Investing for Good Conference Wrap Up 2026

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Investing for Good Conference

The 2026 Investing for Good conference brought together the diverse and united voices driving change to accelerate the development of positive outcomes investing into the funds management mainstream.

Two lively and interesting panel discussions took place.

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Panel One: Positive Outcomes

World-class innovation is happening right here in Aotearoa, and everyday Kiwi investors are helping power it.

Kate Vennell opened the panel by highlighting three New Zealand companies delivering measurable benefits for people and planet, all backed by mainstream KiwiSaver and retail funds. These organisations show that you don’t need to be a venture capitalist to invest in positive outcomes for all of us.

Healing complex wounds with regenerative biotech

Aroa Biosurgery began with a simple but extraordinary insight: the stomach lining of young sheep has unique healing properties. Today, Aroa has sold more than seven million medical devices worldwide, helping patients with chronic and traumatic wounds heal much sooner. As CTO Yasmin Winchester explained: “Our technology acts as a scaffold for the body to heal into. For people with wounds that have been open for months or years, it can be life-changing.” Aroa’s ASX listing has accelerated growth in manufacturing, R&D, and regulatory approvals.  Their strong focus on training strengthens NZ’s growing med-tech ecosystem.

Solar power for every community

Lodestone Energy is reshaping how New Zealand generates and consumes electricity. With rising prices, declining gas reserves, and falling solar costs, the timing couldn’t be better. Managing Director Gary Holden shared Lodestone’s bold vision: “Solar is now the lowest-cost form of electricity ever invented. We see a future where every community has its own solar farm.” Lodestone is already building multiple utility-scale farms each year, with plans to supply 15–25 towns within the next five to seven years. Their innovative model sells power locally, reducing emissions and strengthening regional resilience.

Financing affordable homes at scale

New Zealand’s housing crisis demands new solutions. James Palmer, CEO of the Community Housing Funding Agency (CHFA), explained how lower-cost finance can unlock thousands of new affordable homes. “Finance is the biggest expense over 25 years. If we can lower that cost, we can build more homes for the people who need them most.” CHFA has already issued $500 million in loans to 34 organisations, supported by New Zealand’s only domestic social bonds and an A+ credit rating.

A call to action

Kate closed with a challenge to Retail Fund Managers: “What if just a little less money went to US trillionaires, and a little more stayed in New Zealand?” These Kiwi innovators prove that strong returns and positive outcomes can go hand-in-hand — and it’s exciting to realise KiwiSaver members are already part of the story.

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Panel Two: The Political Pitch

This session was an opportunity to hear some political and systemic questions that could bring innovative and equitable system change. Bridget Coates facilitated four pitches, each addressing a different lever for change.

Nikola Toki:  Invest in Nature as Infrastructure

Nikola Toki opened with a reframe. Nature is not a charity cause or an environmental nicety; it is economic infrastructure. Wetlands buffer communities from floods. Forests absorb carbon and regulate water. Biodiversity underpins food production, tourism, and fisheries. Healthy ecosystems make communities more resilient to climate change. The cost of adequately protecting New Zealand's nature has been estimated at $23 billion. A number the country has consistently chosen not to spend, while accumulating the compounding cost of degradation. Internationally, companies are now developing frameworks to measure and price nature-based outcomes on balance sheets, and New Zealand has both the ecosystems and the scientific expertise to lead in this space. Nikola's call to the room was to stop treating environment and finance as adversaries. The tools to measure, price, and invest in nature-based outcomes are developing. The opportunity to get ahead of the curve is real.

Helen Robinson: The Social Cost of the Status Quo

Helen Robinson, CEO of the Auckland City Mission, opened with uncomfortable statistics. The Mission has been operating for 106 years and still distributes over 50,000 food parcels annually. In 2023, 113,000 New Zealanders were severely housing-stressed. Between 23 and 24% of New Zealand's children do not get enough food. A figure that rises to 1 in 3 Māori children and 1 in 2 Pacific children. Helen asked that every person in a room full of institutional influence use that influence to examine the systems their capital supports, and to ask whether those systems are producing the outcomes a wealthy, generous country like New Zealand should be proud of.

Fraser Whineray:  KiwiSaver 2.0

Fraser Whineray built his pitch around a character called Maya, born in July 2027, and walked the room through what a well-designed KiwiSaver 2.0 could mean across her lifetime. Contributions from birth. Financial literacy built into the school curriculum. Compulsory employer contributions rising meaningfully over time. A retirement balance at 65 that gives her genuine security and the ability to pass something on to her own children. The KiwiSaver member tax credit has been cut progressively from $1,000 to $260. A reduction costing working New Zealanders between $500 and $600 million per year. Fraser's proposal builds cross-party consensus on long-term savings policy. His core pitch: KiwiSaver is not just a retirement savings product. It is a social equity vehicle, and one that, if properly protected from short-term political interference, could build meaningful financial security for every generation of New Zealanders.

Mike Casey: Rewiring Aotearoa

Mike Casey pitched to electrify everything. He runs an electric cherry farm in Central Otago, operating 21 electric machines, generating 92% of its own energy, and has converted a $50,000 annual diesel bill into a $25,000 energy revenue stream. His framework is practical: New Zealand has 10 million energy-consuming machines, of which 8.5 million are ready to be electrified today with existing technology.

He asked every New Zealander to make six key decisions in the next decade: how they travel, how they cook, how they heat water, how they heat their home, and whether they install solar and a battery. If 80% of New Zealand homes installed rooftop solar, the level Australia has already reached, it would add 40% more renewable electricity to the national grid. Electrifying homes collectively could save $29 million per day nationally, compounding to close to $100 billion by 2040. The barrier is not technology. It is financing. Currently, only 2% of New Zealand households can access green finance for these transitions. Mike's proposed solution: a ratepayer-backed financing scheme with long-term, low-interest, attached to the property where the energy savings cover the repayments.

Bridget Coates closed the session by naming the thread that ran through all four pitches: nature, poverty, retirement security, and energy are not separate conversations. They are expressions of the same national priorities.

The conference concluded with roundtable discussions asking deeper questions on the panel discussions.

All conference photos are available to be downloaded here

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With gratitude to our Conference Sponsors