Pathfinder chief investment officer (CIO), Paul Brownsey, has resigned after 15 years at the fund house he co-founded with John Berry in 2009.
In a note sent to clients last Friday afternoon, Berry said Brownsey would clock out as CIO of Pathfinder and associated Alavrium funds at the end of February.
“Paul will spend the next month handing over his responsibilities,” Berry told clients. “While we look for a suitable replacement, Wayne Ross will act as interim CIO to ensure a smooth transition for the team and our clients. Wayne has been with the Alvarium group since 2021 when Alvarium acquired Newtown Ross.”
Ross is currently managing over $1 billion of Alvarium assets, the note says.
On his LinkedIn page, Brownsey says he will be on gardening leave until the end of August with golf, “fishing, bike riding, catching up with friends” on the agenda.
“I’m sure you’ll see me back in the industry later this year, I love investing and I still have plenty to contribute,” he says.
However, his departure marks the end of an era for Pathfinder which has evolved from a small independent boutique with an alternative bent at launch before pivoting to an exclusively responsible investment stance in 2017.
“Growing Pathfinder was a long and at times overwhelmingly tough job, but I believe we did build an amazing investment manager,” Brownsey says via LinkedIn.
A consortium comprising the UK-founded LJ Partnership and the Christchurch-based Gough family office, Tailorspace – later rebranded as Alvarium NZ – purchased half of Pathfinder early in 2019 before merging into the new Alavarium Wealth entity in 2021.
Last February, the Alvarium NZ business formally separated from the global entity after the group merged with US wealth management firm, Tiedemann Investment Advisors, listing on the Nasdaq via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company).
Brownsey and Berry retained just under 10 per cent each of Alvarium Investments NZ while a group comprising global Alvarium co-founder, Andrew Williams, Gough Investments and associate, Brett Gamble (BHive Gold) owns three-quarters.
Pathfinder launched a KiwiSaver scheme in 2019 under the CareSaver brand (later reverting to the main corporate name) that has been the main engine of retail funds growth, reporting $270 million under management as at the end of September last year.
“Paul has been an integral part of the success of Pathfinder and has led the investment team in consistently achieving top ranking returns for our KiwiSaver funds,” Berry said.
Following a change to financial year-end date, the latest Pathfinder annual report shows the manager garnered over $5.1 million in fee revenue for the 15 months to March 31, 2023, and a net profit after tax of $1.2 million.
During the 12 months to the end of December 2022, the manager booked fee income of about $2.6 million and more than $630,000 in net profit after tax.
Last November, Pathfinder won the overall prize at the NZ Sustainable Business Network Awards with the firm taking out two other gongs one for Berry as ‘Sustainability Superstar’.