THE TEAM

Governance Team

​​Gregor Schmalz
Chairman

Gregor is currently an Executive Coach running a boutique coaching company focused on team building and leadership with senior executives from Fortune 500 companies from around the world. He holds an MBA from Thunderbird, and an Executive MBA from Sasin/Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University). He has served as Managing Director for Igus GmbH and Plansee SE in Europe overseeing strategic changes leading to growth and profitability. He leads the Investment Portfolio at SO Capital.

​​Jodi Thomas​
Executive Director, Strategy

Jodi is currently the General Manager Strategy for Allianz Worlwide Partners. Having done her MBA and Masters in Project Management from Queensland, Jodi entered her corporate career in sports and recreation services industry. From there she progressed her way into the insurance industry. As Head of Project Management for Auto & General she held the responsibility of over seeing new product development. She leads the strategy implementation team at SO Capital, and overseas the implementation of new initiatives.​

​​Laurence Kubiak
Executive Director, Stakeholder Management

Laurence was CEO of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research from 2014 to 2021, and is currently Chair of Trustees Executors Ltd, a Director of Northpower, and Trustee of several philanthropic organisations. He is also owner and Chief Executive of Nautech Electronics Ltd. Earlier in his career, Laurence lived in Europe for 25 years, and held a series of commercial and strategic roles for FTSE-100 companies before returning to New Zealand. His vast experience both domestically and overseas, is a valuable asset to the SO Capital team.

​​Anindya Sen
Executive Director, Money

Dr. Anindya Sen is a Lecturer in Finance and Statistics at the University of Otago. He has a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and was formerly employed as a credit derivatives quant at Goldman Sachs in London. His interests lie in financial derivatives, portfolio management and risk analysis allowing for an in-depth analysis for all the opportunities that cross the SO Capital domain.

Andrew Petrie
​Executive Director, Management

Andrew is currently leading the charge in community sports as the General Manager for Community Cricket in Otago. Andrew has vast experience in sports management including holding the coveted position of leading Netball Wellington. Andrew also is in charge of leading the strategy for SO Capital's investment of Mploy App. He has vast experience in management and is considered SO Capital's guru of HR. ​

Management Team

Shah Aslam
​CEO

After completing the final year of his MBA from National University of Singapore, Shah returned to NZ where he worked with BNZ in Corporate Finance specialising in leveraged buyouts and mergers & acquisitions. He left his position to become a part of SO Capital full time, and lead the charge on growing Air Napier. Numerous years in leading businesses.

​​Queenie Lai
​Portfolio Manager

Queenie graduated from her MBA and then proceeded to work for Westpac as a Business Manager. Prior to this Queenie has spent time working for HSBC and Standard Chartered in Hong Kong as an Investment Strategist. She is currently in charge of creating a strategy to expand SO Capital further in the Hospitality space. ​
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​​Arsel Aslam
​Marketing

​Arsel has plenty of experience in sports management including working for Rugby World Cup, FIFA and University Sports NZ. He is one of the cornerstone partners/founders of SO Capital and is an expert of digital marketing. He is in charge of marketing and PR for the SO Capital Group of companies. ​

​​Jonathan Haggart
Data Analysis

After graduating from Sheffield Hallam University with a Bachelor of Mathematics, Jonathan proceeded to work for the esteemed IBM as a Financial Analyst. Jonathan also has a passion for content creation, branding and marketing, having grown large audiences on social media platforms, reaching over 50 million viewers worldwide. Jonathan leads the overall strategy of SO Capital along with the Marketing arm.​

Beverly Sin
Analyst

​Beverly started her career in retail management with Uniqlo, one of the World's largest fashion retailer known for their impeccable customer service. She got hands-on with store operations and received special training at their Japan and Singapore headquarters. She then moved on to an award winning digital marketing agency where she grew her knowledge in audiences and understanding customers on digital media platforms.