There is some debate as to whether the general counsel can or should lead organisational risk, but for Vanessa Simons, leading the risk, compliance, AML, co sec and legal functions at Kiwi Wealth is all in a day’s work. She joined Kiwi Wealth in October 2018 to uplift the company’s capacity and capability to ensure it was strongly positioned to respond to the increasing demands of the regulatory environment in the financial services sector, while pursuing an ambitious growth/delivery strategy. To be an effective leader, Simons has had to quickly learn some new skills (such as the language of risk assessment, assurance frameworks and auditors) but more importantly, she has brought outstanding influencing skills – ‘soft skills’ – to foster collaboration and demonstrate value.
