Huljich family: Difference between revisions
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==Business== |
==Business== |
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The Huljich brothers founded a food manufacturing business |
The Huljich brothers founded a food manufacturing business specialising in [[Charcuterie|small goods]] (e.g. meats bought from a delicatessen, such as [[sausages]] and [[salami]])) . This enterprise grew into the Best Corporation which operated an important segement of the market in New Zealand and owned considerable assets in Australia.<ref name="Eldred-Grigg">Stevan Eldred-Grigg, ''The Rich: A New Zealand History'', Penguin Books, Auckland, 1996, pp. 216 and 217</ref> In the late 1990s the three brothers sold Best Corporation to French food company [[Groupe Danone]] and also sold valuable Australian assets.<ref>Fiona Rotherham, "Huljichs' Sydney bail-out signals return to bacon makin'", ''The Independent'' , 16 December 1998, Page 1.</ref> |
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==Wealth== |
==Wealth== |
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Revision as of 09:29, 16 July 2010
The Huljich brothers: Chris Huljich (Christopher Peter) (b. 1950), Paul Huljich (Paul Richard Huljich) (b. 1953) and Michael Huljich (b. 1957) are Auckland manufacturers, merchants, entrepreneurs, rentiers and philanthropists.
Background
The Huljich brothers, sons of an Auckland restaurant proprietor turned urban developer, grew up in Auckland, and were educated at St Peter's College.
Business
The Huljich brothers founded a food manufacturing business specialising in small goods (e.g. meats bought from a delicatessen, such as sausages and salami)) . This enterprise grew into the Best Corporation which operated an important segement of the market in New Zealand and owned considerable assets in Australia.[1] In the late 1990s the three brothers sold Best Corporation to French food company Groupe Danone and also sold valuable Australian assets.[2]
Wealth
In the late 1990s, Paul Hljich completed a modernist mansion of three floors in Auckland called "Wentworth". This included garaging for eight cars, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a rifle range and a cinema. The house cost almost $20 million and was "perhaps the most expensive house built in New Zealand during the late twentieth century". [1] In 2010 the Huljich family is reported to be worth about $125 million. [3]
John Banks and Don Brash
John Banks has said that he knew the Huljich family from 1972 when he opened his first restaurant, Becky Thatcher's Coffee Kitchen, in Karangahape Road. The three Huljich brothers ran a nearby juice distribution business and ate breakfast at Banks' cafe most mornings. Banks said that "They are very careful, cautious and prudent investors" he said, "and they have kept mostly off the radar screen. I have been in business with the family in various ways and they are one of the great Croatian families in this country." [4] In 2007 the son of Chris Huljich, Peter Huljich, with the support of Banks and former National Party leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash set up a boutique funds management company in downtown Auckland, partly to manage the Huljich family's extensive investment portfolio. The operating company, Huljich Wealth Management (NZ) Ltd, also established three KiwiSaver funds to target "high net-worth individuals although smaller investors can gain access through KiwiSaver or through the balanced fund". John Banks said he, Brash and the Huljich's "would be fairly choosy about who invests with us".[4]
Trouble
In 2010, Peter Huljich admitted responsibility for "lapses" in investment practice where he topped up the company's KiwiSaver fund to make up for losses incurred in order to retain the fund's favourable market performance figures. He was replaced by the company's chairman, Don Brash and he was replaced on the Board of the company by his father, Chris Huljich. [3]
See also
- For some more biographical details: List of alumni of St Peter's College, Auckland
Notes
- ^ a b Stevan Eldred-Grigg, The Rich: A New Zealand History, Penguin Books, Auckland, 1996, pp. 216 and 217
- ^ Fiona Rotherham, "Huljichs' Sydney bail-out signals return to bacon makin'", The Independent , 16 December 1998, Page 1.
- ^ a b Nick Churchouse, "Huljich steps down over KiwiSaver irregularities", The Dominion Post, 05 March 2010, Edition 2, Page 1.
- ^ a b Jenni McManus, "Brash and friends bank on Cullen's KiwiSaver", Sunday Star Times, 01 July, 2007.