Under the New Zealand Superannuation legislation recently passed by Parliament, the minister can only appoint board members if they have first been nominated by this independent committee.

"I am extremely pleased at the calibre of these appointments and look forward to receiving their recommendations for the board in two to three months," Dr Cullen says.

Those appointed to the committee are:

• Vance Arkinstall (chairman). Arkinstall is the chief executive of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association.
• Bruce Abraham. Abraham is the former chief executive of Colonial First State Investment Managers and current chairman of Colonial First State Property Trust Ltd.
• Sid Ashton. Ashton is the chief executive officer of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu. He is a director of Ryman Healthcare Ltd and a chartered accountant.
• Annette Lusk. Lusk is an executive director of New Zealand Businesses for Social Responsibility.
• Rodger Spiller. Spiller is the managing director of Money Matters. He is a serving member of the Securities Commission, a director of New Zealand Businesses for Social Responsibility and winner of the inaugural Financial Planner of the Year Awards.