New Zealand Sovereign Fund Promotes Two Managers to Co-CIO Role

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund has promoted two senior managers to be joint chief investment officers from early December.

Brad Dunstan and Will Goodwin will fill the role left vacant when Stephen Gilmore departed in June, said Jo Townsend, chief executive officer of Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which runs the fund. Gilmore resigned to join the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Dunstan is currently acting general manager, portfolio completion while Goodwin is head of direct investments. Both have been with New Zealand Super for several years, it said in a statement Tuesday in Wellington.

“Taking into account the projected future growth of the Fund and the increasingly complex and challenging investment environment in which we are operating, it makes sense to combine the functions of the CIO and the GM Portfolio Completion and create a co-CIO model,” Townsend said.

NZ Super, which began investing in 2003, was created by former finance minister Michael Cullen to help the government pay for the rising cost of the state pension. It has grown to NZ$76.6 billion ($46 billion) at June 30.

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