Awa’s People

THE BOARD OF THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY

Grant Allen — Chair

Grant is a local businessman and owns a farm in the area. Born in the UK and raised in Gisborne, Grant worked for a number of multinational companies both in New Zealand and overseas. Following the purchase of a farm in Palmerston North in 1997, Grant moved into the IT sector in NZ. Over the following 10 years Grant worked with Fonterra, HP, and IBM. In 2007, he and his business partner jointly purchased plastic manufacturing business KBL, selling to Stallion in 2009. As CEO of Stallion, Grant has taken the business from a national company to an international company.

Mike Bradley — Director and Shareholder

Formerly, Mike was head of ANZ Private Equity in New Zealand and prior to that, head of ANZ Development Capital across Australia and New Zealand. ANZ Private Equity delivered a global standard private equity return over the 12-year life of the New Zealand fund. Mike is now active as an experienced Mergers & Acquisitions advisor and business valuer at Covisory Partners and is the Managing Partner of The MBO Group NZ Ltd, a boutique advisory ﬁrm specialising in management buy-outs.

Tim Russell — Managing Director and Shareholder

Tim gained a law degree from Cambridge University and an MBA from Auckland University. He brieﬂy practised law in Auckland before moving into banking and ﬁnance. Since the early 1990s, Tim has worked with small and mid-cap companies to assist with their growth ﬁnance needs. Between 2004–2007, Tim was an investment director with ANZ Private Equity, responsible for development capital investments and deal origination across New Zealand. After 2007, Tim worked in emerging markets private equity, mostly in a series of project assignments that took him to Kazakhstan, London and Palestine’s West Bank. Tim returned to Whanganui in September 2019 and has spent much of his time establishing Awa.

Craig Compain VR — Director and Shareholder

Craig served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal Navy for 15 years, during which time he gained substantial management experience. Leaving the Royal Navy in 2007, Craig joined Marshall Wace in London, a leading global alternative investment hedge fund and managed a $100m Euro Defence and Aerospace TOPS Portfolio. He instigated changes to the trading model resulting in savings of over €50m. Since 2015 he was Director of Charter Air Limited, Sir Richard Branson’s private aviation company. Leaving Charter Air to return with his family to New Zealand in Jan 2022, Craig was recently a CEO of a NZ Aviation Company.

THE OPERATING TEAM

Tim Russell — Managing Director

Investment Analyst — Appointment to be completed

THE INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

Mike Bradley (Chair)

Craig Compain

Grant Allen

Francene Wineti — Independent Member

Francene’s original academic training was in aquaculture and she has been active as a leader in both the emerging Māori economy and in scientiﬁc research and innovation. She has wide governance experience and has participated in making investment decisions across a range of industries.

THE ADVISORY TEAM

David Bennett ONZM — Founding Shareholder and Advisor

Originally an Accountant, David is Managing Director of Paciﬁc Helmets Limited, the company he and his wife Marion founded in 1982. Paciﬁc Helmets is a manufacturer and exporter of world class ﬁre and general safety helmets and other safety equipment with subsidiaries in Australia, and export markets in America and Europe. David has recently served as a Councillor of the Whanganui District Council. David and Marion and their family have lived in Whanganui for all of their lives.