On the move, February 2017

Millennium & Copthorne shakeup –
Devereux takes over Aurecon’s NZ leadership
Hinton to quit full-time role at Augusta
East-West & Northern Corridor boards of inquiry appointed
CBRE makes 3 capital markets appointments
Thompson scores new hotels & tourism role at Bayleys
Bayleys, Mayne Wetherell & Augusta move to Gaunt St
Tarullo exit opens up Fed control
Andrew Wong joins Summerset board
Industrial specialist Scott Campbell takes new role at Bayleys
Wheeler sticks to one term at Reserve Bank, Spencer to fill in post-election 
Venables takes senior role at Context Architects
AWF Madison restructures management

On the move is a Bob Dey Property Report column about comings, goings, rises & falls. Contributions are welcome, including photos – email [email protected] with details (of the coming or going) & a jpeg or png image.

28 February 2017:

Millennium & Copthorne shakeup

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc group chief executive Aloysius Lee Tse Sang, who handed in his notice last August ”in order to pursue philanthropic, mentoring & educational interests”, and asked for it to take effect at the end of January, has just been replaced internationally & in New Zealand.

Mr Lee was appointed group chief executive in February 2015 and joined the boards of NZX-listed CDL Investments NZ Ltd and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ Ltd on 1 April 2015 as a non-executive director.

Tan Kian Seng, who joined the group as group chief of staff & interim president of M&C Hotels plc Asia last October, will assume the position of interim group chief executive and a director of the 2 New Zealand companies tomorrow.

The group said Mr Lee had been transitioning his responsibilities to Mr Tan for several weeks and would continue to do so as necessary to ensure a smooth handover process.

Mr Tan is based in Singapore and hasn’t been appointed as a director, although the company expected he would spend significant time in London and attend board meetings. Before joining Millennium & Copthorne, Mr Tan had over 30 years of senior executive experience in operations & managing finance, legal, investor relations, purchasing, business development, human resources & information technology. Most recently he was advisor to the chief executive & chair of Singapore-listed Venture Corp Ltd, a global provider of technology services, products & solutions.

Mr Tan joined Venture in 2001 and held increasingly senior roles in various jurisdictions, including vice-president of operations in Malaysia until 2006, chief financial officer until 2012 and group president from 2011 until February 2016.

Before joining Venture, Mr Tan was finance director and held other senior finance roles with LenovoEMC (formerly Iomega Corp) and financial controller & accounting roles with various technology & toy manufacturers. He started his career as an accountant in the UK with Deloitte and audit manager in Malaysia with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

2 independent directors of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc will retire at the annual meeting in May. Author Alec Waugh & accountant Nicholas George announced early this month that they’d retire after 8 years.

Howard Wu was appointed as an independent non-executive director with effect from 17 February. The company said he brought broad information technology, data security & e-commerce experience to the board, having held senior positions with technology companies in North America & Europe. Most recently, he’s been vice-president, head of software defined infrastructure at Ericsson and technology advisor to the office of the mayor of Taipei, Taiwan.

He was president for greater China for software & services company Joyent Inc, and founder & chief executive of Layerboom Systems, a company specialising in cloud infrastructure software that Joyent acquired. He was educated in the US & Canada.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc is the UK holding company for the 2 NZX-listed entities, and all are members of the Hong Leong Group of Singapore.

Carl Devereux.

Devereux takes over Aurecon’s NZ leadership

Global engineering & infrastructure advisory company Aurecon Group has appointed its South Island manager of the last 3½ years, Carl Devereux, as regional director for New Zealand. He succeeds Bruce Manners, who’s retired after 5½ years in the regional role.

Mr Devereux was previously Aurecon’s technical director in Christchurch for 9½ years, was lead engineer for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s significant buildings unit for 18 months after the 2011 earthquake. He graduated from Canterbury University with a BEng degree in 1995.

21 February 2017:

Hinton to quit full-time role at Augusta

Augusta Capital Ltd said on Monday general manager Phil Hinton had decided to retire from a full-time role, effective in June. Mr Hinton will retire at the same time as a director of Augusta subsidiary Augusta Funds Management Ltd. However, he will remain a consultant, based in New Plymouth, assisting the company on key projects, particularly in investor relations.

