Brent
Sheather:
Graduated Waikato University 1979 with a
Bachelor of Management Studies. Employed for four years as a research
economist at Tasman Pulp and Paper with responsibility for investment
analysis and financial modelling. Attended numerous finance and financial
modelling programmes. Left in 1984 with Neil Craig to form the
partnership of Craig & Co.
Responsibility for group investment strategy and research until 1991 when he
formed Craig & Co Private Asset Management – providing high quality
investment advice to individuals. 1985 – passed exams to become a Member of
the NZ Society of Investment Professionals.
Since
1996
Brent
has also written a regular column for the Personal Finance section of the NZ
Herald.
Below is
a brief summary
of my education and experience:
Ø
I have a four
year management studies degree from Waikato University covering accounting,
economics, law etc etc.
Ø
I worked as an
Economist doing investment analysis for Tasman Pulp and Paper from 1980 – 84
primarily writing discounted cash flow models which required analysis of the
capital markets to determine appropriate discount rates.
Ø
I was awarded a
certificate in investment analysis after doing a one year course organised
by the University of Otago to gain admission into the NZ Society of
Investment Analysts in 1986.
Ø
I was an
original 50% shareholder, joint founder and research manager of Craig
and Co from 1984 – 2000.
Ø
I was a Member
of the NZ Stock Exchange from 1987 – 2000 and only resigned my membership in
2000 as a result of selling my 25% shareholding in Craig and Co to ABN Amro.
Ø
I am primarily
a fee based adviser (99.5% of earnings) and don’t use commission based
products except for new issues from the odd A rated corporate bond like the
recent Auckland Airport issue. Usually these commissions are lower than the
fee that we normally charge the client.
Ø
I am a member
of the NZ Institute of Financial Professionals of NZ which devolved from the
NZ Society of Investment Analysts.
Ø
I manage about
$500 million for retail investors with over $500,000, have worked in the
industry for 26 years, have never had a formal complaint made about me, have
never been sued by a client or threatened with legal action, have never
bought finance company debentures and wrote about the dangers of CDO’s in
the Herald several times a year or two before they imploded.
Ø
I have been
writing a two weekly column on personal finance related matters for the NZ
Herald, more or less continually since 1996. As part of this job I
regularly make contact with leading academics and practitioners who publish
research on personal finance related matters such as Andrew Low of MIT,
Robert Arnott, Clifford Asness, Philip Coggan of the Economist Magazine, Tim
Bond from Barclays Capital in London, Andrew Smithers of Smithers and Co
and David Swensen to name a few.
Ø
I regularly
report on the actions of the SEC and the FSA in the UK, particularly the
Retail Distribution Review initiative. I enclose an example of this :
Separating Advisors From Sales People – June 2008
Ø
As far as
keeping up with current thinking and professional development I read the
following: a hard copy of The London Financial Times six days a week, the US
Financial Analysts Journal, the Economist Magazine, the US Journal of
Finance, the Wharton Real Estate Review from the University of Pennsylvania,
the CFA Institute magazine and the INFINZ Journal. I also get daily
research from Craigs Investment Partners, UBS Warburg, Barclays Capital,
Morgan Stanley etc etc. I also communicate regularly with the three London
Business School Professors, Dimson Marsh and Staunton and they send me their
annual Global Investment Returns Yearbook.
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