Jo joined the Guardians in April 2024, after spending 8 years as Chief Executive Officer at Funds SA in South Australia. She has more than 30 years experience within investment management working in various technical and general management roles within a range of organisations in Australia including REST Industry Super, NGS Super, Retirement Benefits Fund, Value Capital Management, and Rothschild Australia Asset Management. Jo has a Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a certified Investment Management Analyst from the Investment Management Consultants Association.

Alex joined the Guardians in 2009, and has held various roles in the Risk and Asset Allocation teams. Since 2014, he has led the Super Fund’s strategic tilting programme, a mean reversion investment strategy that has made a significant contribution to the Fund’s returns. 

Prior to joining the Guardians, Alex worked for Goldman Sachs JBWere (NZ) Ltd as Director of Derivatives and as a Vice President at Merrill Lynch in London, with a focus on structured credit derivatives. He has a MSc from the City University of London and a BE (Hons) from the University of Canterbury. 

Brad joined the Guardians in September 2013 as Head of Portfolio Completion. Prior to joining the Guardians Brad had worked for Cannacord Genuity in London as Co-Head of European Equity Derivatives. Brad Spent  11 Years working in London for various investment banks including Bear Stearns and JP Morgan. Brad holds an BCom from the University of Canterbury and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. Brad is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and is currently the chair of the Kohimarama School Board of Trustees.

Cristina is the Chair of the Risk Committee, she joined the Guardians in 2009 following roles in both law firms and as in house counsel in the financial services industry. Prior to going inhouse, Cristina spent several years as a senior legal associate at Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia and worked at law firm Bell Gully. Cristina has substantial experience in financial services with expertise across various facets of law including mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, health and safety, public law and governance.

Lara joined the Guardians tax team in 2011 where she was involved in New Zealand and international tax compliance, due diligence and structuring for new and existing investments. After 10 years with the tax team, Lara had the opportunity to join the Finance team and was the Head of Finance from since late 2021 till October 2024, overseeing the financial accounting and reporting for the Guardians and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and the Office Management functions. Prior to joining the Guardians Lara was a Tax Manager at professional services firm Deloitte in Auckland. Lara is a Chartered Accountant and has a BCom (Hons) majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of Auckland. 

Michael joined the Guardians in 2005 after 25 years in financial markets, including central banking, portfolio management, investment banking and funds management. Michael's original role was to lay the foundations for the Responsible Investment function before being asked to create a Portfolio Risk unit responsible for Fund performance reporting, liquidity risk and counterparty monitoring. That became part of a larger Risk team that Michael developed over the years to also include enterprise risk, model risk, operational due diligence and operational compliance.

Prior to joining the Fund as Head of Human Resources in 2012, Ms Austin was a Senior Associate with Russell McVeagh, specialising in commercial litigation. She has also worked for the Financial Services Authority in London. Ms Austin has a LLB/BA from the University of Auckland.

Paula joined the Guardians in July 2021, from ASB Bank where she was the Chief Internal Auditor. Paula has 25 years experience in financial services and banking, starting her career as an auditor with professional services firm Deloitte and holding various executive finance and general management roles with AMP, ANZ and ASB. Paula is a Chartered Accountant, and has a BCA majoring in Accounting and Commercial Law from Victoria University.