Jenny Morel
Managing Partnter - No 8 Ventures

For No 8 Ventures, Jenny has been a director of 13 early stage companies. She is currently Chairman of Martin Aircraft Company, Vertical Composting and Smart Orthotics, a director of Open Cloud and Surveylab, and has observer status on the board of Proacta.

Jenny previously founded an investment bank specialising in technology companies, which led to her starting No 8 Ventures - she saw the huge opportunity for investment in exciting young, under-funded technology companies. And she is the founder and organiser of Morgo, an annual conference for New Zealand high growth companies.

Jenny's background was in investment banking in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and she has been a director of a number of large companies: New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Trust Bank NZ Ltd, AgResearch Ltd, The Rural Bank, Centreport and NZ Rail Ltd. She is a member of the Council of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, the New Zealand Arts Council, the Government's ICT Taskforce and a Trustee of the Hi Growth Project which resulted from that. She is Chairman of the Hi Tech Association which organises the Hi Tech Awards in New Zealand, a member of the Australia New Zealand Leaders Forum and a Trustee of the Jayar Charitable Trust.

In 2007 she was named by Listener magazine as one of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand because of the key role of Morgo in the New Zealand technology sector. In 2006, Jenny was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business. Jenny holds a BSc in Human Biology and an MA in Economics (1st Class Honours) from the University of Auckland.

Hon Bill English
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance

Member for Clutha-Southland, National Party.

Current parliamentary roles:

• Deputy Leader
• Deputy Prime Minister
• Minister of Finance
• Minister for Infrastructure

Bill English is the Deputy Leader and Finance Spokesman for the National Party of New Zealand.  He entered Parliament in 1990 representing the rural electorate of Clutha-Southland. In 1996 he joined the Cabinet as a junior health and education minister. He became Minister of Health in the first MMP coalition government after the 1996 election. In February 1999 he became Minister of Finance and Minister of Revenue. Bill English held the position of Leader of the New Zealand National Party from October 2001 to October 2003 and Opposition Spokesman for Education from October 2003 to November 2006. 

Brig. Mark Wheeler
New Zealand Defence Force

David Lowe
Manager Advisory Services, EMA Northern

David, Manager Advisory Services for EMA, has experience in all aspects of human resource management, and employment and industrial relations from working in transport, finance, telecommunications and central government.

From 2001 David was with Spotless Services Ltd with national responsibility for 8,500 employees at 3,000 sites.

He was previously National Human Resources Manager for Stagecoach New Zealand, and has also been Employee Relations Manager with Trust Bank (now WestpacTrust), and HR advisor for Telecom.  In the late 1980's David was for a time private secretary to Rt Hon Helen Clark and the Hon Bill Birch.

Peter Conway
Policy Director/Economist, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

Peter Conway advises unions on economic issues.

Peter has been active in unions since 1977, when he became assistant secretary of the Canterbury, Westland, Nelson and Marlborough Clothing Trades Union. Peter also was been assistant national secretary of the New Zealand Distribution Workers Federation, an advocate for retail workers in the National Distribution Union, an educator with the Nurses Organisation and was also a director of Auckland's Yellow Bus Company. He was also a Coordinator of the Hounslow Trade Union Support Unit and Centre for the Unemployed in London for a period.

Peter's qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration and an MA in Economics. He is on the Board of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and is Chair of Oxfam NZ.

David Boyle
Head of KiwiSaver Distribution
ING (NZ) Limited

A member of ING's funds management executive, David heads the KiwiSaver distribution team and is based in Auckland. With some 230,000 KiwiSaver members in ING-managed schemes and over 4,000 employer preferred schemes, David's area is responsible for the future growth of KiwiSaver for ING (NZ) Limited.

Previously, David was Manager Wholesale Distribution, specialising in the area of charitable trusts, third party platforms, and corporate superannuation.

Before joining ING in 1997, David was National Manager Sales and Marketing of Investments with UDC.

David's other passions include his family (wife Moira and two children James and Alarnah), contemporary music and being a one-eyed Cantabrian.

Jack Regan
Managing Director, AMP Financial Services NZ  

Jack Regan took on the role of Managing Director of AMP Financial Services NZ on 1 September 2007. Prior to taking up the role, Jack was Managing Director of Hillross Financial Services Limited in Australia, a member of the AMP Group of companies and one of Australia's largest financial planning groups.

Jack's Career in financial services spans 25 years and prior to his role at Hillross, included senior executive roles in distribution, marketing and operations at St George Banks, IOOF (an Australian wealth management business) and GIO, as well as AMP Limited.  Jack also serves as a director of a number of operating subsidiaries within the AMP Group and has graduate and post-graduate qualifications in marketing, education and the securities industry.

Jack is well positioned to lead AMP through the next stage of its development in New Zealand as it embraces the emergence of wealth management and significant regulatory change.

