Current & Former DirectorsCurrent & Former Directors

Founding Director and Principal Consultant of IMPAC, a New Zealand health, safety and risk consultancy (est. 1999). Independent Director and Chair of Elevation Capital Funds Management (2024). Independent Director of Bethunes Investments (2020–present). Earlier career in H&S management at Solid Energy NZ, Tegel Foods, and Shell Todd Oil Services. Board Member of the NZ Institute of Safety Management. Educated at Massey University.

Founder of Delta Group, an international MGA insurance business operating across New Zealand, Singapore, and Australia, achieving $100M+ GWP and ~100 employees under his leadership as Group CEO. Previously spent 15 years at AIG in senior executive roles globally, including International Professional Liability & Cyber Head in New York, overseeing a ~$1B GWP portfolio. Delta is a Lloyd's Coverholder with an AM Best Excellent MGA rating. Chartered Insurer (ACII), ANZIIF Senior Associate, and Member of the Institute of Directors NZ (MInstD). Active investor and non-executive director in tech and finance, including a board role at Freed Capital Limited, Hong Kong.

Sam Thackery is an Executive Director of Elevation Capital Management Limited (FSP# 1011848) and an Executive Director of MA Asset Management (New Zealand) Limited (FSP# 1011255), working alongside Christopher Swasbrook on compliance, fund administration, and systems across both entities. He is also Assistant Portfolio Manager at Elevation Capital. He is Founder and Director of Computable Limited, a software development and IT consultancy serving The Helen Clark Foundation and, formerly, McCashin's Brewery; through Computable, he has developed an AI-enabled lending-triage platform and portfolio stress-testing tools. Sam is also a Director of Art Management Inc. Limited, an app developer for the collectibles market. Sam was formerly Executive Director, Compliance Officer, Fund Administration Manager, and Systems Manager of Elevation Capital Funds Management Limited (now The Curve Investments Limited FSP# 1007386), the MIS-licensed Manager of the Elevation Capital Global Shares Fund — a retail Managed Investment Scheme under the FMCA. He joined Elevation Capital Management Limited as an Analyst in September 2023 and was promoted to Analyst and Fund Administrator in January 2024. In April 2025, he was instrumental in transferring the MIS licence from ECML into ECFML and the sale of 76% of ECFML to outside investors — including Black Bull Markets founders Michael Walker and Selwyn Loekman and Delta Insurance founder Ian Pollard — and was appointed Executive Director of ECFML. In May 2026, ECFML was divested to The Curve Investments. Prior to funds management, Sam spent over six years at ASB Bank in retail banking and consumer lending roles, and earlier built GlassMap, a commercial cutting-optimisation tool, which was incorporated as GlassMap Limited in 2017. He holds a First-Class Diploma in Business Studies from Massey University (A+, 2024) and two First-Class Certificates in Financial Advice (Level 5). Born in Wellington and raised in Palmerston North, he began programming in AppleScript at the age of eight. Outside of work, he plays chess, debates, and flies light aircraft.

Experienced diplomat, economist, and CEO with expertise in investment direction, government advisory, and corporate leadership across New Zealand's financial sector.

Founding Director of Harmos Horton Lusk, a specialist corporate and transactional law firm focused on public and private M&A and capital raisings. Chairman of NZX Limited (2008–2015). Director of Scentre Group (Westfield, 2010–present) and former Director of AMP Limited (2017–2020). Previously Partner at Russell McVeagh (1986–2002). LLB(Hons), BCom, University of Auckland.

Managing Director of Unison Capital Advisors (2004–present) and professional company director. Partner, Corporate Finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers (1989–2003). Former Director and Chairman of NZX-listed Hellaby Holdings (2008–2017) and Spanbild Holdings (2006–2015). Director of Fulton Hogan (2005–2017) and Tower Limited (2012–2022). Director of Manuka SA and Chairman of Pascaro Investments, both focused on the dairy farming sector. Board Member of the National Foundation for the Deaf. BCom (Accounting), University of Auckland.

