Headquarters:
29 Sale St, Auckland 1010
Year founded:
2008
Number of employees:
136
Phone:
0800 21 22 30
Email:
clientservices@squirrel.co.nz
Website:
squirrel.co.nz
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/squirrel-mortgage-brokers
“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Read on
IB Top Brokerages
Award Winner
SHIELDED INSURANCE BROKERS
Award Winner
SQUIRREL
David Cunningham
Chief Executive Officer
Dave Tyrer
Chief Operating Officer
Tim Bowen
Chief Financial Officer
Leadership
David Cunningham brings over 30 years of experience in New Zealand’s banking and financial services sector, having achieved world-class results at the executive level with leading financial institutions. His expertise spans finance, marketing, risk management and sustainability, but his true passion lies in leading high-performing teams. Cunningham’s leadership style is rooted in creating strong, collaborative cultures that drive success. Outside of work, he’s an avid cyclist, exploring the world one ride at a time. If you’ve got some time, ask him about his adventures – especially when it comes to the Tour de France.
Chief Executive Officer
David Cunningham
Dave Tyrer joined the Squirrel team in 2020 as COO, overseeing all aspects of the peer-to-peer lending and investment platform while managing the company’s product offerings. Since joining, he’s led the launch of key innovations such as the Squirrel On-Call Account and the Squirrel Monthly Income Fund, along with several tailored solutions for wholesale investors. Before Squirrel, Tyrer spent nearly 20 years in senior roles at top New Zealand financial services institutions, including ANZ and Westpac. His expertise is centred on transforming customer experiences through digital product and service solutions.
Chief Operating Officer
Dave Tyrer
Tim Bowen is Squirrel’s overachiever and a former New Zealand representative swimmer with an impressive career spanning 15 years in management and consulting roles, particularly in the insurance industry. His experience is vast, but his focus has always been on driving excellence and innovation. Outside of work, Bowen loves staying active with his favourite sports, but he’s also known for his light-hearted side. When he’s not swimming laps or tackling business challenges, you’ll find him cracking dad jokes over a hearty dinner of steak and mashed potatoes.
Chief Financial Officer
Tim Bowen
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Award Winner
Leadership
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
“We target wealth managers and RIAs that are looking for ways to differentiate in their offering and cater to a growing number of high-net-worth individuals looking for alternative investment vehicles such as private equity investment”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Read on
Award Winner
Leadership
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
John Bolton
Founder
In 2008, during the Global Financial Crisis, John Bolton cashed in his superannuation and founded Squirrel, taking a leap into entrepreneurship. Prior to this, he was a general manager at ANZ, where he managed the bank’s $60 billion retail lending and deposits. With 10 years of senior banking experience across financial markets, treasury, finance and strategy, Bolton has a strong foundation in business. Outside of work, he’s passionate about property, having bought, sold, and developed real estate around Auckland. When he’s not working, he enjoys skiing dangerously and indulging in fresh sashimi. And naturally, his favourite colour is orange.
Founder
John Bolton
Angela Lewis
Chief People Officer
Angela Lewis is Squirrel’s people guru, bringing over two decades of HR and strategy experience from Disney, Amazon, BBC and Coke. Initially covering for Squirrel’s HR manager on parental leave, she’s now officially the chief people officer, on a mission to support Squirrel to be the best place to work as they continue to grow.
Born in NZ, raised in Hong Kong and armed with a psychology/HR degree, she’s all about culture, strategy and keeping things fun. Outside work, you’ll find her going for a run (mainly to escape the mayhem of her kids), bingeing trash TV or trying to organise some travel.
Chief People Officer
Angela Lewis
As one of Aotearoa’s largest mortgage brokers, Squirrel helps people purchase over $3 billion worth of property each year and currently holds over $400 million in funds under management through its saving and investing platform.
Founded in Auckland in 2008, Squirrel’s footprint now spans the length and breadth of the country, following its expansion into the lower North Island in 2024 and the South Island in 2025. That means the company is helping more Kiwis all over New Zealand find the right mortgage solution for them.
Squirrel is also a non-bank lender, offering its own unique home loan and construction and development funding solutions to borrowers who don’t quite fit traditional lending criteria. The company has lent over $1 billion to New Zealand homeowners and builders and paid over $50 million in interest to its investors.
