Fighting for finance
CFO Summit warms up
Finance experts in insurance, telecommunications and transport are in the running to be named New Zealand’s chief financial officer of the year.
The CFO Awards celebrate New Zealand’s top chief financial officers and senior finance executives at an awards dinner at SkyCity on March 15.
The EY CFO of the year finalists for 2017 are Sean Kam of Partners Life, Kate Jorgensen of KiwiRail, and Andrew Carroll from Chorus.
Kam joined Partners Life as chief financial officer in mid-2012.
Before that Kam had been chief financial officer at Heartland Bank, which he had helped spin out of troubled finance company Marac Finance.
He joined Partners Life with what managing director Naomi Ballantyne described a ‘‘strong market reputation’’ built on more than 20 years in finance positions at both listed companies and financial institutions.
At Partners Life he was most recently in charge of a project which raised $200 million for the company.
Jorgensen joined KiwiRail in March 2015, having previously worked at Fletcher Building for six years.
She has been credited with transforming the chief financial officer role at KiwiRail, and led an overhaul of its IT systems.
Chorus chief financial officer Andrew Carroll joined the company in 2011 with a decade’s experience in the telecommunications industry.
He had previously worked at Telecom for nine years, and was director of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston New Zealand before that.
At Chorus, Carroll’s responsibilities included ensuring strong financial performance at Chorus, as well as building relationships with shareholders and the investment community.
Ngai Tahu Holdings chief financial officer Allan Hickford received the top gong in 2016 for his role in Ngai Tahu becoming the first iwi to surpass $1 billion in assets.
His focus on transparency and improved reporting helped build understanding, trust and confidence in both the commercial arm of Ngai Tahu and iwi shareholders, judges said.
The CFO summit will feature four international keynote speakers including Stratfor vice president of strategic analysis Rodger Baker, Centre for Digital Business managing director Marie Johnson, University of Melbourne professor Peter Gahan, and Fossil Group chief financial officer Dennis Secor.
Finalists for the Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand finance team of the year are Summerset, Xero, Southern Cross and the Department of Internal Affairs.
The Technology One financial innovation project of the year finalists are Placemakers, Southern Cross and Synlait Milk.
The University of Auckland Business School young financial manager of the year finalists are Tim Mackay of Sealord, Casey Blatch from Synlait, Jessie Watling from Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Limited, and Fletcher Building’s Jeremy Yan.
Finally, the MasterCard small and medium enterprise finance team of the year category finalists are Red Bull, Powerhouse Ventures, and 90 Seconds.
The awards are organised by Fairfax Media (publisher of Stuff) and Conferenz.
This year’s CFO Summit will focus on the geopolitical landscape and its impact on local business, innovation and growth, technology and disruption, and the future of the workplace.
The EY CFO of the year finalists for 2017 are Sean Kam of Partners Life, Kate Jorgensen of KiwiRail, and Andrew Carroll from Chorus.
CFO Summit & Awards are at SkyCity, Auckland, on March 15. Register at www.cfosummit.co.nz