NZ Green Investment Finance seeking investment opportunities

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New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) is now up and running and seeking projects for commercial investment, following the recruitment of a leadership team and completion of its formal establishment.

Since appointing its Chief Executive, Craig Weise earlier this year, NZGIF has recruited its leadership team and initiated discussions in the market with investment project sponsors and potential investors.  

“As a Crown-sponsored green investment bank, we are a new participant in the New Zealand financial community and we are keen to accelerate investments into a lower emissions economy,” Mr Weise says.

NZGIF has four clear objectives: to reduce emissions that cause climate change, partner with other investors, invest on a commercial basis and provide market leadership in the green investment sector.

Three key management positions have been filled to lead the pursuit of investments – Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Government Relations and Communications.   

Executive appointments completed

Investment manager Jason Patrick has been appointed as Chief Investment Officer. Mr Patrick has held senior green investment roles for nearly 20 years in the United States, including positions at BioCarbon Group, established by Macquarie, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Mr Weise says recruiting Jason Patrick to NZGIF will help build additional momentum.

“We’re excited about Jason joining us. It’s fantastic to find someone with his history and exposure to green investment. Jason brings significant experience, passion and global perspective to our organisation.”

Former PWC Director and Treasury’s lead advisor on the Social Impact Bonds pilot programme, Ed Montague has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. Ed has worked in both commercial investment and social investing in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and is an experienced financial analyst and investment operations manager.

The third appointment is Jenny Lackey who takes up the role of Head of Government Relations and Communications. Jenny has held a number of strategic and operational roles at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, most recently as the Group Manager Strategy and Performance.   

Mr Weise said the recruitment of these three managers, plus additional appointments to the investment team, meant NZGIF was now able to intensify its level of engagement with businesses and co-investors seeking investment into new projects or facilities that lead to greenhouse gas reductions.

“We have a specific interest in transport, building and system energy efficiency, process heat in manufacturing, and agriculture. We are engaged with a wide range of potential investees that have projects that could lead to significant emissions reductions in New Zealand,” he says.

Mr Weise says the difference between NZGIF and more traditional sources of debt or capital funding was NZGIF’s focus on emissions reduction and ability to deploy capital across a wide variety of investment structures to achieve that objective.

“We will be able to create bespoke financing products for a wide range of investments in conjunction with co-investors,” he says. 

With the new executive in place, NZGIF intends to seek out opportunities for investment.  However, investors or businesses interested in discussing scalable projects that will accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gases with the NZGIF investment team should contact us at [email protected]

NZGIF Executive Biographies

Chief Executive Officer 

Craig Weise has over 25 years of experience in private capital markets, both in the US and NZ, grounded in financial services, law, and investment banking.

He most recently held multi-faceted executive roles for the Treasury, managing teams focused on investment stewardship, commercial and investment performance monitoring, and shareholder representation across the New Zealand government’s direct investment and managed portfolios, representing over NZD$100 billion in assets.  Immediately prior to his time at Treasury, Craig was a principal at Armillary Private Capital, ultimately active as its Managing Director, Investment Banking.

Craig holds an Honours Degree in Economics from Randolph-Macon College, Virginia, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia.  He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, a Certified Investment Fund Director and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Chief Investment Officer

Jason Patrick joins NZGIF from his role as Managing Director of Real Options International, a boutique advisory firm in energy and low-carbon market strategy, investment, risk management and fund management. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of the BioCarbon Group, established by Macquarie, and a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch leading investment and marketing of environmental and renewable power commodity products. 

Mr Patrick was also a Vice President at Evolution Markets and a programme officer at the Environmental Defense Fund. He has an MA Economics from New York University, a MEM from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Chief Operating Officer

Ed Montague has worked over the past two decades as a management consultant, hedge fund operations manager, equities analyst, and government advisor. 

He was previously the Deputy Lead and General Manager of Commissioning at the Social Investment Agency (SIA).  Before helping establish the SIA, Ed was a Principal Advisor at the New Zealand Treasury where he led the Social Impact Bonds pilot programme. Prior to joining the Treasury, Ed was a Director at PwC NZ, focusing on public sector performance improvement projects.  Ed began his investment career as an equity analyst and operations manager at a London-based hedge fund, IBIS Capital Partners LLP.  

Ed studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University. 

Head of Communications and Government Relations

Jenny Lackey was most recently the Group Manager Strategy and Performance at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Her roles with EECA included strategic planning, government relations, communications, and regulatory affairs. 

Jenny holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Victoria University, was a founding member of the Young Energy Professionals’ Network NZ and is an alumnus of the World Energy Council’s Future Energy Leaders’ programme.

Issued on behalf of New Zealand Green Investment Finance by:

Jenny Lackey
Head of Communications and Government Relations
[email protected]
021 340 847

About New Zealand Green Investment Finance - Frequently Asked Questions

What is NZGIF?

New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) is a green investment bank established by the Crown to accelerate investment in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand.

What is a green investment bank?

Around the world, green investment banks have been established specifically to facilitate and mobilise private investment in domestic low emissions and other environmental projects.  Green investment banks are generally initially capitalized by governments but operate independently in the market to attract and mobilise private investment.  

How will it work?

Set up with initial capital of NZD$100 million, NZGIF is an independent limited liability company. It will co-invest with other investors on a commercial basis, in companies, projects and technologies that accelerate emissions reductions. 

What is the NZGIF trying to achieve?

NZGIF has multiple objectives.  It aims investment at projects, partnerships and technologies that accelerate emissions reductions.  It will invest on a commercial basis and partner with other investors.  Finally, it aims to demonstrate market leadership in green investment.

What makes the NZGIF different to other investors?

NZGIF has a flexible mandate which allows it to structure investments in a way that enables it to consider investments that others can’t.

It also has a dedicated focus on reducing emissions that lead to climate change, and to demonstrate to other investors that this can be achieved on a commercial basis.  

NZGIF has built a team with expertise and experience in green investment and which has strong ties with the growing international green investment community.

Which industries is NZGIF most interested in?

NZGIF is primarily interested in sectors that have the potential to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions in the shorter term such as transport, building and system energy efficiency, process heat in manufacturing, and agriculture.  

How will NZGIF decide to invest in a company or project?

NZGIF operates, as any other investment firm would, under typically robust analysis, policies and due diligence requirements for investment.  The added consideration for NZGIF is the impact our projects can deliver for New Zealand.

Is there a maximum or minimum amount for each investment?

There are no hard boundaries at this stage, but we are primarily looking at projects at scale or scalable that can achieve substantial emissions reductions. The focus at this stage will be on investments that can deploy NZD$5 – 25 million of its capital over the life of the project.

How can I find out more?

Please visit the NZGIF website at www.nzgif.co.nzfor more information.
Media enquiries to [email protected]or 021 340 847.