Infinz Awards 2026: NZ’s top finance professionals

This inaugural award was determined by voting among equity analysts within full-service sharebroking firms and larger New Zealand-based fund managers that are active investors in New Zealand equities.

The winner had to have been ranked within 21-50 of the S&P/NZX50 as at December 31, 2025, and headquartered in New Zealand.

Channel Infrastructure has energy infrastructure across New Zealand and Australia. It operates New Zealand’s largest fuel import terminal, as well as the Marsden Point Energy Precinct and owns part of Australia’s jet fuel supply chain with a 25% share in the Somerton jet fuel pipeline.

The company’s Marsden Point site in Northland receives, stores, tests and distributes petrol, diesel, and jet fuel that its customers import and supply to Auckland and Northland.

Judges said Channel Infrastructure provided very good disclosure of key revenue drivers and contract terms around new contract agreements and movements in its cost base.

Very good access to management and site visits were provided by the company when required. It also had a consistent and clear dividend policy, judges said.

The new award was created by Infinz this year by splitting its investor relations award into two categories. The other category is the Large-Cap Best Investor Relations Award.

Winner: Contact Energy

Judges said Contact Energy’s ability to anticipate what investors might need was “impressive”.

Its disclosure led a sector which had a very high standard of investor relations, with disclosure around its recent acquisition of Manawa Energy “a standout”.

The company, one of New Zealand’s largest energy generators and retailers, issued “excellent” presentation materials and provided ready access and responsiveness to questions, the judges’ commentary said.

Contact Energy has more than 650,000 customer connections with electricity, gas, broadband and mobile plans. It operates 11 power stations across New Zealand using geothermal, hydro and thermal energy to generate electricity.

The award was determined by voting among equity analysts within the full-service sharebroking firms and larger New Zealand-based fund managers that are active investors in New Zealand equities.

The winner had to have been ranked within the S&P/NZX20 as at December 31, 2025, and headquartered in New Zealand.

Winner: Tax Traders

An expert judging panel recognised the fintech as a standout “for its many highly innovative and creative approaches”.

The company brought to life environmental, social and governance principles across every aspect of its operations, judges said.

The award recognised and acknowledged an organisation from within the Infinz ecosystem which had proactively cultivated a focus on encouraging and nurturing diversity, mental health and working conditions of staff and suppliers and sustainability within its own organisation and in the wider ecosystem.

The judges noted Tax Traders’ particular focus on nurturing diversity and inclusion within its workforce and on developing a highly collaborative and family-friendly workplace while still delivering on its economic goals.

They also commended the company for its “outsized” leadership impact across the financial services ecosystem.

Winner: Milford Asset Management

The “consistently strong” performance track record noted by judges in awarding Milford this title also applies to its history of winning awards.

The specialist investing firm has now won the Infinz diversified growth fund manager award four out of the five years it has been on offer, and was a finalist in the fifth year.

And before Infinz merged the annual equities fund manager award into today’s diversified growth award, Milford won the equities growth honour eight times between 2010 and 2020.

Mike Cruickshank, Milford head of institutional clients, said no other fund manager had won the equities award twice from 2010 onwards.

Judges said they considered a wide range of factors both quantitative and qualitative, in determining this year’s winner.

Milford was the candidate that excelled in each area, particularly in its consistently strong performance track record.

“Performance was generated from strong bottom-up analysis, in a risk-controlled manner,” judges said.

They were also impressed with the quality of Milford’s people and “their alignment with customers’ values”.

Cruickshank said judges took into account risk-adjusted returns, “essentially the risk that we’re taking to generate those returns; it’s a huge factor in how we manage the fund”.

“We are very aware of risk and risk management and we think it’s as important to manage the downside as it is to capture the upside. This is certainly something our clients appreciate, minimising the volatility.

“That shows through in some of the long-term performance numbers as well.”

Quantitative surveys by Melville Jessup Weaver - the independent specialist used by judges in determining an initial quantitative analysis of award contenders’ performance - showed Milford ranked number one over 10-year periods in each of the past nine calendar year surveys, Cruickshank said.

It was also ranked number one over five-year periods in eight of the nine surveys (and number two in the other).

“And we did that with a level of risk at, or below, the median over those five-year periods.”

On the qualitative side, Milford had been able to show the judging panel how it approached markets and managed risk, particularly in the first quarter of 2025 when markets were falling heavily in response to the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

“The fund was able to preserve capital reasonably well and then springboard into the next quarter quite strongly as well.”