Diana Crossan
Retirement Commissioner  

The role of Retirement Commissioner is created in statute under the NZ Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 and appointed by the Minister for Social Development and Employment.

The Retirement Commissioner is Diana Crossan.

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'.

As Retirement Commissioner, Diana is a member of:

• New Zealand National Strategy for Financial Literacy Advisory Group
• NZIRA (New Zealand Institute for Research on Ageing), Victoria University, Advisory Board (Chair)
• Ngai Tahu Financial Independence Reference Group
• OECD International Network on Financial Education Advisory Board
• OECD International Network on Financial Education Sub Group on Evaluation (Chair)
• OECD International Network on Financial Education Sub Group on Schools Education
• RIIG (Retirement Income Interest Group)
• Tertiary Financial Literacy Steering Group - (Chair)

In her private capacity, Diana is a member of:

• Mighty River Power Board
• Whai Rawa, Ngai Tahu Saving Scheme (Chair)
• Refugee Services Board
• Orangi Kaupapa Trust (Chair)

John Bishop
Media Analyst and Commentator

John Bishop works as a speaker, trainer and facilitator, journalist and communications consultant. A former television and radio journalist, he is also a skilled PR strategist, a media trainer, and is a frequent presenter and commentator on media and communications issues.

He has a regular column in the National Business Review called "In Pursuit of Prosperity" and he also writes and blogs regularly on political and commercial matters. He has particular interests in economic development and social policy. He also works as a commentator and broadcaster.

He has a Masters degree in Political Science from the University of Canterbury and management diplomas from Henley College in the UK and from the Institute of Corporate Managers. He has managed his own consultancy business for the last fourteen years.

John has a wide range of experience in corporate and marketing communications, and has won national and international awards for his work. See www.johnbishop.co.nz. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Public Relations Institute of NZ.

Peter Duvall
Head of Investing and Corporate Super Marketing,
Colonial First State

Peter is the Head of Investor and Corporate Super Marketing at Colonial First State. Colonial First State is Australia's largest fund manager, has been entrusted by over 500,000 Australians to look after their superannuation and is a part of the Commonwealth Bank Group.

In his current role, Peter is responsible for the marketing strategy, planning and execution of activities around investor retention and acquisition, as well as the highly successful FirstChoice Employer Super offering and related services. FirstChoice Employer Super meets the superannuation requirements of over 6,500 employers in Australia.

He has been at Colonial First State for 6 years, held a number of executive manager positions, and has driven many important brand and marketing initiatives. At the moment he is highly focused on client retention and education due to the Global Financial Crisis.

A highly experienced marketer with over 20 years experience in financial services, covering retailing banking, life insurance, superannuation, broking and funds management. Prior to joining Colonial First State, Peter was the Deputy Managing Director of TD Waterhouse Australia, where he was responsible for both the front and back offices of the online broker, and played a critical role in the sale of the business to the Commonwealth Bank.

Peter is married and has two sons, and loves his weekends where he can spend time with them. While not a great surfer, he is a keen one and relishes the high he gets from having a good surf!

 Greg McAllister
Head of Wholesale Distribution,
ASB Group Investments

Greg manages the Wholesale Distribution team for ASB Group Investments and is in the senior management team for the ASB Group Investments' business. He has national responsibility for managing sales for KiwiSaver and Workplace Superannuation distribution, channels and clients. He leads the Product Management team and has responsibility for the management of scheme rationalisation.

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 of time he lectured in Management Studies at Waikato University, he has been a small business owner and is a current board member of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), the NZ Regional Council Finsia and the AUT MBA Advisory Board.

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

Paul is a Principal of Mercer and is the leader of Mercer's Retirement, Risk & Finance Business in New Zealand. In this 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, including defined benefit to defined contribution transfers, plan design and valuation of contingent liabilities and emerging issues and thought leadership in the superannuation and retirement savings space.

 Paul moved to New Zealand in his current role in 2007, having previously served as the account manager for many of Mercer's largest superannuation clients in Australia.

Bevan Graham
Chief Economist & Head of Client Relations, AXA Global Investors

Bevan Graham is Chief Economist and Head of Client Relations at AXA Global Investors, where he has worked since June 2008.

Bevan has held a number of senior economist positions across both the private and public sectors. He began his career in financial markets at the ANZ Bank before a move to Westpac where be was Chief Economist from 1994 to 2000. In 2000 he became Chief Economic Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition, a position he held until the end of 2002. Following a period back in financial markets as Head of Client Relations at Alliance Capital Management, Bevan became Chief Executive at the Economic Development Association of New Zealand (EDANZ), a position he held until his move to AXA Global Investors.

Bevan has a Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.Soc.Sci) degree from Waikato University, majoring in Economics.

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.