Reserve Bank governor's mother orders him to work on his signature
Adrian Orr's signature, as it appears on the policy targets agreement he signed with Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, a day before starting the job.
Even before he became governor of the Reserve Bank in March, Adrian Orr was one of the most celebrated figures in New Zealand finance, but he has been ordered to practise his handwriting.
The 55-year-old, whose name will soon begin appearing on New Zealand's bank notes, said the prospect was exciting, mainly for his family.
But his mother, Shona Orr, who calls her son "Fred" at home, was concerned his signature was so illegible, people would not know it was her son.
Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, in his office, near Parliament. The 55-year-old has risen manual labour to being one of the most celebrated figures in New Zealand finance.
"She said, 'Fred, don't use that horrible scrawl you usually use. Make sure you make it read properly'," Orr said his mother ordered him.
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"So I had to practise writing Adrian, out in full, so she could see Adrian Orr."
Mrs Orr appears to have a point. The signature Orr put on the policy targets agreement with Minister of Finance Grant Robertson is, politely, hard to make out.
So Orr has been practising "his best link script".
The new signature will be put to the test soon.
A new batch of $50 notes is under order. The mainly purple notes are Orr's favourite because of the colouring and the fact that "the chief" - prominent Maori lawyer and politician Sir Apirana Ngata - is on it.
But Orr will have to recreate the signature on the notes before the notes can enter circulation.
"This is all news to me, but it [the draft note] goes off to Canada. They send it back, but then you have to sign it again [to show] that it was your signature," Orr said.
"So that will be the true test."
His handwriting does not appear to have restricted Orr's career progress.
Having helped complete the building of a motel in Taupo after his father died mid-construction when he was just 13, Orr worked in a series of manual and trade jobs before embarking on a career in economics.
A former Westpac chief economist, by the time he was in his early 40s, Orr was deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, leaving to run the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.
His strategy, to roll the dice and bet on long term returns at the height of the global financial crisis, saw the fund achieve remarkable results in the following years.
In 2017, the Financial Times of London declared NZ Super as "The All Blacks of the Sovereign Wealth Fund World".
Little over a month after the formation of the new Labour-led Government, Orr was appointed governor, making him arguably the most powerful public official in New Zealand.
- Stuff
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