Rebecca Thomas

Rebecca Thomas is an English born proud Kiwi, who shares our collective values of growing New Zealand capacity and supporting our people to succeed. She is a true internationalist, with global capital markets and fund management experience. A lawyer, a professional director, and CEO of a substantial wholesale fund management business, Mint Asset Management Limited, which was The Morningstar Domestic Equities Fund Manager of the Year in 2019.

Founding Mint in 2006, Rebecca has a strong pedigree in funds management, with a career spanning 33 years, both in New Zealand and offshore.

Her previous executive positions include Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Johnson Fry, a London-based funds management firm, acquired by Legg Mason, where she went on to hold the position of Group Chief Executive Officer. On moving to New Zealand, she became Chief Investment Officer for ING (NZ) Limited.

Rebecca has been a Director and Chair of the AFRC of KiwiRail Holdings Limited and an Associate member and AFRC Chair on the Board of the Financial Markets Authority from 2011-2016.She is currently a Director and Audit and Risk Committee Chair of Tainui Group Holdings Limited. She has also held several non-executive directorships for investment and property trusts, including Pathfinder Development Companies and LMI European Utilities Investment Trust Plc.

Rebecca is a member of the Institute of Directors of both New Zealand and London, as well as a member of the Securities and Investment Institute of London. She has completed examinations for the UK Institute of Investment Management and Research and the London Stock Exchange.

My husband and I both work full time so with travelling for work our weekends are quite precious and a time for rest and relaxation. We both do Pilates (but not together… at different studios), we walk the dog and eat and drink too much with friends and our boys. I am passionate about women being financially independent and so my pro-bono activities mostly relate to working to get this message across.

Joining the GS board in June 2019 as an independent director, Rebecca sighted the following reasons, in no particular order:

“I met Bruce when we both served on the FMA and we found each other to be straight forward, strident, and practical. I met the directors and the leadership team at Gilligan Sheppard, and they are like no other accounting firm I have encountered.”

“They are among the very few firms that actively originate private equity and VC deals. There are many that do M&A, but few who originate the opportunity.”

“Unlike most professional firms they are non-hierarchal, they share the profits with the team and operate an active ESOP equity scheme not dissimilar to other businesses reliant on talent.”

“My time with the firm has affirmed my view that their client’s best interests are at the heart of what they do. They also believe in collaboration with other professional advisers rather than competing head on “

“They have risen to the challenges imposed by Covid-19 and remote working and been able to maintain their focus and connection to their clients”

Rebecca has brought her own unique perspective and skills to help Gilligan Sheppard achieve more.