Mark Adamson says there is no point in being big just for the sake of it. Photo / Supplied
Mark Adamson says there is no point in being big just for the sake of it. Photo / Supplied
This week we are celebrating excellence in leadership as we publish the nominees for the 2015 Business Leader of the Year. The winner will be revealed on Saturday in the Weekend Herald.
It takes some guts to make the tough decisions, like downsizing the company.
So straight-talking, confident Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson has some nerve.
In his tenure heading the big-spending company since 2012, he hasn't spent a single cent.
In fact, he's been busy flicking off businesses left, right and centre.
"In the years before I took over, Fletcher Building had invested billions of dollars expanding into new geographies and business sectors. I felt we needed a pause to get our arms around a business that was three times bigger than when it emerged from Fletcher Challenge in 2001 and yet had the same systems, processes and management skills. There is no point in being big for the sake of being big. You have to be confident that you can bring something to an asset that the current owner can't before embarking on an acquisition," said Adamson, originally from Britain but who has worked in France and the United States.
The candidate for the Herald's Business Leader of the Year emphasised the sold assets were not duds.
"If we do decide to sell a business it's no reflection on the quality of that business - it's because it doesn't fit with our strategy or because the business is worth more to a strategic owner. A great many hours of analysis, research and negotiation are involved in this process and during those conversations we are always considering what is right for Fletcher Building and what is right for our shareholders," explained Adamson who turned 50 this year.
Adamson told about 400 shareholders at this year's AGM that he had been dealing with the difficult legacy of selling businesses which were either underperforming or not up to expectations.
"In my time in the job, we have not made one single acquisition," Adamson admitted.
He deserves praise for biting the unpalatable bullet.
Perhaps that will mean the next Fletcher CEO dodges a few - but only due to Adamson's nerve.
NZ insurance industry entrepreneur
Naomi Ballantyne is Partners Life managing director. Photo / Supplied
Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne has spent more than 30 years in the insurance industry, giving up a marine biology degree for a management course in her late teens.
At the age of 24 Ballantyne was hired as one of the first employees of Sovereign Insurance - putting the ideas of founders Ian Hendry and Chris Coon into action.
Leaving Sovereign two years after its 1999 sale to ASB, she struck out on her own, launching ClubLife which she stayed with until 2009 after it was sold to ING.
At that point Ballantyne had worked in the industry for 27 years and said she was ready for a new challenge. One year later, she founded Partners Life which now has around $90 million in shareholder equity with the latest being a $31.6 million capital raising in July last year.
The company has 155 staff and as at the end of March, around 101,000 customers with annual premium income from existing policies of $134 million.
Partners Life this year reported an $18.4 million profit, compared to a loss of $2.8 million the year before.
Ballantyne said she hoped to list the company at some point within the next few years.