New Zealand dairy farmer, business executive, and company director. Chair of Fonterra 2002–2012. Appointed Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in 2009 for services to agriculture. Conferred an honorary Doctor of Commerce by Lincoln University in 2011.

Sean Laidlaw is an Auckland-based finance professional with a background spanning banking, investment advice, and agri-finance. Originally from a farming family in Southland, Sean brings a grounded perspective to agricultural investment, having worked across ANZ, Yovich & Co Wealth Management, and Roger Dickie NZ Ltd in roles covering business banking, registered financial advice, and investor relations. Sean is Co-Founder of Seedling Investments New Zealand, a firm focused on providing next-generation farmers with equitable access to agricultural assets. He holds an MBA (Finance) from the Auckland Institute of Studies and a Postgraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Auckland.

Charlie Rycroft joined Elevation Capital in February 2024 as a Research Analyst & Administration Manager, a role she held until February 2025, contributing strategic communications and data analysis support to the investment research function while completing her studies. Charlie holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Auckland and is currently completing a Master's in Organisational Psychology at the same institution, expected mid-2026. Prior to Elevation Capital, she spent over four years at ASB Bank as a Retail Banking Specialist, developing a strong analytical foundation and an appreciation for data-driven decision-making, and held concurrent leadership roles at The Y (YMCA) including Head of Marketing for RaiseUp NZ and Vice President of the Youth Advisory Panel. After leaving Elevation Capital, Charlie joined Talegent - initially as a Talent Assessment Consultant, and now as Relationship Manager for Global Partners, where she oversees the firm's international reseller partnerships across people-centred talent and assessment solutions.

Eden Bradfield is a guest writer for BusinessDesk. Eden is a writer, enfant terrible and investment commentator. He also writes at Edenbradfieldresearch.substack.com.

Sagar Nagpal joined Elevation Capital in August 2023 as Analyst / Fund Administrator, contributing across capital markets and performance reporting until January 2024. Sagar holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Mumbai and brought to Elevation Capital eight years of experience across investments, market risk, compliance, risk management, and audit, beginning his career as an Audit Executive at Venkat Associates in Mumbai before progressing through Assistant Manager - Market Risk at Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, Deputy Manager (Mid Office / Market Risk) at Bajaj Allianz Life, and Manager (Risk Analyst - Investment Front Office) at Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund. After leaving Elevation Capital, Sagar joined Apex Group Ltd. (New Zealand) as Senior Settlements and Trading Officer, where he continues to work across the firm's New Zealand fund administration operations.

Vishakha Ranadive joined Elevation Capital in August 2022 as Fund and Portfolio Administration, performing all operations and reporting tasks for the Elevation Capital Global Shares Fund and Separate Portfolio Accounts held by Elevation Capital Management Limited across a tenure of one year and four months through to November 2023. Vishakha holds a B.Com (Hons.) from ITM University, Gwalior - graduating as a three-year Gold Medalist with an aggregate CGPA of 8.56 - and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Finance and International Business) from ISBR Business School. She brought to Elevation Capital nearly six years of fund administration experience from Morgan Stanley, where she progressed from Associate through Senior Associate and Team Lead to Manager within the Hedge Fund Administration team across Investor Services. After leaving Elevation Capital, Vishakha joined Apex Group Ltd. (New Zealand) as a Registry Officer, where she manages KiwiSaver and unit funds.

Kevin Zou joined Elevation Capital in September 2019 as Analyst - Equity Fund, leading funds analysis for the firm's US equity exposures, providing monthly insights, and preparing investor materials across a three-year and three-month tenure through to November 2022. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business/Commerce from the University of Otago, a further Postgraduate Diploma in Business and an Executive MBA from the University of Auckland - where he was a member of the Business School Investment Club. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA Australia) and a CFA Level 3 Candidate. Prior to Elevation Capital, Kevin spent over nine years with Pan Pacific Travel as Operations Analyst and Senior Operations Manager. After leaving Elevation Capital, he joined Westpac New Zealand as a Corporate Banking Relationship Associate / Analyst, where he was responsible for credit risk analysis and new deal pitching for large corporates including complex financial analysis, industry research, ESG, and financial modelling. He has since relocated to Sydney and joined Commonwealth Bank as a Commercial Banking Analyst.

