Ethical Investing NZ - Auckland CBD

OUR JOURNEY

On 1 February 2021, we changed our name, from C2C Partners Ltd to Ethical Investing NZ Ltd.  The company is still the same - same advisers and same support team - only the name changed.

Ethical Investing NZ’s commitment to stewardship, legacy, making the world a better and more sustainable place and investing accordingly isn’t a recent thing – in fact it dates back over 30 years.

In 1990 our founder Peter Lee joined the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi, a major conservation volunteer project. He saw the motivating power of a vision to make things better. Over the next few years he explored many aspects of stewardship and ethical investment that now form the basis of Ethical Investing NZ. At Guardian Trust Peter saw first-hand the concepts of legacy and working through generations. Later, he worked closely with Rodger Spiller, NZ’s pioneer of ethical investment, helping develop some of the country’s first diversified ethical investment portfolios. In corporate life he subsequently drove the design and launch of two ethical investment portfolios for Fidelity Life, learning first-hand the intricacies and complexities of putting together an effective solution. Senior roles followed at the Institute of Financial Advisers and ANZ Wealth.

By 2014 Peter was finally ready. He’d developed a clear idea about what he wanted to do: build a top-flight, professional advice firm based on principles of sustainability. It was now or never.  In late 2014, at age 56, he quit the bank and set up C2C Partners, now Ethical Investing NZ. 

One of our first actions was to join the Sustainable Business Network (an organisation Peter had helped form back in 2001). The early years were challenging. Most advisers start with a few clients – but the firm had none, and nothing but Peter’s determination to “build a dream”. On the basis of “there is no Plan B”, he persevered.  Clients slowly arrived, though the absence of quality options meant ethical investment was only optional.

Our first big jump was in 2017 when respected adviser Larry Stead joined forces with Peter under C2C Partners, bringing his clients and (thankfully!) his trusty client support co-ordinator, Steve Mascarenhas, with him. Like Peter, Larry had had years of interest in ethical investment. At the same time, a new generation of evidence-based, low-cost ethical investment funds arrived. For the first time, it was now possible to “do well AND do good” – provide ethical funds that were no more expensive than non-screened funds. In early 2018 we decided to make ethical investment the default offering to all new clients.  

Late 2019 and 2020 were times of great change. Mark Holtom's arrival in 2019 brought a depth of experience to the business from his career spanning over 30 years in the financial services industry.  His passion to provide ethical investing advice began while working as an independent financial adviser in the UK over 20 years ago.  Mark was followed by practice manager (and former financial planner) Suzanne Baldwin in early 2020 and then the amazing Francesca Snell as our Office Manager a little later in the year.  These additions to our team accelerated our ability to provide and support top-quality ethical advice, bolstered still further in June 2021 when experienced adviser Dal Jandu joined us.

Covid-19 both tested us as a firm and proved that ethical investments could actually outperform their non-screened counterparts, and our clients remained loyal and committed through testing times. We became NZ's first adviser firm certified by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia. Then in mid-2020 we moved out of also providing insurance advice to focus exclusively on ethical investing and financial planning – so the time came to make the obvious step of changing our name to Ethical Investing NZ in early 2021 to truly reflect what we do. As the phrase says, “it does what it says on the tin.” We were also a finalist in the inaugural 2021 Mindful Money Ethical Investment Awards. 

And our journey has only started…

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