Our people
Milestone Direct is trusted as the official financial services provider to the Defence Community.
Our advisers and other staff are located in our Albany head office. All staff are standing by to assist you via phone, email, or other technological means, and can meet with you in our Albany offices if that best suits you.
If your advice needs are complex and you need a face to face meeting, then our Milestone Direct team can refer you to our accredited advisers from the wider Milestone group. Our accredited advisers are located in:
Auckland: Servicing Whangarei to BOP/Waikato
Manawatu: Servicing Taupo to Levin and East Coast
Wellington: Servicing Wellington, Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa
Canterbury: Servicing all of South Island
The Milestone Direct team includes an integrated team of product specialists, advice managers, and administrative staff. Those who will initially answer the phones or your emails will include:
Joseph Darby
BA (Hist), MMgmt (Int Bus), Dip Bus, NZCFS (Financial Advice) AFA
Joseph's strong personal ethos and standards have been ingrained during a 15 year career in the NZ Army, where he attained the rank of Major. Joseph has extensive experience in high stakes international environments. As a result, he has an intimate understanding of how to manage and mitigate risks to client's assets, livelihood, business, and family.
Joseph grew up in Auckland, and has just moved back. He has also spent several years living overseas, mostly in South Asia and the Middle East. While living in different parts of NZ and the world, Joseph has assisted a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds.
Joseph's interests include travel, health and fitness, and muscle cars. He also enjoys spending time with his fiancé Julia and his son Matthew.
Joseph is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA). A copy of his disclosure statement is available upon request and free of charge.
Nik Velkovski
Authorised Financial Adviser
Massey University – BBS (Finance and Int Bus), NCFS 5 (Financial Advice), AFA
Prior to joining Milestone Direct, Nik was employed with ANZ Bank as a Senior Personal and Business Banker. With a career history in the retail banking sector, Nik has been able to gain an extensive range of transferable work skills that are crucial to his current role.
Nik is a mortgage and banking specialist with additional experience in personal insurance and investment products.
Nik loves spending time with his friends and family. He is passionate about health and fitness and, more than anything else, he enjoys playing football. He trains and plays five days a week and never tires of it.
Nik is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA). A copy of his disclosure statement is available upon request and free of charge.
Vinessa Orsbourn
Authorised Financial Adviser
GDipBusStudies (Personal Financial Planning), NCFS 5 (Financial Advice), AFA
Vinessa is passionate about assisting clients to achieve their financial goals. This passion, combined with specialist financial qualifications and years of work and life experience, makes her eminently qualified for advising families and individuals on the most appropriate way to protect assets and build wealth.
Understanding risk and how to protect a business, family or individual from those risks, is second nature to Vinessa. As a specialist quality and risk management practitioner at Ernst and Young, she learnt how to identify risks, how to categorise those risks and how to develop and monitor solutions to reduce those risks. She has taken those skills into the financial advice industry where she can use her specialist technical skills, combined with her life skills and natural passion for people, to craft solutions that will be applicable both today and into the future. She knows that nothing stays static so is committed to ensuring that her clients receive regular financial reviews.
Vinessa is married to Graham, a cardiovascular scientist, and together they have two boys and a daughter. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading a good book, as well as sharing good food and good wine with friends.
Vinessa is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA). A copy of her disclosure statement is available upon request and free of charge.
Peter Coltman
Authorised Financial Adviser
BCom (Marketing), GDipBusStudies (Personal Financial Planning), AFA, Certified Financial Planner, ANZIIF Associate
Peter is a financial adviser and director of Milestone Direct Limited. He has 28 years’ experience in the financial services industry, the last 17 of which have been providing comprehensive financial advice to ‘mum and dad’ clients. Peter is passionate about helping people make sound financial decisions throughout their careers and lives.
Peter is an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA). A copy of his disclosure statement is available upon request and free of charge.
Elanor Schroder
Administrator
Dip Financial Services (General Insurance)
With a background in non-life insurance and reinsurance, Elanor has 15 years of corporate administration experience. She has a passion for event management and loves organising functions and social events.
With her husband and two children, she likes trying new activities and exploring new places. Elanor has a variety of hobbies to keep her busy, including photography, genealogy and blogging. She loves reading and writing, and is working on a book of family heirloom recipes and also a children's fantasy novel.
Laura Dixon
Administrator
BA (Psychology and Media Studies)
Laura was born in England and lived in Singapore and Korea before moving to New Zealand in 2010. At the end of 2016, she graduated from Victoria University in Wellington with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology and Media Studies.
Laura does administration work for the financial advisers, specialising in mortgage applications.
In her spare time, Laura enjoys playing netball, doing yoga, and watching reality television shows.
Sanne Roschmann
Administrator
BBS- (Economics and Finance) (anticipated)
Sanne fulfills many roles and is aiming to become an Authorised Financial Adviser. She enjoys helping the rest of the team especially marketing and para-planning for financial advice. Sanne will complete her Bachelor’s degree in November and then begin working for Milestone Direct full time.
Being brought up with parents from two different countries, Sanne has been exposed to different cultures, resulting in a love for travel. She also enjoys playing netball, doing Zumba, and spending time with her family and friends.