Kent was born and bred in Marlborough, but moved to Wellington for seven years whilst working for the Bank of New Zealand. In 1998, Kent chose to return to Marlborough to join NZX Firm Winstanley Dickson – of which he became a partner in 2000.
In April 2007, Craigs Investment Partners purchased the Winstanley Dickson firm and with this, Kent joined Craigs Investment Partners as an Investment Adviser and the Blenheim Branch Manager.