By IRENE CHAPPLE
In an electronic whine, Ira Bing's taxi is reminding him to put his seatbelt on.
The high pitched drawl cuts through late night traffic clamour, and Bing chuckles. The New Zealander is in New York, after all, and taxis talk to you there.
He's tired, and calls his day a "typical New Yorkian one." When he gets home, he'll be charging up his laptop for another three hours' work.
But Bing's New York base is far from where he's in the news.
In New Zealand, he was recently bracketed with such established business and public figures as Sir Douglas Graham, Bridget Wickham, Brian Gaynor and David May.
Those names are familiar: Ira Bing's name wasn't.
The five, with Australian Dr Michaela Anderson, are the "guardians" for New Zealander's new multi-billion-dollar Superannuation Fund.
Bing is the 34-year-old son of Dov Bing, a Waikato professor of political science and public policy.
He has an Auckland University law degree, a Victoria University masters degree in law and an Oxford University masters degree in finance, law and economics.
As a 20-year-old, he was awarded a scholarship to work at the European Commission in Brussels, after which he spent three years with Fay Richwhite.
He then went back overseas, finding work with major investment banks such as Merrill Lynch and London's WestLB Panmure, where he became its youngest managing director.
He has been gone for almost eight years. Now Bing and his partner, Mahoney Harris, whom he met at Hillcrest High School, are feeling the pull of home.
Bing has remained in close contact with family and friends, returning every year to visit. He recently bought property on Great Barrier Island and says New Zealand is a fantastic place to raise children.
He regards his appointment as a guardian as the start to a slow but certain repatriation.
He says the super fund is likely to have significant exposure to foreign assets so it can thrive. But risk management is paramount.
"The people that most need the super are the people who may be least likely to provide for themselves," he says.
And that's a reason he accepted the position: "I felt it was an opportunity to contribute and put something back. It sounds trite but it's the motivating reason. This is something I believe in."
Ira Bing: Time soon to give away talking taxis
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