6 Matt Whineray
There are few power assets more powerful than controlling money – and when the money is close to $30 billion you have a great deal of power.
Lawyer Matt Whineray, as chief investment officer at the New Zealand Super Fund has more say than just about anyone in the country on major investments in the country.
In the past year the Fund received over $1 billion from the government.
The fund received recent publicity over its proposal to invest up to $260 million in small and medium-sized New Zealand companies through three venture funds in a move that will be a massive boost to the burgeoning start-up and existing enterprises that hold high potential for growth.
Apart from his role as Super Fund CEO, Whineray is co-chair of the Sustainable Finance Forum designed to help create a low emission, resource efficient and to deal with key environmental and social issues.
Sustainable finance is not, he says, any longer a niche topic. It is part of the essence of what the Super Fund, the Sustainable Finance Forum and the future investment framework will be.
A former First NZ Capital and Credit Suisse banker, the Auckland law and commerce graduate is highly regarded by those in the business as both a smart operator and nice guy.