Judges said in determining the winner they needed to understand the people and approach behind each fund and further qualitative aspects such as socially responsible investment, fees and risk controls.

So what is Milford’s secret sauce in winning recognition?

Cruickshank said the founders built a firm “in order to have a fund manager New Zealanders could trust”.

“It was built on a really strong alignment of interests with our clients. That was put in place in two ways: first being as that we as employees can only invest in Milford funds, which means we’re in exactly the same funds as our clients; second, the founders were really keen to promote an ownership model where everyone in the business could be an owner of the business.

“That promotes a really strong commitment from all staff to provide the best of us – the best performance, the best risk management we possibly can. I think that makes a huge difference.

“So the culture is fantastic. In terms of approach, the founders built the business around active management and strong risk management. So getting out and visiting companies, competitors and peers … really understanding those businesses.”

Milford has “a really broad and deep” investment team, Cruickshank said. Of the 43 members, 18 were based in Australia and the rest in Auckland.

“There’s strong collaboration across the team, whether it’s between fixed income and equities or between global and Australasian asset classes. All of these people essentially feed into a strategy like the active growth fund, which this award was modelled off.”

Winner: Vital Healthcare’s $190m placement and $45m unit purchase plan

Arranger, joint lead manager, underwriter: Craigs Investment Partners

Joint lead managers and underwriters: Barrenjoey, Forsyth Barr

The successful placement of new units to new and existing Vital Healthcare unit holders was the central part of a $235 million capital raising to fund the internalisation of management of the healthcare properties entity.

It was Vital’s largest ever capital raising.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust is the only specialist owner of healthcare property listed on the NZX. It is managed by its internalised healthcare property manager, Vital Healthcare Properties Management.

The purchase plan was offered to Vital’s retail investors in New Zealand.

The move from an external management model to internalised management was designed to deliver greater and more sustainable returns to unit holders. The offer was strongly supported by existing and new investors.

The award-winning client and adviser transaction was nominated by the industry and determined by an expert judging panel.

The judging criteria included the extent to which the transaction met the needs of the client and investors and the extent to which it developed capital markets.

Judges said the winning transaction was significant in that it funded an internalisation of management, leading to an enhanced corporate governance framework which should offer greater transparency and reporting benefits to investors.

“The offer introduced new domestic and offshore institutions to the register and nearly all existing unit holders could participate; it was notable for the clarity of communication in offer documents.”

Craigs Investment Partners chief executive corporate and institutional Justin Queale said the equity raise funded the internalisation of the management contract which represented a key next step in Vital’s evolution, strengthening the governance and providing a scalable platform positioned to capture the full benefit of future growth for unit holders.

“The transaction was executed over an accelerated timetable, requiring simultaneous delivery of internalisation due diligence and negotiation alongside preparation of $235m equity raise – Vital’s largest ever capital raising,” he said.

“This was achieved while navigating challenging market conditions.”

Winner: Contact Energy’s $2.6 billion acquisition of Manawa Energy

Transacting entity: Contact Energy

Joint Lead Financial Advisers: Cameron Partners, UBS

Independent ECM adviser: Rothschild & Co

The $2.6b enterprise value takeover of electricity generator Manawa Energy by one of New Zealand’s big four gentailers, Contact Energy, is thought to be the largest public scrip-based, peer-to-peer transaction in New Zealand history.

The acquisition created the country’s second-largest renewable energy generator and was achieved under heavy Commerce Commission scrutiny and during major energy market volatility.

Award judges noted the transaction utilised a $900m underwritten bridge loan to ensure strict confidentiality and funding certainty.

Cameron Partners adviser Murdo Beattie said there were “a lot of moving parts” to the transaction agreement, which required significant capital raising and getting and maintaining shareholder support on both sides.

Adding to the flavour, the negotiating parties were all “sophisticated”, including listed infrastructure investor Infratil which owned 51% of Manawa, and the Manawa Consumer Trust, he said.

“And we had a reasonably sophisticated Commerce Commission process. At first glance it might have looked difficult (the proposal) but we were confident …. the Commerce Commission has to apply the law and we were comfortable that as the law required, we were not creating a substantial lessening of competition …”

The regulator initially expressed reservations about the takeover and the ability the two would have to influence wholesale power prices and electricity supplies to other power retailers.

At the time of the acquisition, between Contact and Manawa, spread across New Zealand there were 27 hydro generation stations, seven geothermal stations, four thermal stations, one grid-scale battery under development, and one solar farm under development. Together, they also had a significant pipeline of future renewable energy generation.

