Ruth Richardson (NZ) Ltd was established in 1994 by New Zealand's former Minister of Finance. The company offers professional director services and international consultancy.

Ruth Richardson is the principal of the company, and her husband Andrew Wright is the general manager.

Directorships

Corporate governance has been Ruth Richardson's primary business focus since 2000. Ruth's current directorships are as follows:

Taxpayers' Union

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union - Director

An activist taxpayer pressure group founded in 2013 to scrutinise New Zealand government spending, publicise government waste and promote an efficient tax system. Its aim is to hold the government of the day to account through targeted public campaigns.

Champion Centre

Christchurch Early Intervention Trust - Trustee

The Champion Centre provides multi-disciplinary early intervention services to infants and young children with significant disabilities and their families in Canterbury, New Zealand. The programme is offered in partnership with parents, and in accordance with international best practice.


Ruth's previous directorships have been in the following spheres of activity:

Agribusiness

Synlait Milk - Former Director 2004 - 2024
Listed on the NZ stock exchange in 2013, Synlait Milk aims to be the world’s most innovative and trusted high value dairy ingredients company. Based in Canterbury, Synlait supplies multiple markets, and has a share register featuring some of the world’s most significant dairy and trading companies.
New Zealand Merino Company - Former Chairman & Director 2012 - 2020
A premium wool fibre company that originally focused on fine wool (forging strong links with renowned market partners Icebreaker and Smartwool), NZ Merino expanded into the coarse wool market to link farms to high value market partners.
Dairy Brands Ltd - Former Chairman 1996 - 1999
A publicly listed NZ dairy company.
Wrightson Ltd - Former Director 1995 - 2004
New Zealand's leading publicly listed agricultural servicing and solutions company.
Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards Ltd - Former Director 1999 - 2011
A 610-hectare super-premium grape growing company.

Deep Technology

Syft Technologies - Former Chairman 2009 - 2019
Syft commercialised a mass spectrometry technology that is able to achieve near instantaneous quantification of volatile organic compounds. Global markets were developed in shipping container safety, environmental detection and semi-conductor clean room assurance.
Kiwi Innovation Network - Former Chairman 2008 - 2018
KiwiNet is a consortium of NZ Universities and Crown Research Institutions, tasked with lifting economic performance by commercialising Kiwi innovations from publically-funded research.
ICP bio - Former Chairman 2000 - 2003
An international biotechnology company specializing in animal reproduction and quality assurance.

Financial Sector

Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Former Director 1999 - 2004
Served on the board of the central bank of New Zealand.
Bank of China (New Zealand) - Former Director 2014 - 2021
NZ branch established in 2014 to target cross-boarder services between China, NZ and RMB-denominated businesses.
Kula Fund I & II - Former Chairman 1998 - 2019
A series of equity development funds for Pacific Island businesses, with some US$30m allocated.
Fiduciary Ltd - Former Chairman 1997 - 1999
The joint venture partner with Morningstar Chicago in Morningstar Pty Ltd.
Morningstar Pty Ltd - Former Chairman 1999 - 2001
Australasia's leading funds management research and rating agency.
IMP Diversified Income Fund Ltd - Former Chairman 2001 - 2010
A New Zealand based mezzanine debt fund which entered into a moratorium as the Global Financial Crisis struck in 2008. The fund was wound up in 2010 having repaid 80.3 cents on each dollar invested.
i-cap equity partners Ltd - Former Chairman 2001 - 2007
A New Zealand based private equity fund.

Expert Services

LECG Corporation - Former Director 2004 - 2011
A law and economics consulting group that was listed on the NASDAQ, LECG provided opinions and advice to help resolve complex legal disputes and inform legislative, judicial, regulatory and business decision makers.

Utilities

Trans Alta New Zealand Ltd - Former Director 1999 - 2001
New Zealand's biggest electricity retailer prior to its takeover by Australian Gas and Light Company.

Public Policy

Centre for Independent Studies - Former Director 1998 - 2010
An Australasian public policy institute based in Sydney, with a commitment to libertarian principles and the adoption of market-style public policies.
Mont Pelerin Society - Former Director 2004 - 2008
An international group of individuals founded by Professor Friedrich von Hayek to promote the ideals and principles of a free society. Director again from 2016-2020.

Information Technology

Jade Software Corporation - Former Chairman 1995 - 2016
A leading software company that runs terminal operating systems around the globe as well as transactional digital solutions. Its crime analytics division, Wynyard, was listed on the NZ Stock Exchange in 2013.
British Telecom's Health Advisory Board - Former Chairman 2004 - 2008
A global board advising BT Health. BT Health had three major National Health Service information technology contracts in the UK.

Sports Apparel

Canterbury International - Former Chairman 2005 - 2006
CCC (Canterbury Clothing Company) is a worldwide sports brand prominent in rugby, cricket, netball and hockey.

Economic Consultancy

As an economic consultant, Ruth Richardson specialises in:

The What to do
The preparation and tendering of detailed strategic and policy reform advice, with particular expertise in:
  • achievement of price stability
  • practice of fiscal responsibility
  • deregulation of labour markets
  • creation of an open and competitive economy through micro-economic reforms and deregulation
  • installation of a broad base/low rate taxation regime
  • redesign of social policy, emphasising greater responsibility and choice for the individual and less financial burden for the State
  • re-defining the role of the State and introducing modern management and financial practices into the core state sector
The How to do it
The delivery of presentations on governance and reform experiences, including advice on managing the politics of the reform process.
Ruth presenting the Budget, 1991

International Consultancy

Since her exit from politics, Ruth Richardson has met extensive international demand to learn from the New Zealand reform model. Her consultancy work takes place at three levels:

International Institutions
A range of conference and advisory assignments for the World Bank, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Sovereign Governments
Working directly with Heads of State, Ministers of Finance and their senior officials.
Consultancies and 'Think Tanks'
Advisory assignments with private firms and business organisations with a public policy involvement or focus.
Ruth speaking at Consilium, 2014

Ruth has worked for the following countries in one or more of the above capacities:

The Americas

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Netherlands Antilles, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the United States.