Experienced management consulting professional with expertise in strategic analysis, operations, deals, collaborative partnerships and creating positive work cultures.

Richard Milsom spent nearly a decade with Elevation Capital, joining as Associate in July 2013 and progressing to Principal in October 2015 - a role he held for four and a half years through to March 2020, including the period in which Elevation Capital won Morningstar's International Equities Category Fund Manager of the Year for New Zealand in 2017. He continued with the firm in a Consultant capacity until April 2023, contributing across the investment research function. Richard holds a BCom in Economics and Finance from the University of Canterbury, and supplemented this with Executive Education in Value Investing at Columbia Business School (2015) and a Post Graduate qualification in Global Agricultural Business at Harvard Business School (2019). Alongside his time at Elevation Capital, he served on the INFINZ Main Board and chaired its Young Finance Professionals Board, and co-founded The Supply Room, a Queenstown-based eCommerce fashion boutique. Since stepping back from Elevation Capital, Richard has built a director portfolio focused on New Zealand's primary sector and rural real estate, co-founding NZX-listed New Zealand Rural Land Company (NZX:NZL) and serving as a Director of Allied Farmers (NZX:ALF) and New Zealand Farmers Livestock, while continuing as a Consultant to Bellevue Enterprises in genetic improvement and breeding for the New Zealand beef and dairy sector.

John Tsai joined Elevation Capital in January 2010 as Assistant Research Analyst, and was promoted to Principal/Investment Research Analyst in December 2011 - a role he held for over seven years until April 2019. Across his nine years and four months with the firm, John oversaw ongoing equities research across international markets, contributing qualitative analysis to the Fund's investment process. He brought to the role a technical background uncommon in equities research, having begun his career as a Senior Programmer at Ulead Systems working on C++ digital photography software for the Mac/OS X platform, followed by five years as an Account Manager at Gevin Enterprises. After leaving Elevation Capital, John joined Refinitiv (subsequently acquired by London Stock Exchange Group), where he now serves as Senior Customer Success Manager. He was named Refinitiv's Most Valuable Player of the Year for the Pacific region in 2021 and LSEG's Creative Genius - Pacific in 2022.

Ashley Chan joined Elevation Capital in October 2007 as Senior Investment Analyst and was also a Principal, working alongside the firm in its early years on equity and investment analysis, investment strategy, stock selection, portfolio management, and risk management through to December 2008. Ashley brought to the role a strong foundation in financial analysis built across diverse industries, beginning his career as an Actuarial Analyst at Watson Wyatt (now Mercer Consulting), followed by roles as a Business Analyst at Evergreen Forests, Research Manager at Grosvenor Financial Services Group, and Senior Analyst (Risk Strategy) at Mighty River Power. After leaving Elevation Capital, Ashley moved into the energy sector, spending four years as Commercial Executive at New Zealand Oil & Gas in Wellington before relocating to Perth, where he held a seven-year tenure with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC Australia) across Marketing, Commercial, and Senior Business Analyst roles, including LNG and domestic gas marketing, contract negotiation, and economic valuation. He is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia. Following a brief stint as Senior Financial Modeller at Lithium Australia NL on a battery cathode materials plant project, Ashley returned to KUFPEC as a Business Analyst, where he continues to work across corporate planning, strategy, financial control, and management reporting.

John Fernandes joined Elevation Capital in 2007 as Investment / Financial Analyst and was also a Principal, contributing to the firm's investment research function across a two-year tenure through to 2009. John brought to the role experience from Goldman Sachs JBWere, where he had spent the prior three years as a Business Analyst, having begun his career as a Network and Systems Engineer at Quinnox Consultancy Services. After leaving Elevation Capital, John joined NZX Limited as Senior Strategy Analyst, rising to Head of Strategy across a five-year tenure, before moving into senior strategy roles at MediaWorks NZ as Group Head of Strategy and Spark New Zealand as Quantum Programme Lead. He has held a series of governance and executive roles since, including Non-Executive Director of Bethunes Investments Limited and Director of Swimtastic Limited, alongside concurrent CFO roles at MacroActive and Ruminant BioTech. He has been with Third Age Health Services since 2019, initially as Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee, then as Chairman, and is now Executive Chairman.

