been a small business owner.  Greg is a current board member of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), the NZ Regional Council Finsia and the AUT MBA Advisory Board.

Sharon Mackay
Senior Product Manager, BT Funds Management

Sharon Mackay joined BT Funds Management (NZ) Limited, part of the Westpac group of companies, in November 2008.
In her current role as the Head of Product and Marketing and Acting Head of Operations, her responsibilities include new product development, the management of a range of managed funds distributed through Westpac NZ Limited (including the Westpac KiwiSaver Scheme) and overseeing the business's Operations unit.  

Prior to this, Sharon held several roles at ASB Group Investments, including being Head of Products, and also spent time at Tower mostly in roles related to corporate superannuation.

Sharon has extensive depth and experience in both the managed funds and superannuation markets.

Katherine Meerman
IRD KiwiSaver Review Team

Katherine Meerman is a Senior Evaluator in Inland Revenue's Evaluation Services unit. Her main role is leading Inland Revenue's KiwiSaver evaluation team.

Currently, Katherine is on secondment at the Retirement Commission. She has degrees in Economics, Public Policy, and English Literature from Victoria University.

Diana Crossan
Retirement Commissioner

Diana was appointed Commissioner in February 2003. She came to the role after working extensively in the private and public sectors.

Diana's career started as a probation officer. She has held several senior roles in the public service and was in the set up team for Contact Energy. For a short time, she was General Manager Hydro at Clyde and Roxburgh. Her financial services industry experience began with AMP as Manager of Agency Development in 1997. In 2000 she was appointed leader of an AMP team in the UK.

As well as being the Retirement Commissioner part time, Diana is on several boards in the private, public and community sectors.

As Retirement Commissioner Diana's aim is 'to help all New Zealanders be financially sorted - from 5 to 105'.

Pauline Vamos
Chief Executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA)

Pauline is the Chief Executive of ASFA, a qualified lawyer and an Associate of the Australian Compliance Institute. She joined ASFA in September 2007, bringing over 20 years' experience in the financial services industry to the role.

Pauline has been a regulator, corporate counsel, head of compliance and a strategic risk and compliance consultant as well as a Trustee Director. She is constantly sought as a speaker on industry issues and for media comment. Pauline is a member of the Federal Government's Superannuation Advisory Committee and the Responsible Investment Academy Advisory Council.

Previously, she spent seven years at ASIC in very senior positions and was responsible for managing and implementing both the Financial Services Reform Act and the Managed Investment legislation. In both these roles Pauline was responsible for industry liaison, implementing internal infrastructure including systems and staff development. Pauline was also responsible for the implementation of the internal compliance framework and for designing surveillance approaches.

Paul Newfield
Principal, Mercer (N.Z.) Limited, Australia

Paul is a Principal of Mercer and is the leader of Mercer's Retirement, Risk & Finance Business in New Zealand as well as holding roles within Mercer Australia. In his New Zealand role, Paul also sits on the committee which co-ordinates day-to-day management of Mercer New Zealand's operations.

He has been working in the superannuation industry since 1998, joining Mercer Australia in the same year. Since joining Mercer, Paul has been involved in a wide variety of superannuation consulting and actuarial work in New Zealand, Australia and globally as well as contributing to and presenting on a number of thought leadership pieces in the superannuation and retirement savings space. In New Zealand in 2009, Paul was a key architect of Mercer's "Securing Retirement Incomes - Time to Act" thought leadership piece which examined New Zealand's history of NZ Super and retirement savings and discussed KiwiSaver, our ageing population, potential risks and challenges and potential opportunities going forward."

Hon. Simon Power
Minister of Commerce

Hon Simon Power is Minister of Justice, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Commerce, Minister Responsible for the Law Commission, Associate Minister of Finance, and Deputy Leader of the House. He is ranked fourth in the Cabinet. He has been the Member of Parliament for Rangitikei since 1999.

During his parliamentary career Simon has held many Parliamentary roles and spokesmanships. In Opposition, at various times, he was spokesman for Labour and Industrial Relations, Justice, Tertiary Education, Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Law and Order. He was Senior Whip during 2004 and 2005, and Chairperson of the Privileges Committee from 2005 to 2008. Simon is currently a member of the Privileges and House Business Committees. He also chairs the Cabinet Domestic Policy Committee.

Simon graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws before working as a lawyer in Palmerston North and Auckland. He was also President of the Victoria University Law Students' Society for two years.

In his spare time, Simon likes to play squash and golf, and is an avid rugby follower. He is married and has two children.

David Mayhew
Commissioner for Financial Advisers, Securities Commission

David Mayhew was the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority's Leading Advocate from 2001 to 2005, and during 2005 was its Acting Director for Enforcement. Before joining the Financial Services Authority, he was a partner in London at Clifford Chance LLP for 14 years. He returned to private practice at the end of 2005 and has since been a partner at Herbert Smith LLP.

Throughout his career, he has been involved in many high-profile financial litigation and regulatory cases, including cross-border investigations relating to financial regulation, market abuse and misconduct. He sat as a Recorder (part-time judge) for criminal jury trials in the English Crown Court from 1999 until 2005.

Gareth Morgan
Gareth Morgan Investments

Dr. Gareth Morgan is an economist, portfolio investor and motorcycle adventurer. He has instigated three successful businesses - economics consultancy, Infometrics Ltd; personal portfolio management business, Gareth Morgan Investments; and the Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Scheme. He is also an active philanthropist, a UNICEF Ambassador, and Patron of the New Zealand Police (Wing 256).

He is a well-known media columnist and commentator and sought-after conference speaker. He has co-authored with his wife, Joanne, 3 books on their offshore motorcycle trips - Silkriders, Backblocks America and Under African Skies - and has written three books on personal investment, Pension Panic, KiwiSafer and After the Panic. His latest books are Poles Apart, an appraisal of the science of climate change, and Health Cheque, a review of New Zealand's public health system.

Gareth graduated from Victoria University with a PhD in economics 1982.

Jack Regan
Managing Director, AMP Financial Services

Jack Regan became Managing Director of AMP Financial Services NZ in September 2007, having joined the New Zealand business in February that year. Prior to taking up the role, Jack was Managing Director of Hillross, a member of the AMP Group of companies and one of Australia's largest financial planning groups.

Jack started working life as a teacher but has since spent nearly 30 years in distribution, marketing and operational roles at St. George Bank, IOOF and GIO as well as Hillross and AMP in Australia and New Zealand. Jack serves as a director of the Insurance, Savings and Investment Association of New Zealand as well as a number of subsidiaries within the AMP Group and has graduate and post-graduate qualifications in marketing, education and the securities industry.