Our People. Our Difference

Kip (Ngāti Ranginui) is a financial services leader with over 25 years of experience in New Zealand and Asia Pacific.

He’s successfully led large – scaled banks in the Pacific and has a strong track record of growing businesses and building high-performing teams. Kip has deep retail and commercial banking customer and credit experience, governance, risk management, and leadership skills. He’s a hands-on leader with well-developed networks and a chartered accountant with financial advisory experience.

Kip lives in Auckland with his wife Jodi and 2 children Charlie (9) and Zoe (5). He enjoys golf, family time, sport, travel, and reading.

Kip’s Favourite NZHL value is Freedom champions – Kip joined NZHL with a strong belief in its value proposition of Financial Freedom, Faster. He’s passionate about financial inclusion, education and empowerment.

Darren Lauese is the Chief Financial Officer for NZHL, with over 20 years experience in financial services. Darren is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a degree in Commercial Law and Finance, working with renowned international banking firms such as ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas & Merrill Lynch. 

Darren was the finance lead – launching the (TVNZ on-demand) digital platform channel, and spent almost a decade in the advertising industry before returning to financial services. 

Darren’s favourite NZHL value is Passionately Kiwi – witnessing NZHL adviser’s enthusiasm in helping their clients gain financial freedom left Darren feeling truly impressed with what NZHL has to offer.

Craig is a passionate senior leader with 20 years of experience in the financial services sector across partnerships, operations, sales, marketing, and strategy.

Previously Craig has held leadership roles with AIA and Sovereign and senior roles at Southern Cross Health Insurance, ANZ Wealth, OnePath, and Sentinel.

Craig has a Bachelor of Social Science, Psychology, and Management from the University of Waikato and is passionate about delivering excellent outcomes for customers and partners.

Craig’s favourite NZHL value is Financial Freedom, Faster – providing tools, support and personalised service is important to all Kiwis, knowing that someone cares and is there to support you on your home loan and Insurance journey is incredibly powerful!

Paul is no stranger to NZHL or financial services, having previously been an NZHL business owner and separately the managing director of a successful financial services business.

Paul believes NZHL’s value proposition of financial freedom, faster is what makes it so compelling, to clients but also to the fantastic and passionate people who work in the business to help clients achieve this.

It’s Paul’s job to help steer NZHL’s course towards operational excellence for our clients and our Business Owners – resulting in better client and network outcomes.

Paul is originally from New Plymouth, Taranaki; he and his partner Nicole have a son Maverick. He loves to travel, spend time with family and friends, and play the occasional round of golf (weather permitting in Wellington).

Paul’s favourite NZHL value is Freedom Champions –  Helping Kiwis gain financial freedom enables financial wellness and opportunity for the greater societal good.

Doris balances the HR goods on paper with personality and depth of understanding of what makes people and organisations tick.

Doris is no stranger to financial services having recently been Head of People & Culture Retail Banking at ASB, and prior to that held roles at Kiwibank, NZ Post and Westpac.

Doris brings with her knowledge and understanding of retail and franchise banking which she’s excited to use to help the NZHL network grow and prosper.

When’s she not leading the charge in the HR space, you’ll find her spending time with her family (special mention to Coco the Staffie), cooking and partaking in some of the fruits of her kitchen labours (plus red wine).  When that’s done to excess you may find her walking the neighbourhood or paddling (SUP) on the harbour.

Doris believes NZHL is a pathway to success for both the businesses that make up the organisation and the clients who are part of NZHL.

Doris’s favourite NZHL value is Excellence Together – Doris believes in the power of a passionate diverse team all working together to deliver our purpose.

Michael is the GM of Strategy for NZHL with over 20 years experience in financial services across leadership roles in strategy, transformation delivery, and process and productivity improvement. Michaels’s role at NZHL involves driving the overall growth of the business and putting a strategic plan in place to achieve this.

Michael has 3 daughters, Sophie (14), Alexis (12) and Charlotte (10). He enjoys going on adventures, exploring new places, staying active, and playing games that make you think.

Michael’s favourite NZHL value is Freedom Champions – it resonates with Michael that NZHL finds new ways to make a difference in everyday Kiwi’s lives, not just accepting the status quo and always looking for better solutions to help clients become debt-free faster.