Show Notes
Bill Murphy, founder of Purpose Capital, shares impact investing, degrowth, and climate investing in this conversation about renewable energy, sustainable finance, and ethical investing in New Zealand."We either start it or it's going to happen to us. And the way we're going, most likely it's going to happen to us."
From a working class Irish Catholic family in Boston to building one of New Zealand's most influential impact investment funds, Bill Murphy's story is one of spiritual searching, commercial pragmatism, and a deep belief that the way we invest has to change.
In this conversation, Bill shares his journey from hitchhiking to California in search of a guru, to qualifying as a chartered accountant in Tauranga, to pioneering angel investing in New Zealand, and finally to launching Purpose Capital to drive systemic environmental and social change. He explains why his fund only invested in 7 of the 700 businesses it reviewed, what it really takes to balance impact with financial discipline, and why he believes New Zealand and the rest of the developed world need to seriously consider degrowth.
About Bill Murphy
Bill is the Founding Director of Purpose Capital Limited. In addition, Bill sits on the board of the General Partner and on the Investment Committee.Bill founded Purpose Capital in 2019 to use the power of investment to drive social and environmental change and demonstrate a new way to make money work. At $22 million, Purpose Capital Impact Fund 1 is New Zealand's largest private sector impact investment fund. Purpose Capital is now deploying its second fund, with a primary focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and distributed energy across Aotearoa.Prior to Purpose Capital, Bill founded Enterprise Angels, a unique Fund Management / early-stage business investment model comprised of 4 Funds and investments of $75 million in over 140 companies.
Bill holds a BSc in Accounting / Finance and is qualified as a US and NZ accountant (CPA / CA), working half his career as a public accountant, CFO and company manager then in more recent years in investment, finance and governance. A pioneer driven to 'make a difference,' impact investing was a natural progression for Bill.
In this episode we discuss:
- Why the current economic model is failing both people and the planet - How a Boston cop's son ended up reshaping how New Zealand invests - What it took to pioneer angel investing in a country that had none - Why Purpose Capital reviewed 700 businesses and only invested in 7 - How impact investing can deliver both environmental change and market rate returns - The challenge of pushing companies on impact while protecting financial survival - What degrowth really means and why New Zealand cannot opt out - His personal values of integrity, compassion, and sharing wisdom
Timestamps (0:00) Why our economic model is failing (1:28) Meet Bill Murphy, founder of Purpose Capital (2:21) Growing up Irish Catholic in Boston (4:48) Hitchhiking to California to find a guru (6:55) How the assassinations shaped a generation (8:52) Why he moved to New Zealand (10:37) From spiritual seeker to chartered accountant (13:00) How Enterprise Angels was born (19:05) Stepping away to build Purpose Capital (22:26) Why only 7 out of 700 made the cut (38:17) What degrowth means for New Zealand (48:09) Why pushing against the system isn't enough
Learn more about Bill and his work - Purpose Capital: https://purposecapital.co.nz/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billfmurphy/
Learn more about Azoora and her work - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azooraali/ - Website: https://www.accountingandtax.co.nz/
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#Degrowth #ClimateInvesting #SustainableFinance #PurposeDriven #Leadership #CareBeyondProfits
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