Kelly Tian is the Executive Director of UNIC and the principal driver behind the firm’s integrated approach to finance, advisory and construction execution. Her career spans accounting, financial services, construction project management and property investment and development, positioning her among a small group of professionals in the New Zealand market with long-standing, hands-on experience across both capital structuring and physical project delivery.

With over twenty-five years of living and working in New Zealand, Kelly has developed a deep and nuanced understanding of the local market structure, regulatory framework and industry dynamics. This long-term immersion enables her to exercise sound, systems-based judgement when navigating complex projects, cross-disciplinary integration and environments characterised by uncertainty.

Kelly’s core strength lies in aligning financial logic with construction realities. She does not treat finance as an abstract exercise, nor construction as isolated execution. Instead, she approaches projects as integrated systems, coordinating capital structure, risk management, cash-flow timing and construction efficiency to enhance financial stability and delivery certainty. This perspective consistently supports long-term, cross-cycle value creation for investors and clients.

Kelly completed her tertiary education in New Zealand, graduating with dual degrees in Accounting and Commercial Law. She achieved full academic distinctions and completed a four-year programme within three years, reflecting a disciplined and structured academic foundation. This training has shaped her professional approach, characterised by a strong emphasis on logical coherence, structural integrity and execution efficiency.

She began her career in accounting and corporate financial management, gaining practical exposure to compliance, taxation, cash-flow management and operational finance. This early experience provided a rigorous grounding in financial structure and governance, forming the basis for her subsequent transition into more complex financial and investment environments.

Kelly later entered the financial services sector, specialising in lending advisory and financing structure design. Through a strong understanding of market cycles, policy shifts and risk boundaries, she quickly established a professional reputation and became one of the youngest mortgage advisers in New Zealand at the time. Known for her transparency, discipline and strong sense of responsibility, she focused not only on securing competitive financing terms but also on building long-term trust with clients.

At a pivotal stage of her career, Kelly continued to expand her professional scope rather than consolidating within a single domain. During the COVID-19 period, she undertook formal training in construction project management, developing a detailed understanding of project planning, construction control and delivery frameworks. This cross-disciplinary capability enabled her to oversee property projects from capital allocation through to physical execution, forming the foundation for UNIC’s integrated platform model.

Drawing on her combined experience in finance and construction, Kelly founded and now leads UNIC as an integrated advisory and delivery platform. As Executive Director, she is responsible for the firm’s overall strategy and operating structure, while remaining closely involved in major project decisions and critical execution milestones. Her leadership ensures strong alignment between financial advisory, construction management and project delivery.

At an organisational level, Kelly places strong emphasis on alignment between professional capability and shared values. She is actively involved in team development and key talent cultivation, ensuring that UNIC’s professionals are equipped not only with cross-disciplinary expertise but also with a long-term, systems-oriented and responsibility-driven mindset. Under her leadership, UNIC has developed a stable, highly coordinated team capable of effective collaboration across disciplines, supporting sustainable platform growth.

As one of the few female leaders in the industry with multiple professional identities, and as a mother of two, Kelly has a practical understanding of the structural challenges faced by women in professional development. She actively participates in initiatives related to female leadership and career advancement, supporting broader recognition of diverse professional pathways for women.

Kelly believes that professional achievement, family responsibility and social contribution are not mutually exclusive, but rather require deliberate structural support over the long term. Through both leadership and practice, she advocates for a model in which professional judgement, leadership capability and personal fulfilment can progress in parallel, even within increasingly complex environments.