Mr Hinton & Bryce Barnett, also New Plymouth-based, joined Augusta in 2014 when they sold their property syndication business, KCL Property Ltd, to Augusta. A third KCL shareholder, Cheryl Macaulay, incorporated a new syndication company, Silverfin Capital Ltd, in 2015.

Mr Hinton spent 12 years with KCL after a 20-year career as a valuer & partner at Telfer Young (Taranaki) Ltd. He was president of the Property Institute for 2 years.

East-West & Northern Corridor boards of inquiry appointed

The Government has appointed boards of inquiry for 2 major Auckland road projects, the East-West Link and the Northern Corridor.

For the East-West Link the board is retired High Court judge Dr John Priestly QC (chair), environment management consultant Michael Parsonson, civil engineer Alan Bickers and independent hearings commissioner Sheena Tepania.

For the Northern Corridor, the board is Environment Judge Melanie Harland (chair), resource management consultant Conway Stewart and civil engineer Nigel Mark-Brown.

The $1.5 billion East-West Link roading proposal involves the construction of a new 4-lane arterial road between State Highway 20, the Neilson St interchange & State Highway 1 at Mt Wellington.

The $700 million Northern Corridor project will complete the Western Ring Route. It will establish motorway interchange connections between State Highways 1 & 18, and capacity & safety improvements on State Highway 1 from Constellation Drive to Oteha Valley Rd, and on State Highway 18 between State Highway 1 and the Albany Highway.

17 February 2017:

CBRE makes 3 capital markets appointments

Brett Whalley.

CBRE Capital Markets has made 3 new appointments – Brett Whalley from the United Arab Emirates, Buzz Scown from Ray White in Queenstown and James Fraser from CBRE’s retirement housing and healthcare valuation & advisory services team.

Brett Whalley has been appointed national director of metropolitan investments after 10 years in the United Arab Emirates, where he held a number of senior leadership roles with agency, investment & development companies focused on project sales, leasing & new business development. Before moving to Dubai, Mr Whalley had extensive agency experience in New Zealand.

CBRE’s national director of capital markets, Andrew Stringer, said Mr Whalley’s appointment would enable CBRE to expand its metropolitan investments capabilities, focused primarily on Auckland.

Buzz Scown.

Buzz Scown has joined the Auckland capital markets team from Queenstown, where he operated as a property professional for over 20 years, including spells with Ray White and Bayleys. He will be working with Mr Whalley to focus on the Auckland metropolitan investment sector. Mr Scown’s expertise covers largescale development land, particularly high density projects & masterplan opportunities, and he’s recently been involved in a series of transactions at Karaka & Drury. While based in Auckland and with a principal focus locally, Mr Scown will continue to use his market knowledge to work with CBRE clients in the Lakes district.

James Fraser.

James Fraser has joined the Auckland capital markets team as senior negotiator after 4 years in CBRE’s retirement housing and healthcare valuation & advisory services team. His new focus is on leveraging his specialisation & experience to provide a comprehensive investment sales skillset to the retirement housing & healthcare market. Mr Stringer said that, combined with recent senior appointments in Australia in this sector, CBRE can provide clients with market-leading skills & expertise in New Zealand & the greater Pacific region.

Mr Stringer, recently named as CBRE’s managing director for Auckland, said: “It’s an exciting time for the capital markets team. We have a culture of specialisation to deliver our clients genuine expertise, and the appointment of Buzz & James reinforces that. Brett’s leadership skills & sales management expertise will enable us to aggressively expand into new markets.”

Thompson scores new hotels & tourism role at Bayleys

Nick Thompson.

Bayleys Real Estate has appointed Nick Thompson to the newly created role of hotels & tourism director, based in Auckland. He has over 10 years’ experience in the property industry, much of it focused on hotels & tourism, and has acted for some of the largest hotel owners & operators in New Zealand.