Julie Corcoran joined Elevation Capital in February 2007, shortly after the firm's founding, as Administration Manager - handling all office management duties for the Fund Manager over a four-year tenure through to March 2011. Julie brought to the role significant institutional experience, having spent the prior eight years at Goldman Sachs as Team Leader, Accounts Settlements, where she managed a team reconciling multi-currency bank accounts and overseeing cash settlements across equities, fixed interest and bonds, deposits, and withdrawals. Since leaving Elevation Capital, Julie has been with Spotless Services as an Administrator across infrastructure and maintenance administration.

Jack Walker is a New Zealand-born student-athlete at Cornell University (College of Arts and Science, Class of 2028), where he competes as a Coxswain in Heavyweight Men's Rowing. At Cornell he is Co-Head of Special Situations and Insurance at the Cornell Hedge Fund, and serves as VP of New Member Education and Special Situations Sector Founder at the Cornell Investment Banking Club. Jack joined Elevation Capital as a Summer Analyst in May 2025, contributing to the long/only equities strategy. He subsequently secured a placement as an Incoming Academy Summer Analyst at Point72 in New York, focusing on fundamental long/short equity.

Matthew has a Bachelor of Psychology and a Graduate Diploma in Finance from Victoria University of Wellington. He is currently writing his thesis on the distinctions between initial public offerings in the equity and cryptocurrency spaces as the final component of his Master of Finance at University of Auckland. He has prior experience in fintech at FNZ, working on the retail investment platform Hatch. At Elevation Capital he has been involved in producing research on a broad range of investments, including Givaudan, Farmland, Dr Martens, and Estee Lauder.

Flynn holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from the University of Auckland and is undertaking a Master of Finance at the same university. He has prior experience in audit at PwC and mechanical engineering at the Windsor Group. He has held senior roles on investment committees at the University of Auckland and abroad at Dartmouth College while on exchange. Additionally, he represented New Zealand in the CFA Institute research challenge after placing first nationally in 2021. At Elevation Capital, Flynn has produced numerous comprehensive reports on the fund's holdings, largely spanning underpriced luxury goods and technology firms.

Daniel is in his final year studying a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Commerce conjoint degree majoring in Economics, Finance and Statistics. He has previous experience in the Investment Banking team at Jarden, the Corporate Finance team at PwC, and the Marketing team at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. At Elevation Capital, Daniel has primarily been involved in producing equity research reports on companies such as Heineken, Salvatore Ferragamo and Ubisoft.

Edward holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Otago. Edward has a strong interest in finance and aims to use his medical education to navigate disruptive technologies in the health sector. To learn about medicine in financial setting, Edward joined Elevation Capital and began his internship at the end of his medical studies at the end of 2020 being instrumental in the research of an information memorandum document for MARS Bioimaging Limited. Edward has experience in primary healthcare management, health IT, and health consultancy in addition to his medical experience gained during his medical training.

Nikita is a graduate student studying Computer and Information Science at AUT. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Relations and Geography from Victoria University of Wellington. Nikita completed the Victoria International Leadership Programme and studied at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile as a Prime Minister's Scholar to Latin America. Her interests include sustainable development through food agriculture, natural resource conflict and geopolitics in the Asia Pacific region. She participated in the first 2019 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Santiago and completed an internship at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Nikita is a dual citizen of Peru and New Zealand and a fluent speaker of Spanish.

