Hennie van der Watt

Director, Risk Services
Auckland, NZ.

About

Seasoned senior risk professional with over 25 years of experience across New Zealand, UK, Europe, and South Africa. Expert in governance, risk and compliance, operational and enterprise risk management, and embedding risk into strategy, operating models, and decision-making processes. Advocates for professionalising risk functions with data analytics, resilience, and strategic enablement.

Work

PwC New Zealand
|

Director, Risk Services

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Summary

Directs Governance, Risk and Compliance, working to elevate risk from compliance to strategic value via operating models, analytics, capability uplift, resilience, and embedding risk in decision-making.

Highlights

Facilitated at the New Zealand Risk & Resilience Summit on professionalising risk functions and strategic governance, NZ, 2026.

Named as Director: Governance, Risk and Compliance in PwC New Zealand materials (2020)

Westpac New Zealand
|

Head of Operational Risk

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

→

Summary

Led operational risk management framework in alignment with global group, building processes and controls to manage internal and external risk exposures.

PwC New Zealand
|

Senior Manager, Risk Advisory

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

→

Summary

Senior Manager in consulting, delivering risk advisory services across governance, compliance, and process improvement.

Alexforbes (South Africa)
|

Chief Risk Officer

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

→

Summary

Oversaw enterprise risk management, operational and compliance risk frameworks for a leading financial services firm.

Alexforbes (South Africa)
|

Head of Risk & Compliance

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

→

Summary

Managed risk and compliance functions, aligning regulatory, operational, and governance processes.

PwC UK
|

Consultant, Risk Advisory

London, England, UK

→

Summary

Consultant in risk advisory, delivering consulting services across risk, compliance, and internal controls.

AEGON
|

Risk & Compliance Advisor

Schiphol (Netherlands), North Holland, Netherlands

→

Summary

Advised on risk and compliance frameworks in the insurance sector.

Moonstone Information Refinery
|

Risk & Compliance Consultant

Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa

→

Summary

Consulted on risk and compliance for financial services clients in South Africa.

iChoices Group of Companies
|

Group Compliance Officer

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

→

Summary

Established and oversaw compliance across the group operations.

iChoices Group of Companies
|

Card Division Supervisor

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

→

Summary

Supervised card division operations.

Volunteer

RiskNZ
|

Chair

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Summary

Appointed Chair of RiskNZ board, leading advancement of risk profession in New Zealand.

Education

University of Cape Town
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

→

Post-secondary

Management

University of South Africa
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

→

Post-secondary

Business Management

Skills

Governance, Risk & Compliance

operational risk, enterprise risk management, governance.

Regulatory Risk

compliance monitoring, financial regulation, regulatory affairs.

Strategy & Capability Building

risk management framework, training, analytics, risk reporting.