Mr Thompson has a BCom in valuation & property management from Lincoln University and a post-graduate diploma in business & finance and a masters in finance from Massey University, spent a year in the Navy as a sub-lieutenant and 3 years at Telfer Young (Auckland) Ltd as a valuer before moving into agency 6 years ago, first as a vice-president of JLL Hotels nd then as an associate director at Colliers.

15 February 2017:

Bayleys House at 30 Gaunt St, Wynyard Quarter.

Bayleys, Mayne Wetherell & Augusta move to Gaunt St

Bayleys Real Estate moved into its new premises – Bayleys House at 30 Gaunt St in the Wynyard Quarter – on Monday. Its auctions today and for the rest of this month will be held at the Sofitel Hotel on Viaduct Harbour Avenue, and its first Total Property auction at the new address will be on Wednesday 8 March.

Law firm Mayne Wetherell has moved into level 5 of Bayleys House and NZX-listed property & funds manager Augusta Capital Ltd is moving into level 2.

11 February 2017:

Tarullo exit opens up Fed control

A firmly Democratic member of the US Federal Reserve board, Daniel Tarullo, handed in his notice to President Trump on Friday, opening the way for the new president to secure Republican control not just of the Supreme Court but also the central bank in his first month in charge.

Mr Tarullo, 64, was appointed on 28 January 2009 and made his resignation effective “on or around” 5 April.

Fed chair Janet Yellen, who’s already laid down a challenge over control of the central bank although she’s 70, said in December she intended to serve out the remainder of her 4-year term in the chair, which began in October 2014, Her 14-year term as a member of the board runs until January 2024.

Ms Yellen, also a Democrat, also said in December that, although there was room to make some changes to the Dodd-Frank Act regulating banks since the global financial crisis, “like eliminating the burden of compliance with the Volcker rule or incentive compensation regulations for smaller banks or modestly raising the threshold for banks that are subject to enhanced credential supervision,” it was important not to roll back the whole act. However, the Republicans & President Trump are intent on dismantling it.

Ms Yellen said Mr Tarullo had led the Fed’s work “to craft a new framework for ensuring the safety & soundness of our financial system following the financial crisis… My colleagues & I will truly miss his deep expertise, impeccable judgment, wise insight & strategic counsel.”

President Obama appointed Mr Tarullo to the board for an unexpired term ending on 31 January 2022. He chaired the committee on supervision & regulation and the Financial Stability Board’s standing committee on supervisory & regulatory co-operation.

Before joining the Board, Mr Tarullo was a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Centre, where he taught courses in international financial regulation, international law & banking law. He held several senior positions in the Clinton administration and was on the staff of the late Senator Edward Kennedy.

10 February 2017:

Andrew Wong joins Summerset board

Summerset Group Holdings Ltd has appointed Dr Andrew Wong as a non-executive independent director, effective 1 March.

Dr Wong is managing director of MercyAscot Hospital Group and Healthcare Holdings Ltd, is a director of a number of medical organisations covering areas such as surgical hospitals, day surgeries, diagnostic radiology & cancer care, and is registered with the Medical Council as a public health medicine specialist.

Summerset chair Rob Campbell said Dr Wong’s mix of medical & commercial experience would bring a unique skillset to the board table. “Care is an essential part of our offering for customers and, over the last 3 years, we have increased the weighting of care beds & serviced apartments in our villages and added secure dementia. We will continue to deepen this focus on care & support in response to customer needs.”

All 6 board members are independent.

7 February 2017:

Industrial specialist Scott Campbell takes new role at Bayleys

Scott Campbell.

Bayleys Real Estate has appointed Scott Campbell as industrial national director. He was development & property assets general manager for Southpark Corp Ltd over the last 2 years, development manager for Goodman Property Trust for 7 years and CBRE’s industrial sales & leasing national director for 4 years.

Bayleys’ commercial national director, John Church, said Mr Campbell’s position was a new one created to grow the agency’s industrial market share: “Scott’s skills & reputation within the industrial property sector are second to none and his experience & networks of industrial developers & tenants will add significant value to our business.”

Wheeler sticks to one term at Reserve Bank, Spencer to fill in post-election

Graeme Wheeler.

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler said today he wouldn’t seek a second term when his current term ends on 26 September, a month before his 66th birthday.

