Frederic Kwan was born in Singapore, the eldest son of Angeline.T, an Auckland-based academic and founder of Singapore’s former Mapping Ltd. In the 2000s, Frederic and his family lived in the Shunfu Rd area of Singapore’s Upper Thompson, where he would go on frequent walks to the historic grounds of MacRitchie Reservoir with his grandmother Maria and great aunt. He is grateful for his early upbringing by the older generation of his family and fondly recalls asking them what life was like during the world war and in pre-independence Singapore.

In his later childhood, Frederic and his family moved to Auckland, New Zealand, where he would spend his formative years amongst the children of hipsters in the Waitakere Ranges before moving to the central suburbs where he would become a young adult and enter university. His mother was a member of Heritage New Zealand and would frequently take him and is siblings to various heritage homes, Special Character/ Heritage architecture and preservation would later become one of the most important political matters to Frederic. His family had a miniature schnauzer called Kaia, who he loved dearly.

Frederic’s first job was at The Taste of India Restaurant in Mt.Eden Village, he applied to work there not because he needed the money but because he loved Indian food. He is aware this is weird. He still returns to the restaurant every now and then when in search of nostalgia to enjoy a masala chai and a chocolate naan.

Frederic attended The University of Auckland where he studied finance, economics, and politics & international relations. He made the most of his time there by delving into a wide variety of interest groups and clubs. On the day at the university, he became a member of The Young National Party and quickly rose through its ranks to become one of its executives; he would be one of the longest tenured members of Young National. He was also involved with and attained executive positions in other clubs and student-led organisations.

In his last semester of university, Frederic co founded a neobank startup, where he led the end to end development of the business, from business model design and AML-CFT compliance through to designing the company's initial financial products. Whilst that business ceased as an early stage startup, Frederic learnt that building something from nothing teaches you more than building on solid ground ever could. He learnt how to hold a team together when the path forward wasn't clear, how to turn regulatory complexity into something workable rather than paralysing, and how to make sound decisions with incomplete information and real stakes attached. Most of all, he learnt that resilience isn't the absence of setbacks, but what's left standing once they've passed.

Frederic works on the Dealer Settlements team at United Dominions Corporation (UDC) where he manages high value transactions daily across commercial loans and asset finance, overseeing end to end processing for UDC's nationwide dealer network. He liaises with dealers, banks, and cross functional teams to resolve settlement discrepancies, and safeguards financial integrity by reconciling complex settlements in line with AML/CFT regulations and internal risk controls.

Frederic lives in Auckland’s Mt.Eden with his partner Ben and their cat Clementine.

During his free time, Frederic enjoys walking his dog through suburban Auckland, playing tennis, coffee, hiking, reading, writing, and keeping up with ongoing world affairs.