Risk Committee

Cristina joined the Guardians in 2009 and was appointed General Manager, Corporate Affairs in 2022. She is also currently the Chair of the Guardians’ Risk Committee. Cristina was previously the General Counsel and Head of Legal. Prior to joining the Guardians, she had roles both in law firms and as in-house counsel in the financial services industry. Prior to going in-house, Cristina spent several years as a senior legal associate at Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia and worked at law firm Bell Gully. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Auckland, has a business diploma from Mt Eliza Business School and has completed the Oxford Corporate Affairs Academy. Cristina is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Michael joined the Guardians in 2005 after 25 years in financial markets, including central banking, portfolio management, investment banking and funds management. His original role was to lay the foundations for the Responsible Investment function before creating a Portfolio Risk unit responsible for Fund performance reporting, liquidity risk and counterparty monitoring. That became part of a larger Risk team which Michael developed to also include enterprise risk, model risk, operational due diligence and operational compliance. Michael was appointed Chief Risk Officer in 2024.

Prior to joining the Fund in 2011, Garry worked with large financial services organisations in New Zealand, as the Chief Internal Auditor at the ASB Group of Companies. His responsibilities covered risk management and leading the internal audit and credit review functions of the business. At the Fund, Garry heads Internal Audit and is a member of the Risk Committee.

Paula joined the Guardians in 2021 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2025. She was previously General Manager, Strategy and Shared Services. Prior to joining the Guardians, Paula was Chief Internal Auditor at ASB Bank. She has 25 years’ experience in financial services and banking, starting her career as an auditor with professional services firm Deloitte and holding various executive finance and general management roles with AMP, ANZ and ASB. Paula is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration majoring in Accounting and Commercial Law from Victoria University.