Pathfinder Asset Management
Pathfinder Asset Management is an Auckland-based ethical fund manager whose flagship Global Water Fund invests only in listed water companies worldwide. A certified B Corp, it screens for water utilities, filtration, monitoring technology, and the makers of pumps, pipes and irrigation equipment. As of 2026 its Global Water Fund has run since 2010.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Pathfinder Asset Management is the rare fund manager that will not touch a bottled-water company yet builds an entire fund around water. Run from Auckland by co-founders John Berry and Paul Brownsey, Pathfinder became New Zealand's first B Corp fund manager and the first provider in the country's KiwiSaver retirement-savings scheme to commit to net zero, and its Global Water Fund has invested in water as a global theme since 2010.
The Global Water Fund is Pathfinder's purest expression of that idea: a portfolio of listed water companies spanning utilities, filtration, monitoring technology, and the unglamorous makers of pumps, pipes and irrigation equipment. Rather than chase private start-ups, Pathfinder buys the public-market companies that already keep water moving and clean, then layers its ethical screens on top, excluding gambling, tobacco, thermal coal and, pointedly, bottled water.
Pathfinder surfaces just once in my Leviathan database, which tracks water financings deal by deal, around the ASX-listed water-treatment company De.mem, one water company across two tracked deals. That earns it a One-Off water rating here, and it is the honest read: Pathfinder's water conviction lives in a basket of public equities, not a stack of venture cheques. For an impact-curious investor that is the point, you can buy the theme without having to pick a single start-up.
As of May 2025, Pathfinder sharpened that investment engine by appointing David Lewis as Chief Investment Officer across both Pathfinder and its sibling firm Alvarium, bringing 25 years across Milford Asset Management and Bank of America plus a Cambridge master's in sustainable leadership. For a house whose whole pitch is that you can do good and still compound returns, hiring a career investor to run the money is the tell worth watching.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Pathfinder Asset Management invest in?
- Pathfinder Asset Management is an Auckland ethical fund manager. Its flagship Global Water Fund invests in listed water companies worldwide, across water utilities, filtration and monitoring technology, and the makers of pumps, pipes and irrigation equipment, while screening out activities such as gambling, tobacco, thermal coal and bottled water.
- Is Pathfinder Asset Management a water-only fund?
- No. Pathfinder Asset Management runs several ethical funds across KiwiSaver and managed funds, of which the Global Water Fund is the dedicated water strategy. Water is one clearly expressed theme inside a broader responsible-investing house, not the firm's only mandate.
- Who runs Pathfinder Asset Management?
- Pathfinder Asset Management was co-founded in 2009 by John Berry, its CEO, and Paul Brownsey, and is based in Auckland, New Zealand. As of May 2025, David Lewis serves as Chief Investment Officer across Pathfinder and its sibling firm Alvarium.
- Is this Pathfinder Asset Management the same as the Canadian one?
- No. This Pathfinder Asset Management is the Auckland, New Zealand ethical fund manager behind the Global Water Fund, founded by John Berry. A separate, unrelated Pathfinder Asset Management works as a wealth manager in Vancouver, Canada. The two firms share a name only.
- How many water companies has Pathfinder Asset Management backed?
- In Leviathan's deal data, Pathfinder Asset Management surfaces around one water company, the ASX-listed treatment specialist De.mem, across two tracked deals, which earns a One-Off water rating. Its broader water exposure sits in the listed holdings of the Global Water Fund rather than private rounds.