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After just over six months in the job, Hanover Group chief executive Sam Stubbs is stepping down.
Hanover chairman Greg Muir said Stubbs' decision to walk away from the job was driven mainly by the state of the finance company sector.
"When we first started talking to Sam earlier on in the year there looked to be a number of opportunities in the sector that we really hoped we could take advantage of and of course what's happened with the liquidity crunch that's occurred, not only in New Zealand but around the world, those opportunities just aren't there."
Muir said he was not concerned about the perception that could be created among investors by a chief executive stepping down from a high-profile company operating in the finance industry.
He was keen to stress Stubbs' position as head of the Hanover holding company meant he was not directly associated with Hanover Finance.
"I don't think the people who lend us money in the debenture sense, that know what we're doing, are going to be disturbed by the news," Muir said.
Stubbs was unavailable for comment but a press release from the company said his next career move was a return to the asset management industry.
Prior to joining Hanover, Stubbs worked for Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong working in funds management and asset financing.
Group chief operating officer Bruce Gordon will head up the holding company in addition to his current duties from January.
Hanover Finance, which increased audited pre-tax net profit by 5.8 per cent to $60.6 million for the year ended June 30, had $102 million in cash on hand at the end of September.
The coming year would be challenging for Hanover Finance, but the company had managed demanding markets before and was well placed to deliver good returns, Muir said.
Thirteen finance companies have failed or defaulted on repayments in less than two years, owing investors a total of $1.5 billion, some of which has been repaid.
Jointly owned by multi-millionaires Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson, Hanover is New Zealand's largest privately owned financial services group with assets of over $1 billion.
Hanover Group filed a new prospectus yesterday with the Companies Office.
- Additional reporting NZPA
