con·spec·tus /kənˈspɛktəs/ noun
A higher-order view — the disciplined ability to see beyond parts and silos, integrating structure, context, and consequence into a single coherent understanding.
This principle underpins how we work and how we advise.
Why Conspectus Exists
Conspectus was shaped by decades of experience working inside and alongside organisations ranging from listed multinationals to privately owned groups.
We understand that tax decisions are rarely abstract — they are intimately entwined with and influence the core commercial, financial, legal and investment decisions of the organisation.
Our experience in the asset management sector has equipped us with a good understanding of how sophisticated boards, shareholders, institutional and other investors think and operate with respect to tax in the wider commercial context.
Our Approach
We are deliberately small and senior-led.
That allows us to build close working relationships, understand context properly and provide advice and other outputs that reflect both commercial reality and personal priorities.
We prioritise judgement over scale and depth over volume.
Geographical coverage
Conspectus is New Zealand headquartered and authorised to advise on New Zealand tax law.
We also work with organisations outside New Zealand where our role is to provide senior tax leadership, perspective and coordination — for example acting as an interim or fractional Head of Tax, supporting in-house teams, or providing strategic oversight across multi-jurisdictional tax environments.
Where jurisdiction-specific tax advice is required, we work alongside appropriately qualified local advisers and assist by coordinating, sense-checking and integrating that advice into the broader commercial and governance context.
Our Founder - Scott McCutcheon
Scott spent over a decade leading tax at Morrison, a NZ-headquartered global infrastructure asset manager, with responsibility for tax across dozens of portfolio companies and investment entities, including Infratil (NZX: IFT).
Scott's role meant being involved in close to a hundred M&A transactions and a range of complex commercial events, working embedded alongside the businesses, boards and investors and engaging regularly with external advisors from all major firms as well as multiple tax authorities.
Scott received his initial training at KPMG NZ before heading off to Europe to develop his in-house credentials as a tax advisor for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Sony (TYO: 6758) and a predecessor firm of wtw (NASDAQ: WTW). He then returned to KPMG to further his advisory career in a senior capacity for 4 years prior to joining Morrison.
This experience allows Scott to engage credibly with executives, boards and investors, and to focus advice on outcomes rather than theory.