Contact, a full power generator and retailer (gentailer), is one of New Zealand’s top four power entities, while Manawa, the generating business left over when Trustpower sold off its retail operation, was a distant fifth.

Beattie said the board of directors of both Contact and Manawa deserved credit for pushing ahead with the deal when both were performing.

“Both boards had the courage to give weight to the analysis and agree that the combination created a better outcome for both sets of shareholders and pressed on with it. Senior management too – for them it’s risky as well.

“I think the results of the transaction and the share price reaction demonstrates they were absolutely right to do that. But it’s not easy to step out and take those risks and pay whatever the premium was.”

The weather at the time, which sent spot electricity prices sky-high, was also a challenge.

“So it wasn’t the most favourable environment. What people don’t realise, of course, is that when energy prices are high, usually the retail businesses are losing money,” Beattie said.

“Manawa had a hiccup in the run-up to the announcement where they had a bad debt and had to downgrade their guidance for the year ahead … so there was all of that and the debate about whether that went to the price or whether it was just a single one-off incident. All that’s alarming.”

The award winners were nominated by the industry and determined by an expert judging panel.

Judging criteria included the success of the transaction in meeting the strategic and financial goals established by the corporate concerned.

Winner: Merger of Forest360 and PF Olsen, supported by Adamantem Capital

Financial adviser: KPMG

This merger created the largest independent forest management company in Australasia.

As part of the transaction, forest managers PF Olsen and Forest360 brought on private investor Adamantem Capital as an investment partner, alongside PF Olsen cornerstone shareholder Quayside Holdings, to support the new group’s next stage of growth.

The group now manages around 480,000ha of forest and supports more than 1000 clients, from major institutional investors to family-run businesses and private landowners.

Expert panel judges noted the winning transaction involved a merger of two independent entities and shareholder bases across two geographic jurisdictions and regulatory approval frameworks.

“It also had the added deal complexity (and benefit) of a post-merger, third-party recapitalisation of the new merged entity.

“This enabled a flexible payment consideration allowing non-operating/long-term shareholders to fully crystalise their investment and the option to reinvest into the merged platform.”

Conditions for the award, which recognised both the transacting entity and lead financial adviser involved, demanded the target or acquiror had a capitalisation of less than $250m.

Judging criteria included the success of the transaction in meeting the strategic and financial goals established by the corporate, the complexity of the transaction and challenges overcome.

Winner: Taxi – business funding financial services platform

An offshoot of tax pooling provider Tax Traders, the fintech Taxi claims to offer Kiwi businesses easy access to working capital at about half the rate of a “big bank” overdraft.

The expert judging panel said while elements of tax pooling had existed previously, it recognised Taxi’s achievement in productising, democratising and scaling what had historically been complex, bespoke arrangements.

“This required significant legal structuring, regulatory engagement and system design, resulting in a solution that is now readily accessible to a broad SME base.”

The award recognises and acknowledges an organisation from within the Infinz ecosystem which has introduced new or enhanced services that have created value for customers and the wider economy, such as a positive customer, market, economic and/or social outcome.

Winner: Community Housing Funding Agency, inaugural offer of NZ$200m social bonds

Issuer: Community Housing Funding Agency

Adviser: Intemark

Arranger, Lead Manager, Sustainability co-ordinator: ANZ

The successful pricing of the inaugural $200m Social Bond issued by the Community Housing Funding Agency in September last year was seen as a landmark move for New Zealand’s housing sector.

Lead manager ANZ New Zealand said at the time it represented a major step forward in addressing the country’s critical shortage of affordable and social housing, with over 19,000 households then on the public housing waitlist and an estimated capital need of $13 billion.

The agency was established in 2024 as a funding vehicle to channel wholesale capital into the community housing sector.

It has an A+ credit rating from S&P Global Ratings and access to a Crown Standby Facility of up to $150m.

Launched by Community Finance, the agency provides investors with the opportunity to acquire social bonds that are invested domestically, to support community and affordable housing providers.

The Infinz award recognised the bank/adviser and issuer of the best New Zealand debt issue of the year as nominated by the industry and determined by an expert judging panel.

The judging criteria included the extent to which the issue meets the needs of both the issuer and the investors, and the extent to which it develops capital markets.

The judges said they were impressed with the establishment of a “highly innovative” new institutional asset class.

“Key innovations include it being the first social bond offer in New Zealand by a domestic issuer and the purpose-built funding agency structure giving investors mortgage-backed security and an A+ rating from S&P without a direct government guarantee,” they said.