Asia

Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam.

Europe

Austria, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The Pacific

Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Africa & the Middle East

Ivory Coast, Jordan, Mauritius and South Africa.

Hon. Ruth Richardson

The Honourable
Ruth Richardson


Ruth Richardson the politician has a well-known profile nationally and internationally.

During the remarkable reform era in New Zealand from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Ruth established her reform reputation  

As New Zealand's Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993 she was the principal architect of New Zealand's second wave of reform, complementing the first wave of reforms initiated in the mid-1980s by New Zealand's other well-known Minister of Finance, Sir Roger Douglas. Her institutional framework for the conduct of fiscal policy, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994, is widely regarded as setting international best practice, and is a cornerstone of New Zealand's economic framework.

In the years since Ruth left Parliament in 1994, she has had an extensive international practice as a public policy consultant. She has advised widely on strategies designed to achieve the practice of good governance and the development of high quality policy frameworks. Her client base has spanned:

  • Sovereign Governments
  • International Agencies
  • Ministers of Finance and their Ministries
  • Private sector business agencies and 'Think Tanks' who have an interest in promoting the twin virtues of good governance and good policy

Geographically her work has taken her to nearly every corner of the globe, including Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

In parallel with her work as a public policy consultant, Ruth has developed a substantial private sector practice in corporate governance.

Her directorships have involved her in a wide spectrum of global business activity, and the responsibilities she has shouldered on her Boards have contributed to her expertise in many aspects of corporate governance. Aside from New Zealand, Board work has taken Ruth to Australia, China, the UK, the USA and the Pacific.

Ruth Richardson's Curriculum Vitae
Download Ruth's current personal CV
Andrew Wright

Andrew Wright


Born in 1950, Andrew graduated with an honours degree in law from Victoria University (NZ). He spent the next ten years as a legal policy adviser in the Head Office of the Department of Justice (where he met and married Ruth in 1975).

Andrew has experience working in fields as diverse as commercial law, penal law, electoral law and liquor law.

In 1979 he was appointed as special project officer in charge of implementing a fundamental reform of New Zealand's electoral laws following a failed attempt to computerise the country's electoral rolls in 1978.

Upon the birth of their first child in 1983, Andrew resigned from his legal position to become the family's primary caregiver (Ruth having been elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1981). He took up a part time lectureship in law at Lincoln University, where he taught law to commerce and farm management degree students as well as farm management diploma students. In 1990 he resigned from Lincoln University following Ruth's appointment as Minister of Finance.

During the 1980s Andrew also developed the family's small farm holding in Canterbury into a deer breeding unit, and subsequently turned this into a cattle finishing unit.

Since the establishment of Ruth Richardson (NZ) Ltd in 1995, Andrew has been the manager responsible for the administration of the business.

Ruth & Andrew, Milford Track, 2015

Papers

A selection of papers and publications delivered by (or about) Ruth Richardson.

Ruth Richardson's Curriculum Vitae  
Download Ruth's current personal CV.

Editorial on Political Career  
The New Zealand Herald's editorial upon Ruth's resignation from Parliament in 1994.

Ruth's views on NZ's economic reforms  
Written in 1996, these are Ruth's contemporary thoughts on New Zealand's reforms of the early 1990s.

Ruth's Record as Minister of Finance  
A summary of Ruth's economic achievements as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993, during New Zealand's second wave of reform.

Response to criticism of reforms  
In 1991 a group of New Zealand academics wrote an open letter criticising Ruth's fiscal policies. Her rebuttal and a later assessment (1994) is included.

'Making a Difference'  
Ruth's insider account of the politics of reform was published in 1995 by Shoal Bay Press, Christchurch.

'Policy Determines Performance'  
An analysis of the major public policy drivers of economic and social performance.

Public Sector Performance Management  
An analysis of management reforms in the public sector pioneered by New Zealand, and implications for political accountability.

'Real Reform in the Public Sector'  
The Swinton Lecture, Conservative Party (UK) Annual Conference, Bournemouth, October 2002.

'A Better Way'  
A speech launching Reform's report 'A Better Way', which advocates fundamental reform in health, education, and crime and policing services.

'The Fortunes and Fates of Reformers'  
A speech given on 'The Bolger Years' to the Stout Research Centre's Seventh Parliamentary Conference.

'Ruth amid the Alien Corn'  
A critique of Ruth's public policy presented by political analyst Colin James to the Stout Research Centre's Seventh Parliamentary Conference.

Massey University Business School Address  
A graduation address covering Ruth's personal and business philosophies.

'Co-operatives require a Farmers’ Fixit'  
An article written by Ruth on the shortcomings of the co-op model used by several New Zealand agribusiness companies in 2016.

'Golden Rules for Reformers'  
A 2016 Huffington Post article written by Ruth as a pep-talk for the future of Greece.

Dominion Post cartoon by Tom Scott
Dominion Post cartoon by Tom Scott