Deputy governor Grant Spencer, who’d already announced his intention to retire this year, will stay on as acting governor for 6 months after Mr Wheeler leaves, because of the general election scheduled for 23 September.

Under the Reserve Bank of NZ Act, the finance minister appoints the governor for a 5-year term on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank board. Board chair Professor Neil Quigley said the Government had advised the board that, because of the proximity of the election, the board’s recruitment process to identify a successor needed to start later in the year.

Mr Wheeler said: “It was my intention, when I was appointed, to serve one term, and then to take on governance roles.”

He worked at the World Bank from 1997-2010, as vice-president & treasurer from 2001-06 and as operations managing director from 2006-10. As managing director, Mr Wheeler led the bank’s interactions with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) on the global financial crisis. He ran his own advisory business in the US from 2010-12. Earlier, Mr Wheeler was deputy secretary & treasurer of the Debt Management Office at the NZ Treasury from 1993-97.

Grant Spencer.

Mr Spencer was appointed as both deputy governor & head of financial stability in 2007, after 3 years as assistant governor & head of economics, and 5 years from 1985-90 as chief manager of the bank’s economics department. He was a senior executive in treasury & strategy at the ANZ Banking Group from 1995-2004, in New Zealand & Australia.

He was appointed to chair the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development)’s committee on financial markets in 2015. He’s also been a special advisor for the IMF’s European department, New Zealand’s alternate executive director at the IMF, chaired the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development)’s committee on financial markets, and chaired the EMEAP (Executives’ Meeting of East Asia Pacific Central Banks) working group on financial markets.

Mr Spencer holds a BA(Hons) in economics & information science from Victoria University of Wellington, and an MSc in econometrics & mathematical economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Venables takes senior role at Context Architects

Rachel Venables.

Context Architects Ltd has promoted Rachel Venables to senior architect a year after her arrival. She leads teams to deliver masterplanned housing communities.

A winner of multiple industry awards for residential as well as furniture design, Ms Venables opened her own practice in 2002 and was one of the youngest architects to be named a fellow of the NZ Institute of Architects, in 2010.

She’s also worked for Studio D4 Ltd, Alexander & Co Ltd and Robin O’Donnell Architects Ltd.

Context principal Scott Cracknell said: “Rachel is a skilled architect & future leader. She supports our clients with professionalism & efficiency, designing well thought-out developments that offer strong returns.”

Ms Venables believes medium-density residential development is the future: “Achieving greater density through beautiful, sustainable design is key to increasing affordability and reducing sprawl. And density needs great design to be successful for everyone in the community.

“Designing developments as a whole creates a more pleasant environment. You have more of an opportunity to provide sight lines, a sense of borrowed space. If there’s gaps between buildings, there’s a sense of openness and it’s more enjoyable to live in and look at. You don’t need a lot of space with great design – good orientation, indoor & outdoor spaces relating to each other and manageable gardens that free people up to do other things with their spare time are all very desirable.”

5 February 2017:

AWF Madison restructures management

AWF Madison Group Ltd has reviewed its management structure following the resignation of subsidiary company AWF Ltd’s chief operating officer, Alex Park, 2 weeks ago, to be effective in March.

Group chief executive Simon Bennett said on Friday the board agreed with him that it was an appropriate time to divide operations geographically into northern & southern regions: “Each region will report to a general manager, who will report to the chief executive. This will allow for a greater strategic business focus & flexibility, and drive operational & systems improvement to support the business as it grows.”

With effect from March, Fleur Board will manage the northern region and Donna Lynch will manage the southern region.

Ms Board has worked in recruitment services in Australia & New Zealand for 30 years, the last 8 years at AWF. Before moving to AWF in 2008 she was chief executive of Adecco NZ Ltd for the last 4 of the 18 years she worked for that company, winning a claim for unjustified dismissal after her position was disestablished. She will be based in Auckland.

Donna Lynch, based in Palmerston North, will manage the southern region. She’s held senior management roles in sales & marketing in fields of human capital & operations in her 20-year career, including a year as NZ managing director for Adecco Personnel Ltd.

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