“By lowering the funding costs of each delivered social housing unit by circa $100,000 over 25 years, it will enable close to 20% more social housing units per dollar of Crown funding.”

The Community Housing Funding Agency was established to bring New Zealand into line with international peers by providing a bond aggregator to raise funds at scale and lower cost for the affordable housing sector.

It is a “single issuer” of bonds into debt capital markets to aggregate the borrowing needs of community housing providers and other eligible borrowers supporting affordable housing.

To support its lending programme the agency sources funds from a diverse range of partners, including debt capital markets, banks, philanthropic investors, and the Crown.

Winner: Rebecca Kingi

Judges said the independent human rights legal specialist had impressed with her leadership, innovation and impact.

Kingi is an independent legal specialist on human trafficking and is the ESG initiatives lead at ANZ.

“She has rapidly elevated ANZ’s modern slavery response - embedding human rights within its ESG strategy, establishing a New Zealand modern slavery working group and designing a New Zealand-specific modern slavery risk identification and escalation process that has already enabled timely interventions,” judges said.

Kingi was also one of three individuals invited to draft cross-party modern slavery legislation.

The award, determined by an expert judging panel, recognises an Infinz member under 40 years of age with at least five years’ work experience.

It recognises individuals who exemplify outstanding leadership through their values and actions, demonstrating a clear vision and integrity in their role.

Winner: Harmony Energy

280GWh Tauhei Solar Farm: Senior debt facilities

Sponsor, developer: Harmony Energy

Sponsor: First Renewables

Financial adviser, lender, issuing bank and facility agent: MUFG (Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group)

Lender, hedging bank and issuing bank: BNZ

Lenders and hedging banks: ANZ, ASB

The syndicated debt facility of around $250m formed the backing for construction and development of a 202MW solar farm in the Waikato, a joint venture between Harmony Energy and First Renewables.

The farm, with the potential to power 35,000 homes, will be the country’s largest operating solar farm, covering 182ha. Commissioning of the site near Te Aroha is expected later this year.

Established in 2019, Harmony is the dedicated New Zealand business arm of UK-founded Harmony Energy.

The award recognised both the client and the banking manager/underwriters involved in a project with precedent-setting lender support.

Judging criteria included the degree to which the client’s objectives were met, the complexity of the deal, innovation and the importance of the transaction to the wider economy and society.

Judges said the project finance transaction was particularly notable due to its scale and the independence of the project’s sponsors and the project off-taker.

The deal also involved bringing a large offshore solar specialist contractor into the New Zealand market to establish operations.

“The complexity required precedent-setting support from the lenders and helped to deepen renewable energy project finance capability in New Zealand,” judges said.

Harmony Energy, which develops, builds, owns and operates renewable energy infrastructure projects across New Zealand on a utility-scale, said as well as the Tauhei farm, its projects include 200MW at ready-to-build stage, 700MW of solar generation under development and 1000MWh of energy storage under development.

Winner: Totara Learning Solutions: debt facilities

Borrower: Totara Learning

Sponsor: Tenzing Private Equity

Lender: BNZ

The expert judging panel was impressed that the funder backed the New Zealand tech sector by taking on more risk and offering Totara better lending terms.

This had allowed the workplace learning technology provider to access funding in New Zealand instead of relying on overseas investors.

The award was established to recognise all debt transactions between $10m and $100m other than bond issues.

Judging criteria includes the degree to which the client’s objectives were met, the complexity of the deal, innovation, and the importance of the transaction to the wider economy and its impact on society.

Winner: Jamie Tuuta

Winner: Michael Pohio

Kahukura comes from a Māori whakatauki – “Ma te kahukura, ka rere te manu”. The saying means “Adorn the bird with feathers so that it may fly”. The kahukura are the feathers.

The saying is used to describe those who have achieved great things (the feathers) and, because of that, they are flying.

The award, determined by an expert judging panel, acknowledges an individual Māori finance professional who has contributed to the successful economic development of Māori and to the wider community.

Jamie Tuuta

Judges said Tuuta had made an outstanding contribution to Māori finance and business as a chief executive and a governor over a long period. He had been active in many sectors including fisheries, tourism, farming, housing and investment in collectives.

They noted his diversity of experience, leadership qualities and mentoring of emerging Māori leaders and his record of growing successful enterprises through improving their finance performance.

Michael Pohio

Judges said Pohio had an outstanding reputation in Māori finance and business, holding leadership positions in Tainui Group Holdings, the commercial development arm of Waikato-Tainui, and Ngāi Tahu Holdings, along with other Māori entities.

