The scheme's owner, the regional council-owned Hawke's Bay Regional Investment Company (HBRIC) has come under fire for being vague about the project after moving deadlines — finance was due to be confirmed in November but farmers are still being signed up and a major investor unannounced.
Investors Trustpower and Ngai Tahu pulled out of the project nearly two years ago.
After lengthy litigation brought by dam opponents, consents for the scheme were confirmed in July last year and a construction contract was reportedly ready to go.
Mr Whineray told Hawke's Bay Today he mentioned ACC because it was one of the few other New Zealand parties likely to be interested in such a long-term infrastructure asset investment.
ACC said it was unable to comment on any projects it may be looking into.
HBRIC chief executive Andrew Newman did not respond to a request for comment.
The fund is colloquially known as the Cullen Fund after it was set up by Michael Cullen in 2001, who was then Labour's minister of finance.
With almost $30 billion under management, its purpose was to help finance the cost of pensions for New Zealand's ageing population. The number of New Zealanders aged 65 and over is expected to pass one million by 2020. It was awarded the Excellence in Governance Award at the Deloitte Top 200 business awards in November, with judges unanimously saying the fund's governance was "exceptional".
In his Craggy Range speech, Mr Whineray said the Kaingaroa Forest was the fund's best-performing asset.
It is largest planted forest in the Southern Hemisphere, at 2900sq km, it stretches from Lake Taupo to Kawerau.
He said investment was an inexact science and spoke of the "adjacent possible" — doors that may open to game-changing innovation.
"You cannot begin to know where serendipity may lead you — you need to create as many unplanned collisions between random ideas/events as you can."
