Two kids and $11bn to run

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Few managers can claim to juggle $11 billion, 100 staff - and two young children.

And you may think somebody overseeing the investment of all that cash - other people's money - may find it difficult sleeping at night.

But for AMP Henderson managing director Catherine Savage, sleep deprivation comes from newborn daughter Emily.

At 33, Ms Savage runs New Zealand's largest funds management firm. She is the youngest of AMP Henderson's country managers. She is also the only woman.

Your money - whether it be superannuation or another sort of investment - may be under the charge of her team through one of the company's 150 clients, most of which are institutions such as banks or super funds.

She took up the job early this year after six years at the company. It has been a meteoric career ascent in an industry where top executives are generally much older - and male.

It's also a competitive and increasingly cut-throat industry, but that is what the Wellington-born rising star thrives on.

Well-regarded by staff and described as a "fun" boss, she also brings an energy to the job that is shared by other senior AMP Henderson managers under her - who, like her, are mainly in their thirties.

She joined the company in 1994 and made clear her ambitions by telling the then-managing director she desired his job.

But she rates herself as more competitive than ambitious. Competitiveness is a trait common among funds managers, but she says that doesn't mean clients' money is mismanaged.

Clients have to know their money is safe and being managed under a process.

"You can't just go out and buy and sell and do all sorts of things, and go crazy. There are set protocols," she says.

"It's people's savings for retirement, or the money that they are investing for their future."

It's also an all-consuming job.

"I have dreamt about work every night for the last year," she says.

Catherine Savage says much of the funds management industry is still regarded as "a bit shadowy" and she thinks more education is needed.

She says people sometimes don't consider the risks in their investment options - and are ignorant about where their investments ultimately end up. She cites a relative who suffered a 30 per cent loss on his investment.

"I said to him 'what sort of investment is it?' He said 'I don't know'."

Ms Savage says it never occurs to some they may lose on their investment.

But she says that ignorance is changing because of the debate over superannuation issues. There are also more fund managers and investment consultants around.

"The sad thing is for people who get approached by people who are in high risk or one sector, who put all their money in it and then they lose it," Ms Savage says.

"We say yes, September 11 was terrible but you invest for the long term. And if you are not investing for the long term put your money in the bank, because you need a diversified portfolio to invest."

Her father is Roy Savage, a Wellington-based businessman and director of several firms including Griffin Savage Co, which operates in retail and investment.

Emily, Ms Savage's second child, was born seven weeks ago. Emily joins five-year-old Matthew in the household Ms Savage shares with husband of eight years, Glenn Stewart. He works from home and can look after the children.

Ms Savage left work to have Emily the day before September 11. She was back at her desk part-time on September 21, two days after the birth, following the resignation of a senior manager, Craig Brown.

"When you are talking about sleeping at night and stress I actually could not do the job I'm doing if we were both full-on working," she says.

She met Glenn through badminton. He was a top New Zealand professional, and she played badminton and tennis for Wellington.

Sport is just part of her competitive nature.

Ms Savage studied accounting, marketing and finance at Victoria University, spreading her energy among all three subjects because she was unable to pick only one.

Her decision to do a business degree came after being accepted for every other course she sought entry for - architecture at Auckland University, medicine at Dunedin and engineering at Canterbury.

That's when her father suggested that if she was unsure she should do a basic business degree and then see.

She joined an accounting firm, but the two things that really interested her were treasury work and taxation. She then became Natural Gas Corp's treasury manager before being asked to interview for a job with investment house Goldman Sachs in Sydney. But that year they did terribly and cut staff.

Their Sydney expansion was put on hold, so one less Kiwi joined the brain drain.

Ms Savage then went to work for AMP Henderson, and managed cash and fixed interest for three years before being asked to do client servicing work.

She became a client service manager and led the charge into the retail funds market. She was appointed head of client servicing last year and when managing director Murray Gribben left she took his place early this year.

"It was probably a little bit sooner than I thought it would happen." she admits of her promotion.

Someone older and more experienced might have been expected to get the job, and funds management is still predominantly male.

"When I started I was the only female in the dealing, portfolio room and we had one female in the client-servicing area," she says.

"So pretty much it's male dominated traditionally - but there are a lot of females working behind the scenes."

However, Ms Savage is glowing about the skills of her experienced team, including chief investment officer Chris Wozniak, investment strategy head Paul Dyer and investment solutions head Andrew Brockway.

"We have very low staff turnover, because Hendersons is seen as the manager to work for I suppose," she says.

Nevertheless, AMP Henderson was hit by the loss of two senior people this year - Stephen Walker and Mr Brown.

Mr Walker - who had headed the NZ equities team - left in May to set up his own operation, Walker Capital Management. Mr Brown joined him a few months later.

They left after a restructuring initiated by Ms Savage which abolished Mr Walker's position.

Ms Savage says that when she was appointed managing director, the top job included the role of chief investment officer. But she felt the business had grown to a point where the roles needed to be split.

In the restructuring Mr Wozniak became chief investment officer. Mr Walker was unsuccessful in getting the job and left, having no position to fall back on.

He declined to talk to the Business Herald about his departure, or his former boss.

Ms Savage says simply: "People are going to move."

She says AMP Henderson has moved on since then, too.

She admits personnel changes cause disruption, but says that because of the company's size there were enough experienced people to take over with little effect.

"We have not lost any clients. We have not lost any funds since Stephen or Craig left," she says.

Ms Savage thinks the main skills she brings to the job are coordination and organisation.

"I've never had a mission to be the best in fixed interest, or the best client-services manager," she says.

"I tried to be that when I was doing it but I knew that wasn't the end game for me.

"I just actually wanted to be in the top position."