They noted Pohio’s success in materially growing Māori businesses by improving their capital management and financial performance.

“He has a respected track record of transforming existing businesses.”

Two distinguished fellowships were awarded in 2026 in recognition of career success and for contributions to the financial services sector.

Alison Gerry was recognised as an outstanding leader in New Zealand governance and finance while Mark Butcher was recognised as a highly respected leader in the financial markets sector.

The service of both had been previously recognised by Infinz fellowships.

Gerry chairs listed infrastructure investor Infratil and is a director on the boards of ANZ New Zealand, Air New Zealand and Sharesies Australia. Her governance career has included roles with NZX, Kiwibank and TVNZ.

Infinz said that beyond the boardroom Gerry had significantly contributed to mentoring and supporting women in business through speaking, advocacy and as co-founder of On Being Bold. She is also a former Infinz awards judge and has mentored emerging leaders.

Butcher is chief executive of the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency, a role he’s held for more than 11 years.

He is a former Auckland Council treasurer and general manager of AllianceBernstein NZ.

Butcher’s contribution to the industry includes serving on the board of the New Zealand Financial Markets Association and previously chairing its debt capital markets committee.

He chairs Waikato Tainui Group’s investment committee and formerly chaired the New Plymouth PIF Guardians. He has served two terms on the Infinz board, contributing to industry advocacy and events, and is an Infinz awards judge.

Winner: Sophie Moloney, chief executive Sky New Zealand

Judges praised Moloney for Sky’s operational and strategic recovery in a structurally difficult sector, noting the listed broadcaster’s “exceptional” total shareholder return performance and significant structural transformation.

When added to these achievements, the company’s financial resilience had positioned Moloney as a “standout performer” relative to her peers.

Moloney, who was described as “measured, understated and values-led” and achieving high staff engagement despite operational pressure, responds that one of Sky’s values is “be yourself”.

It’s a value she says she lives out, every day, “understanding that if we can be ourselves and feel like we belong, we will be at our most present and productive at work (and at home)”.

The award reflected the work of her “incredible” Sky team, while her team at home cheered her on and provided feedback in equal measure.

On achieving high staff engagement, Moloney said even the best strategy in the world only succeeds if a team was connected and “believed in what you’re trying to achieve together”.

“We’ve now had three consecutive years of improved engagement while navigating a huge amount of organisational change which really speaks to the collective effort across our teams.

“And there’s still more to do as we continue building the best Sky possible.”

Judges noted that while Sky’s earnings had softened in the most recent year, the combination of disciplined execution, improving shareholder returns and strategic repositioning reflected financial progress under Moloney’s leadership.

On highlights of the pay-TV provider’s recovery from its struggling days five years ago, Moloney said securing major long-term sports rights on terms that made commercial sense had been “a huge one for us”.

These included renewing a partnership with NZ Rugby, bringing back New Zealand cricket home internationals, and securing the exclusive rights to the Olympic Games until Brisbane 2032.

The acquisition of Discovery NZ was another, and bringing television channels Three and ThreeNow into the Sky portfolio was “a real gamechanger”.

She said the challenges she faced as CEO in steering the recovery were shared by many in the sector and wider economy as it navigated ongoing cost-of-living issues and geopolitical headwinds.

“Leading the business through the rise of Spark Sport was a defining period for us and, on many metrics, it wasn’t a battle we were expected to win.

“We did so by staying focused on what mattered to our customers, while also making disciplined decisions across the business to support the consequential rights-cost inflation.

“We were thrown a different kind of curve ball during our satellite migration project, when the information ‘in space’ didn’t match what we were seeing and hearing ‘on the ground’.

“It was a highly dynamic time but also an incredible opportunity to galvanise the team, who showed extraordinary discretionary effort throughout. I’m also grateful for a hugely supportive board and chairman.”

More recently, and like other local players, the company was competing with global giants in an increasingly crowded market.

In the face of this challenge, Moloney said Sky NZ was working hard to differentiate itself and highlight what makes the company unique.

The leadership award, assessed by an expert judging panel, focused not only on key financial performance metrics, but also on critical elements that delivered sustained performance over time, said Infinz.

The winner must demonstrate strategic, sustainable leadership along with a measurable shift in market, direction or future of the business, as proven by top-line growth, market position and total shareholder return.

Their company must be listed on the NZX and have a minimum market capitalisation of $400m. The CEO must have been in their job for at least five years and live in New Zealand.