14th January 2019

Today we have some news to share which is both exciting and sad.

Christian Hawkesby, our founding Head of Fixed Income, has resigned, to take up a new role as an Assistant Governor at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Christian has been an amazing colleague and leader for Harbour as we have grown a successful business, however this is a rare opportunity for him that is too good to turn down. We wish him the very best in this role. Christian will remain at Harbour until the end of February to ensure a smooth transition.

There will be no change in investment process as a result of Christian’s departure. We have built significant depth in the team over time, carefully adding talented people with fresh thinking to our stable and seasoned team.

We are delighted to announce that Mark Brown (pictured below), founding Portfolio Manager of Fixed Income, assumes the role of Head of Fixed Income, whilst continuing as Portfolio Manager for Harbour’s Core Fixed Interest, Corporate Bond and Income Funds.

Mark has established an excellent history in fixed income portfolio management. For 16 years Mark led the fixed income portfolio management team in a continuous capacity at the business that evolved as National Mutual Funds Management, AXA and then AllianceBernstein. He produced consistently sound and competitive investment performance throughout, notably including the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. Mark has expertise across the breadth of fixed income disciplines, including risk management, economics, credit and quantitative analysis. Mark began his portfolio management career in 1992 at Credit Suisse Asset Management, London, having previously worked for DFC New Zealand and the Bank of New Zealand. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester, NY.

Supporting Mark will be George Henderson who moves into the role of Portfolio Manager for Harbour’s Short Duration and cash portfolios, in addition to his role as investment analyst supporting all our fixed income portfolios.

Prior to joining Harbour in July 2018, George spent 11 years at Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) in London, progressing from trainee to Global Bond Fund Manager where he successfully led the firm’s offering in developed bond markets. Responsible for a variety of institutional and retail products, he also launched the RLAM International Bond Fund and RLAM Global Inflation Linked Fund. George began his career in Sydney with Ibbotson Consultants (now Morningstar) supporting senior consultants in advising institutional pension funds. George holds a Master of Business Studies (Finance) from the University of Otago and the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Simon Pannett becomes Senior Credit Analyst, continuing to build the depth and quality of Harbour’s credit research and fixed interest security analysis, providing key support for our Income Fund.

Until recently, Simon was also responsible for designing the strategic asset allocation for multi-asset clients and chaired Harbour’s asset allocation committee, as well as undertaking credit research. With the addition of Multi Asset Specialist Chris Di Leva in October 2018, Simon has been freed up to continue to develop the depth and breadth of Harbour’s credit research. Prior to joining Harbour in 2013, Simon was a research analyst at Investment Solutions UK in London where he managed a multi-manager global equity portfolio. He started his investment career at AXA Global Investors in Wellington, where his primary role was to select and monitor investment managers across all asset classes. Simon gained a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics from Otago University, where he was awarded the William Emery Scholarship. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is an AFA.
In the next few months we will be seeking to employ an investment analyst to join the fixed interest team. We will continue to carefully manage the amount of time spent on client servicing, business development and operations by the investment team, with Ainsley McLaren and Ruari McGregor taking on some of Christian’s general business responsibilities.

Christian has made a significant contribution across the wider Harbour business that has seen us grow significantly. Recently our fixed interest funds under management surpassed NZ $2 billion. This is a testament to Christian and Mark’s solid track record over the past 8 years.