Peter Huljich has resigned as managing director and chief investment officer of Huljich Wealth Management following controversy about some Huljich KiwiSaver transactions.
Don Brash, the chairman of Huljich Wealth Management, has taken over both roles.
“In recent days, there have been a number of allegations about the way Huljich KiwiSaver Funds have been managed,” Dr Brash said. “Some of these allegations are unfair and some are untrue.
“But since I returned from overseas last week, the board has conducted a full review of our operations.
“It has become clear that the board has not been kept fully informed in a timely manner about certain transactions, and as a consequence Huljich Wealth Management has not lived up to the highest standards of transparency.”
He said the company would be actively seeking an experienced director to take his position as chairman.
Mr Huljich will no longer be a member of the investment committee but “will continue to assist the company by taking responsibility for some areas of operational management in order to provide the necessary continuity.”
Chris Huljich will take his place on the board.
Dr Brash has also taken an indefinite leave of absence from the board of ANZ National Bank.
As part of a Securities Commission probe, Huljich Wealth Management rewrote its investor statements for retirement fund returns after previous returns did not show Mr Huljich had made two payments totalling $150,000 in periods ending March 2008 and March 2009 as compensation for investment decisions he made.
Mr Huljich previously said he felt morally responsible for the investment decisions and there was no intention of boosting the funds' performance, and said they made no difference to performance ranking of the company's KiwiSaver scheme.
Trustees Executors Superannuation, the trustee for the Huljich KiwiSaver Scheme, today said the governance and personnel changes at Huljich Wealth Management cleared the way for a fresh approach.
"As trustee, we have at various times over the past two years worked to resolve a number of issues that arose with the management of the scheme," Trustees Executors spokesman Clynton Hardy said.
"The trustee has worked behind the scenes for the benefit of members to ensure that the terms of the offer are adhered to.
"Having just had to issue a new prospectus to resolve the 2008 and 2009 instances of non-disclosure, we were satisfied that all outstanding issues of potential concern to members had been rectified and disclosed."
- additional reporting NZPA
Niko Kloeten
Thu, 04 Mar 2010
