The Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Board is on-track to make its chief executive appointment in the first quarter of 2003. The Guardians' Board also expects to appoint an investment advisor, a legal advisor and a tax advisor in that time frame.

The chief executive search process involved local and international advertising and the assistance of a specialist recruitment agency. The search processes for investment, legal and tax advisors commenced with advertisements seeking expressions of interest. Probity advice from Audit New Zealand has been applied to the selection processes.

Guardians' chairman, David May, said that the comprehensive search processes for the appointments were drawing to a close. "We have been very thorough and have provided opportunities for a wide range of candidates to bring their skills to our attention," he said.

"We have had to evaluate a large amount of information from some very high calibre candidates. We are confident that our selection processes are robust and equitable and will produce sound outcomes for the Fund," he said.

After the regular Guardians' Board meeting held yesterday, the Board announced that in the next week it will interview its short-listed investment advisor firms and it will determine its short-listed tax advisor and legal advisor candidates.

The Board remains on track to begin investing the moneys of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in the third quarter of the year. The Fund is expected to be around $1.9 billion at 30 June 2003.

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