Our People

NEW ZEALAND OWNED AND OPERATED

We know KiwiSaver

We use a lot of smart technology to direct your money where it needs to go. But we also have some smart people in the background telling the computer what it should do. As you can see from the studious looking faces below, we have some of New Zealand’s top finance minds helping you make the most out of your retirement.

KIWISAVER EXPERTS

Our People

Rupert Carlyon

Rupert Carlyon

Founder, Managing Director

Rupert has worked in financial service roles his entire career – starting at global investment bank UBS, where he had a slew of roles in London and Auckland.

Returning to New Zealand in 2014, Rupert was disappointed to see the KiwiSaver market had not moved on since he left. Seven years on, New Zealanders were still being given the same stock-standard, three-fund offering and he could see that KiwiSaver was not really working for everyone.

So he began to look internationally, at companies and technologies that were doing retirement investing right. kōura is the result - a way to give kiwis access to the technology and products to help them achieve their financial goals.

Warren Couillault

Warren Couillault

Chairman

Warren is New Zealand’s KiwiSaver guru. And when you’re running a KiwiSaver company, it’s pretty great to have him on board. Warren was a crucial member of the team that created the Fisher Funds KiwiSaver scheme in 2007 and the award-winning Generate KiwiSaver scheme in 2011.

Now the CEO of Hobson Wealth Partners, one of New Zealand’s largest wealth managers and a key strategic partner of ours, Warren is also the Chairman of kōura and sits on our Investment Committee. His role is to help steer the team, making sure they continue to deliver great financial outcomes for you.

Mark Solomon

Mark Solomon

Director

Mark is well versed when it comes to the New Zealand financial markets, having been in the industry for more than 25 years’. He has owned and managed a number of financial advisory firms and New Zealand’s leading online insurance platform Life Direct.

When he's not sitting on kōura's board, Mark is Managing Director of both Life Direct and Insurance Market Capital & Coast, an insurance advisory firm based in Wellington.

Nigel Scott

Nigel Scott

Director

Nigel has over 30 years’ experience in the NZ and UK financial markets with significant depth in the key areas of wealth management, equity and debt capital markets, structured finance, risk, and investment management. His last executive position was as the Head of Advice and Distribution at Hobson Wealth, and he also previously held the role of GM Wealth Distribution at ANZ Bank.

Nigel's broad and in-depth industry knowledge, paired with his experience sitting on several other boards means that we consider ourselves lucky to have him as one of kōura's Directors.

Angela Frazerhurst

Angela Frazerhurst

Director

Angela is a marketing professional who has worked with some of New Zealand’s most successful brands over the past 20 years. Previously Head of Marketing and General Manager for Lewis Road Creamery, Angela is currently Managing Director and owner of a leading New Zealand social media agency, Content & Co.

We're fortunate to have Angela as a director at kōura, sharing her strategic marketing and brand knowledge, as well as her deep understanding of consumers and how best to talk to them.

Rebecca Stratton

Rebecca Stratton

Operations Manager

Originally from Hawke’s Bay, our Operations Manager Rebecca is the glue that holds koura together.

Bringing to the company over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Rebecca combines vast experience with an attention to detail and a deep empathy for our customers.

Rebecca studied at the University of Otago, has the Level 5 Certificate in Financial Services - both Core and Investment strands, and the NZX Diploma.

Her favourite thing about the job is helping people to see the value of Kiwisaver and how it can help them at all stages of their life.

Rebecca hopes to encourage our members to pay more attention to their KiwiSaver as for many it will be one of the biggest investments they make.

When not at work, Rebecca loves spending time with family and friends. 

Paula Damen

Paula Damen

Business Development Partner

Paula comes with over 30 years in sales and distribution in financial services and brings a wealth of experience in working with financial advisory firms and financial advisers, helping them grow their businesses and create pathways for upselling and cross selling opportunities.

When Paula isn't racing around Aotearoa building relationships and connecting with advisers she's busy working on new and exciting ways to develop our facilitator platform. 

Paula is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, and has been living in New Zealand for eight years.

She joined the kōura team after seeing how providing everyday people with KiwiSaver advice can make a real difference to their retirement outcomes.

Paula is passionate about the financial services industry and prides herself on having a job making a difference in the world by introducing the benefits of a KiwiSaver review to financial advisers.

Mitch Hooker

Mitch Hooker

Operations & Customer Relations

Originally from Tauranga, Mitch joined the kōura team because he connected with the way our innovative technology brings people choice in their KiwiSaver

Mitch studied Finance at the University of Waikato, and had a stint at PMG funds before joining the kōura team.

Seeing the way most KiwiSaver companies lumped everyone into a single fund made Mitch wonder if there was a better way of doing things. When he saw kōura KiwiSaver allowed people to be engaged in their investments and control their own savings he wanted to be involved.

Helping customers set themselves up for a better retirement is what gets Mitch out of bed in the morning. He knows the work he does today will give someone a better retirement down the line.

When he isn’t working Mitch loves watching sport, and spending the weekends with his mates fighting for par on the golf course.

Christine Comins

Christine Comins

KiwiSaver Specialist

Our resident superstar KiwiSaver Specialist Christine is many customer’s first point of call at kōura wealth, and is passionate about helping people get the best retirement they can through KiwiSaver.

Christine has four years experience in financial services. She loves working at kōura as she feels every member of the team is genuinely interested in helping each other to be the best.

She also loves that kōura is different to other KiwiSaver brands, helping clients to have a more hands on approach to their investments, making investment knowledge accessible for everyone.

When not working Christine loves making candles that smell (and sometimes look!) like desserts, swimming, bush walks and reading under shady trees.

Simon McGowan

Simon McGowan

KiwiSaver Specialist

As the newest member of the kōura team Simon brings a lot of fresh energy to the team.

Born and bred in sunny Nelson, Simon started working in the financial services industry when he was 22 and has over 14 years of experience under his belt.

As well as an expert in KiwiSaver, Simon is also an expert in the great game of Cricket. He even spent six months playing and coaching cricket in the Netherlands.

Simon joined kōura to be part of a company that is taking the lead in promoting the financial wellbeing for every Kiwi. When he isn’t working he coaches his local cricket club on the North Shore.

Sergey Shevchenko

Sergey Shevchenko

Chief Technology Officer

Born in Kazakhstan, but living in New Zealand for the past five years our whizz developer Sergey has learnt programming since he was 12 years old.

Bringing 18 years of experience in web design and development to kōura KiwiSaver, Sergey is the oil that makes the whole koura machine run smoothly.

Sergey joined kōura as he wanted something big and challenging to work on, and he thought there wasn’t a bigger challenge than giving a generation of kiwis the best retirement possible.

When he isn’t designing innovative ways to optimise KiwiSaver technology, Sergey likes reading, playing computer games, and cooking traditional central-asian cuisine.

Bella Goudie

Bella Goudie

Marketing Coordinator

Born and mostly raised in Canada, Bella is thrilled to have returned to Auckland as a part of the kōura team.

During her time in Canada, Bella studied Rhetoric and Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo, CA before completing her Master of Arts in Digital Media. While new to the world of KiwiSaver, Bella brings expertise in information design from her studies and previous collaborations with Arizona State University.

Bella joined kōura as she was intrigued by kōura’s sustainable and ethical approach to investing, and wanted to put her name behind a company that was taking an innovative approach to climate action.

Besides media and design, Bella is passionate about the arts, her family, and the beautiful flora and fauna of Aotearoa. On her days off, you’ll most likely find her out for a hike or exploring a local arts festival.

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