Investing in their family’s future with return to Dunedin

Erin Brown never really expected to return to Dunedin. She left the city when she finished her studies at Columba College to study commerce at Victoria University in Wellington. Back then, the dream was to be an economist, an interest which stemmed from her accounting and economics studies at school. But earlier this year, Ms Brown, her Dunedin-raised architect husband, Sam, and their two young children moved back to the city and they could not be happier. “We’ve very much here for the long haul,” she said. With more than 13 years’ experience in financial markets, having held senior fixed interest trading and sales roles, she joined Forsyth Barr as an associate adviser. A one-time intern at the Reserve Bank, her interest piqued in financial markets which saw a shift away from the economist dream. She worked at the BNZ on and off for 13 years and was ready for a change when the Forsyth Barr opportunity arose. It seemed like a great opportunity to use the skills she already had, coupled with lots of new learning, she said. While Auckland or overseas were initially on the radar if the couple were going to leave Wellington, a return to their home city several Christmases ago changed their minds. Out for a walk child-free at Blackhead beach, the couple realised how lovely the environs were. Dunedin still felt like home and it felt like the right time to return to the city to bring up their children. “We wanted to prioritise family at this stage of our life; Dunedin offered that in spades,” she said. Plus the investment adviser role was both interesting and challenging. She has been doing additional study, meaning she would soon be a fully qualified investment adviser. Forsyth Barr had such strong roots in the city, a presence and reputation, and a very proud history. Her work was varied and the financial markets were constantly changing, plus there had been a huge amount of volatility over the last five years, so a “finger on the pulse” was always required. She had to keep up with news flows, company information and central bank and government policy. Her previous role was removed from investors and she was enjoying the people side. Clients all had different stories, different financial goals they wanted to achieve and different amounts of money to invest. Being able to tailor an investment strategy for individuals was both appealing and interesting. And it was not just about having a share portfolio, rather it was having a balanced approach. Historically, investment had been “a closed shop” — “unless you were in, you were very much out” — but it did not have to be that way, Ms Brown said. “You can invest with relatively small amounts of money and grow your worth over time,” she said. Making investment more accessible was important, as was more financial literacy education for young people. “The more we can educate people around financial literacy, the better,” she said. [Missing Credit]Architect Sam Brown. Photo: Supplied Meanwhile it was her father-in-law’s DIY endeavours that inspired her husband to become an architect. He grew up in North East Valley, where an old house had been shifted on to a hill site. It was run-down and ramshackle and he recalled how he virtually spent his childhood in a building site as his father “DIY-ed it” to become a family home. “I must have got bitten by the bug. My sister used to play with dolls’ houses — I insisted I set them up before she could play,” he recalled. His sister had since relocated home from Palmerston North and was now living in that family home with her family. Mr Brown also spent hours playing with Lego and he reckoned he had architecture in his bones from an early age. It was an influential teacher at Kings High School, Neil Andrews, who told him he reckoned he should be an architect and, from age 14, it was “pretty much a one-track journey”. He went to Victoria University and completed his architectural studies, a masters degree. He got a job at an architectural practice straight out of university and it was during a later year’s sabbatical overseas that he wondered whether he wanted to continue with the profession. Returning home, he realised he did want to continue, just not with the architecture he was doing. The Covid-19 pandemic saw his plan to start his own firm put on the back burner but he used that time to lay the groundwork for such a move. In 2021, he started Arete Architects, Arete being a French word that meant sharp ridge on a mountain. A keen mountaineer — “mountains are my happy place” — it seemed fitting. After the first year, he was joined by business partner Jonny Fletcher and the pair were now joint owners of the business, with Mr Fletcher working from Wellington and Mr Brown from Dunedin. The firm had won various national and international awards and had “put a stamp” on the built environment, Mr Brown said. Its work was mostly residential and it had also been doing some hospitality work, most recently the Aster cafe in the Dunedin Botanic Garden. When he and his wife started looking at Dunedin as a possible place to live, he left it in her hands from a work perspective. He could work from anywhere and already had an established client base in Otago. As a child, Mr Brown said he did not have an appreciation for Dunedin’s built heritage. That had since changed, as he described the “incredible” buildings and architecture in the city and the benefits of adaptive reuse such as Vogel St, which was a “nothing place” when he was growing up. “I’m loving being reintegrated back into the history of Dunedin. It’s been a really positive move.”