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Pathfinder
John Berry and Paul Brownsey co-founded Pathfinder Asset Management in 2009, applying their institutional finance backgrounds to a then-nascent...
Pathfinder
John Berry and Paul Brownsey co-founded Pathfinder Asset Management in 2009, applying their institutional finance backgrounds to a then-nascent proposition: a New Zealand-based manager offering only ethically screened funds. The firm launched its first managed fund in 2010 and expanded to five strategies before entering the retirement-savings market in July 2019 with the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan, originally branded CareSaver. Pathfinder is 100% locally owned and operates as a certified B Corp. Pathfinder’s product shelf spans two wrappers. Its KiwiSaver plan has four risk-graded portfolios — Conservative, Balanced, Growth, and High Growth — while its managed-fund range includes Ethical Growth, Ethical Trans-Tasman, Global Responsibility, Global Property, Global Water, and a Green Bond fund. The approach combines negative screening with active tilts toward companies contributing to environmental and social solutions, with a stated ambition to be climate positive. The firm covers equities, real property, and fixed income across New Zealand, Australia, and global markets. While no individual portfolio holdings are disclosed on the website, the Global Water and Green Bond strategies signal concentrated thematic exposure. Pathfinder lists 18 professionals led by CEO John Berry and CIO David Lewis, with compliance oversight from Mei Fong. The firm operates from a single office in Auckland’s PwC Tower. In 2021, Alavarium acquired Pathfinder to support the KiwiSaver plan’s growth. The acquisition introduced new directors — Shane Edmond and Brett Gamble — without altering the firm’s stated ethical mandate. Pathfinder donates to local charities and co-chairs its Ethics and Investment Committee with Kent Fraser and Anya Satyanand, embedding governance that reports independently of the investment team. Pathfinder’s structure as an acquired boutique within a broader group is rare among dedicated ethical managers in New Zealand. While the Alavarium transaction brought commercial backing, the firm has retained its proprietary ethical screens and branding, operating with a dual-board architecture that separates compliance and ethics oversight from day-to-day investment decisions. That governance layer, combined with a retail-only distribution model through KiwiSaver and direct managed funds, creates a compliance-intensive posture unusual for a sub-$20-person shop.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
2009
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Oceania
Country
New Zealand
City
Auckland
Corporate office
Level 37, PwC Tower, 15 Customs Street West, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Principals
John Berry
Co-Founder, CEO, Member of Ethics & Investment Committee, Director
Paul Brownsey
Co-Founder
David Lewis
Chief Investment Officer
Lily Richards
Chief Marketing and Client Officer
Mei Fong
Chief Compliance Officer, Director, and Member of Ethics & Investment Committee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Pathfinder?
Chief Investment Officer David Lewis leads portfolio construction and manager selection, with oversight from the Ethics and Investment Committee co-chaired by Kent Fraser and Anya Satyanand. Co-founder and CEO John Berry sits on that committee. The structure separates day-to-day investment management from the ethical-screening framework, which is governed independently of Lewis’s team.
How does Pathfinder apply its ethical screens?
Pathfinder uses exclusionary filters to avoid sectors it considers harmful — historically including fossil fuels, weapons, tobacco, and gambling — while tilting toward companies with positive environmental and social characteristics. The firm describes its posture as a dual approach: avoid the bad, invest in the good. Specific screening criteria are detailed in the Product Disclosure Statements updated as of March 2026.
Is Pathfinder structured as a single family office or does it operate more like a traditional fund manager?
Pathfinder is a registered asset manager, not a family office. It offers pooled KiwiSaver and managed funds to retail and wholesale investors in New Zealand. The firm was acquired by Alavarium in 2021 but continues to operate under its own brand and ethical mandate.
What investment vehicles does Pathfinder offer?
Pathfinder manages four KiwiSaver funds — Conservative, Balanced, Growth, and High Growth — and six standalone managed funds: Ethical Growth, Ethical Trans-Tasman, Global Responsibility, Global Property, Global Water, and Green Bond. All products carry the firm’s ethical overlay, with the managed-fund range providing more targeted thematic exposure to property, water infrastructure, and green fixed income.
How is Pathfinder’s philanthropic activity separated from client assets?
Pathfinder makes charitable donations as a corporate entity using its own operating income, not client funds. The firm highlights a commitment to generosity on its website but does not operate a separate philanthropic foundation. The Ethics and Investment Committee oversees the alignment of investment products with the firm’s stated values, while donations are a corporate-level initiative.
What is Pathfinder’s relationship to Alavarium?
Alavarium acquired Pathfinder in 2021 to support the growth of the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan. Post-acquisition, Pathfinder retained its brand, ethical investment approach, and Auckland-based team. Directors Shane Edmond and Brett Gamble joined the board as part of the transaction. The firm remains 100% locally owned.
Does Pathfinder participate in direct co-investments or private-market deals?
The firm does not publicize a direct co-investment or private-markets program. Its product shelf consists of pooled retail funds investing in listed equities, property securities, and bonds. Pathfinder’s website names no direct private-company positions, suggesting the strategy is currently limited to public-market instruments.
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