Frank Renouf
Sir Francis Henry "Frank" Renouf (31 July 1918 – 13 September 1998) was a New Zealand stockbroker and financier.
Early life
He was born in Wellington and educated at Wellington College and Victoria University of Wellington where he graduated Master of Commerce in 1940. He joined the 2nd NZEF as a Captain, was captured in Greece in April 1941, and spent four years as a prisoner of war in Germany (Biberach, Warburg, Eichstatt). On his return to New Zealand, he was awarded an Armed Services Scholarship and studied for a Diploma in Politics and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford and gained an Oxford Blue in tennis from 1948-49.
Business career
Renouf was a businessman and a stockbroker from 1950 as a partner in the Wellington stockbroking firm of Daysh, Renouf & Co (the firm was originally Daysh, Longuet and Frethey). He introduced unit trusts to New Zealand, and founded New Zealand's first merchant bank, the New Zealand United Corporation. He initiated the first NZ share index in 1957; the NZUC index and the first listed property company, Property Securities Ltd. He was the first to provide underwriting services for equity and local authority debt issues. Daysh, Renouf & Co became known as Renouf & Co in 1977. Renouf set up three companies in 1981; Frank Renouf & Co, Renouf Corporation Ltd and Renouf Properties Ltd.
Renouf was president of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association (1985-86). He was a supporter and follower of tennis and was a foundation member and president of the International Club of New Zealand. The Renouf Tennis Centre in Wellington is named after him. He was knighted in the 1987 New Year Honours List, for philanthropic services.[1]
Renouf supported many Wellington cultural and sporting projects; the Michael Fowler Centre (1975), Downstage Theatre (1977), Wellington Cathedral (1978), the Renouf Sports Centre at Wellington College (1983) and the Renouf Tennis Centre (1986).
Marriages
He was married three times. His second wife (1985) was Susan Renouf (born Susan Rossiter; also known as Susan Peacock and Susan Sangster), His third wife (1991) was Michèle Suzanne Mainwaring, to whom he was briefly married.
Death
Sir Francis Renouf died in Wellington, New Zealand in 1998, aged 80.
References
- ↑ London Gazette (supplement), No. 50766, 30 December 1986; retrieved 20 January 2013.
Sources
- Obituary in Dominion (Wellington) of 14 September 1998 (pages 1,11).
- Sir Francis Renouf: an autobiography (1997, Steele Roberts, Wellington) ISBN 0-9583712-0-2
- Behind the Mirror Glass by Bruce Jesson (1987, Penguin)