Thom Bentley has been hired as director of adviser and institutional business and will be located in BetaShares’ newly opened New Zealand office. Mr Bentley has more than 30 years’ financial services experience and most recently worked at Smartshares, New Zealand’s only ETF provider.
“I am excited to be the first local hire for BetaShares in New Zealand. BetaShares have built a reputation as a leading, innovative ETF manager in Australia, and have been involved in New Zealand since their inception,” Mr Bentley said.
“I am thrilled to be part of this next phase of the business’s development as we aim to further extend the Firm’s presence in this market.”
BetaShares has seen FUM grow from approximately $10 billion at the start of 2020 to more than $17 billion at the end of April 2021 and is projecting continuing strong growth as it takes a private equity infusion from TA Associates.
“Over the years, we have developed a number of long-standing relationships with institutions and advisers in New Zealand, which we have to date serviced out of our Australian offices,” said BetaShares chief Alex Vynokur.
“We are now excited to deepen our presence in the New Zealand market via a local office, which will help us to better service the needs of New Zealand investors with our extensive range of intelligent investment solutions.”