Squirrel is on a mission to create a fairer financial system in New Zealand and wake Kiwis up to the possibility of a different and better way of doing things with their money. Through a combination of tailored, expert mortgage advice and a unique lending and investment platform, the company offers innovative, real-world solutions to disrupt the long-standing institutions and drive change in this industry.
Squirrel is New Zealand owned and operated.
“[Automation] has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management”
Kevin Collins
CEO and Founder
Colin Gardyne
Chief Technology Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Chief Marketing Officer
Tony Lane
Chief Risk Officer
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Colin Gardyne heads Squirrel’s ever-growing army of developers and is constantly building the next big tech thing. After a long day of coding, he loves nothing better than to unwind in front of a Liverpool match or the PlayStation with a Tuatara in hand (the beer, not the animal).
Chief Technology Officer
Colin Gardyne
After a decade working in the marketing and ad industry internationally, Ruth Hamlin joined the team at Squirrel when they were but a fraction of the current size and Bernie the Squirrel was a twinkle in her eye. Fast-forward 10 years, and she now leads a whole squirrelly marketing team.
With a degree in psychology and a passion for anything brand, she’ll love you forever if you Like Squirrel on Insta.
Chief Marketing Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Tony Lane’s the master of risk management with senior experience at major banks and adds considerable bench strength to the Squirrel team behind the scenes. He loves going for epic mountain bike rides and even cycles to and from the office every day, rain or shine.
Chief Risk Officer
Tony Lane
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Colin Gardyne heads Squirrel’s ever-growing army of developers and is constantly building the next big tech thing. After a long day of coding, he loves nothing better than to unwind in front of a Liverpool match or the PlayStation with a Tuatara in hand (the beer, not the animal).
Chief Technology Officer
Colin Gardyne
After a decade working in the marketing and ad industry internationally, Ruth Hamlin joined the team at Squirrel when they were but a fraction of the current size and Bernie the Squirrel was a twinkle in her eye. Fast-forward 10 years, and she now leads a whole squirrelly marketing team.
With a degree in psychology and a passion for anything brand, she’ll love you forever if you Like Squirrel on Insta.
Chief Marketing Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Tony Lane’s the master of risk management with senior experience at major banks and adds considerable bench strength to the Squirrel team behind the scenes. He loves going for epic mountain bike rides and even cycles to and from the office every day, rain or shine.
Chief Risk Officer
Tony Lane
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and
Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Colin Gardyne
Chief Technology Officer
Tony Lane
Chief Risk Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Chief Marketing Officer
Anthony Dippolito
Chief Wellness Officer
Colin Gardyne heads Squirrel’s ever-growing army of developers and is constantly building the next big tech thing. After a long day of coding, he loves nothing better than to unwind in front of a Liverpool match or the PlayStation with a Tuatara in hand (the beer, not the animal).
Chief Technology Officer
Colin Gardyne
After a decade working in the marketing and ad industry internationally, Ruth Hamlin joined the team at Squirrel when they were but a fraction of the current size and Bernie the Squirrel was a twinkle in her eye. Fast-forward 10 years, and she now leads a whole squirrelly marketing team.
With a degree in psychology and a passion for anything brand, she’ll love you forever if you Like Squirrel on Insta.
Chief Marketing Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Tony Lane’s the master of risk management with senior experience at major banks and adds considerable bench strength to the Squirrel team behind the scenes. He loves going for epic mountain bike rides and even cycles to and from the office every day, rain or shine.
Chief Risk Officer
Tony Lane
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years
of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation
of the company’s internal customer
service department.
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
“There has also been a determined approach to leverage automation as much as possible to significantly reduce overhead and eliminate ‘burnout’ for our customers and their employees,” explains Collins. “This has resulted in productivity gains far greater than 80 percent and allowed our customers to grow their business by handling a greater number of clients, client portfolios, and assets under management.”
Naturally for a dynamic firm, Charli Capital is focused on the future. There are plans to launch a next generation AI platform that can facilitate the intelligent matchmaking of private investors and promising private companies.
Collins adds, “The team moves fast – extraordinarily fast – and is disciplined to ensure that it doesn’t drop the ball, is prepared for future advancements, and embraces an eyes-wide-open fail-fast mentality for learning.”
Read on
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Tony Lane
Chief Risk Officer
Ruth Hamlin
Chief Marketing Officer
Colin Gardyne
Chief Technology Officer
Angela Lewis
Chief People Officer
John Bolton
Founder
Tim Bowen
Chief Financial Officer
Dave Tyrer
Chief Operating Officer
David Cunningham
Chief Executive Officer