Rakon and the problem with independent directors

NZSA's Oliver Mander and Rakon's Brent Robinson. (Image: NZME/Jacques Steenkamp)

Sat, 23 Aug 2025

A long time ago, when I was a baby fetus in the world of finance, the New Zealand Shareholders Association felt like a wild and rowdy bunch who put a hot poker into the asses of the executive class and the companies that work for them.Which we love. In my own finance trashposting career, I’ve looked up to NZ Shareholders Association (NZSA) founder Bruce Sheppard as a kind of Viking helmut-wearing shareholder-slash-Genghis Khan (the other great hero, of course, is the late great Brian Gaynor).Then, like many organisations, the NZSA &l...

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