Bret graduated from Otago University with an Honours Degree in Commerce and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Post HBS he worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Sydney and London prior to founding his own business venture.

At BCG Bret was a Project Leader of consulting teams for client projects across Australia, Asia and Europe, covering banking, industrial, manufacturing,transport and consumer goods industries. Projects spanned mergers and acquisitions, process improvement and corporate strategy for some of Australia’s largest public companies.

Bret, and his wife Bridgette, then started their own venture from their home in Sydney with limited angel financing. In the three years Bret was CEO and Chairman he created a robust organisation of over 150 full and part time (seasonal) staff with a substantial turnover of approximately $50 million. Upon exit to a trade buyer, significant value was returned for shareholders with an average return in excess of 50x initial equity.

After returning to New Zealand, Bret wanted to utilise his own background and success. Therefore he founded Knox Investment Partners with the goal of providing sophisticated investors the opportunity to invest alongside him in a truly aligned private equity offering.