Former MinterEllisonRuddWatts star Silvana Schenone is on the move again, exiting local investment bank Jarden, who have had their ups and downs in recent years, to join fast‑rising Australian player Barrenjoey and taking her trans‑Tasman dealmaking clout with her.
Barrenjoey, founded in 2020 and backed by Barclays and Magellan, has rapidly muscled into the top tier of Australian investment banking, mixing staff ownership with full‑service corporate finance, equities, fixed income and research.
Its New Zealand push has come with a raid on Jarden’s senior ranks, with Schenone appointed to help spearhead the firm’s expansion across the Tasman.
At Jarden, Schenone co‑headed corporate finance and investment banking, leading execution on some of the firm’s largest New Zealand and trans‑Tasman deals, including major private‑equity and corporate divestment mandates, rather than specific deal citations.
LawFuel has long tagged Schenone as one of New Zealand’s most powerful legal dealmakers – a former head of MinterEllisonRuddWatts’ corporate team, New Zealand Deal Maker of the Year, and a 2023 LawFuel Power List lawyer whose leap from the “legal coal face” to Jarden was itself a headline move.
Her shift to Barrenjoey shows once again how the region’s elite M&A and takeover work is increasingly being driven by lawyer‑turned‑bankers who can straddle regulatory nuance and boardroom politics. Once again, Schenone is firmly at the centre of that game.
