New path forged: Alvarium and Pathfinder merge

Alvarium has taken full control over ethical investment manager Pathfinder.

Friday, March 19th 2021, 6:00AM

John Berry

Alvarium has taken control in entirety of the award-winning ethical investment manager Pathfinder Asset Management. The combined organisations will oversee more than $500 million in assets in New Zealand.

Alvarium Wealth is acquiring the outstanding 49% of Pathfinder Asset Management it did not already own, primarily from Pathfinder co-founders John Berry and Paul Brownsey, who have respectively become the chief executive and chief investment officers at Alvarium Wealth New Zealand.

Berry and Brownsey will also take a 30% shareholding in the combined New Zealand wealth business.

The acquisition of the stake integrates Pathfinder into the global Alvarium network. An international wealth management business that looks after $25 billion on behalf of wholesale investors around the world.

Alvarium UK co-founder Andrew Williams set up Alvarium’s New Zealand operation in 2017, with Ben Gough and Brett Gamble. Its Alvarium Wealth subsidiary purchased 51% of Pathfinder in 2019.

Williams, a director of Alvarium in NZ, says: “Investors globally continue to seek good financial returns and are also turning in droves to funds that embed environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their investment decisions.

“John, Paul and the Pathfinder team have marked themselves out as global leaders in responsible investment.

“They launched their first ethical fund in 2010 and have since established a track record for not only delivering great returns, but also doing so responsibly and ethically.

“We are delighted to support their continued growth in New Zealand and indeed to have their market leading expertise as part of Alvarium’s global network.”

Pathfinder and now Alvarium Wealth chief executive John Berry said that he is delighted to cement ties with Alvarium.

“We’re looking to build on this momentum. The combined New Zealand business offers investors unique access to a global network of investment opportunities, enhanced access to global listed markets, and local and global investment expertise.

Berry told Good Returns that “Alvarium globally sees the importance of investing sustainably and responsibly. Alvarium London has signed up to the UN PRI, and you are going to see that shift in New Zealand as well.”

Those changes are going to manifest themselves with Alvarium launching a brand new income fund in the New Zealand market.

Berry says that the fund “is called the Sustainable Income Fund. It will include for example investments that align with our commitment to sustainable housing in New Zealand, our ESG metrics and exclusions, and investments in KiwiSaver. With this fund we will be focused on getting some impact investments in there but we are not compromising on returns.”

Pathfinder will continue as a separate brand with its unique ethical investment approach, which also includes the support of 17 New Zealand-based charities through its CareSaver KiwiSaver scheme.

Tags: Alvarium Wealth mergers and aquisitions Pathfinder