Vincent is a third year Economics, Finance and Statistics student at University of Auckland. Vincent is passionate about the intersection of technology and finance having been involved in start-up and finance environments. Vincent has previously interned at Everbright Securities (Beijing) in the Capital Markets team, at JBWere (Auckland) and at the Bank of China (Hong Kong). At University Vincent co-founded the 180 Degrees Consulting Branch, a non-profit student consultancy aimed to help social enterprises and non-profits with their businesses. During his time at Elevation Capital, Vincent gained valuable research skills and knowledge in Capital Markets.

Paolo began his internship in February 2020, while studying a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Finance at the University of Auckland. Paolo has been able to develop his skills in financial research and analysis under the guidance of the team at Elevation Capital. During his time at Elevation Capital, Paolo gained insight into New Zealand's finance industry.

Jonathan joined Elevation Capital in November 2019 tasked with a comprehensive research report on Flughafen Zurich. He then elected to remain with us until completion of his Bachelors Degree in Economics and Finance at the University of Auckland. Jonathan has quickly become an integral team member, gaining insight into the day-to-day operations of a funds management business while honing his skills in marketing, communication and equity research.

Angela is a freshman intern studying Economics and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is a student on the Dean's Honors List. She enjoys teaching and lab assisting for Computer Science courses at the university and was a presenter at Berkeley's Computer Science Education Day - an annual event hosting over 700 high-school students from the Bay Area. Angela analyzes financial data for Berkeley's student union to help optimize the university's annual funding allocations. She was also a data analyst for Lollicup USA, where she helped enhance their marketing campaign on Google AdWords.

Luka joined Elevation Capital in March 2019 and remained throughout the year while completing his double degree at The University of Auckland in Law and Arts (Philosophy). He has made the most of this opportunity getting real-world experience in a wide range of work. Alongside developing his skills in research, analysis and communication, Luka has enjoyed the exposure he had to the internal operation of a funds management business.

Warren is a sophomore studying Economics and Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley and graduated as part of the Dean's List from Auckland International College in 2017. Warren is passionate about education - he founded Gyropad in 2015 to alleviate paper wastage in Auckland and improve education on recycling processes in the New Zealand education system. He continued to promote education in Berkeley where he led FLEJCON - a platform promoting financial literacy and economic justice in the Bay Area. At Berkeley he is a Senior Consultant for Venture Strategy Solutions, providing strategic consulting for Bay Area companies. He recently advised Driver Inc. - a cancer solutions application backed by Li Ka Shing - on their product launch and market penetration in both the US and Chinese markets.

Jeffrey was a summer intern in 2017 after his first year of study at Duke University, where he was studying Economics and Computer Science. During his time at Elevation Capital, he produced a comprehensive equity research report, developing his skills in industry research and financial analysis. Beyond this, Elevation Capital provided Jeffrey his first exposure to working full-time in a professional environment. Jeffrey joined Bain and Company in their New York office as an Associate Consultant Intern, where he intended to stay post-graduation.

Ben Friedlander was an intern at Elevation Capital from December 2015 to March 2016. Ben joined Elevation Capital full time in March 2016. Ben graduated from Auckland University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics.

Kedian Sun was an intern at Elevation Capital from December 2014 to January 2015, whilst he was pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Economics with a major in Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Sean Bird began his internship in 2014 during the summer of his final year of studies at the University of Canterbury (Law and Economics).

Andrew began his internship with Elevation Capital in August 2013 during his final year at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), where he attained a Bachelor of Business majoring in Finance & Economics.

Andy was an intern at Elevation Capital during 2012, where he learned about both investment and investor relations at a global equities fund. Andy founded Qupital in 2016, a leading Hong Kong trade finance platform linking businesses with professional investors. Qupital has handled over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars in transaction volume as of 2018 and has raised funding from investors including Alibaba and MindWorks Ventures. He oversees Qupital's technology, strategy and partnerships. Andy has also worked at ANZ in Hong Kong and helped to develop an innovative legal technology platform in Denmark. Andy studied Economics and Computer Science at Brown University and was the dux of Rangitoto College in 2009.

Theo Helyer began his internship at Elevation Capital in July 2011 after having served as President for the University of Auckland Investment Club whilst completing his Bachelor of Commerce.