Banking experience paved the way

Kevin McLoughlin is helping Tauhara North No 2 Trust achieve its goals. Photo / Supplied

Kevin McLoughlin wandered in the door of the ANZ in Hamilton part-way through his university studies and walked out with a job that launched a career.

His almost three decades' banking experience laid the foundation for his current role heading up the commercial arm of New Zealand's fifth-largest Maori business.

For the past eight years Mr McLoughlin has been chief executive of Ringa Matau, the commercial arm of Tauhara North No 2 Trust. The trust, which owns land blocks containing the world's foremost geothermal reservoir, had total assets of $317.8 million and revenues of $51.37 million in the year to June 2015. The trust won The Hits Community Organisation category at the recent Westpac Rotorua Business Awards.

Ringa Matau is the commercial entity that manages the trust's assets and investments, with a goal of ensuring it can sustain control of its destiny. The charitable arm of the trust provides support in the areas of health, wellbeing and education to its owners and their descendants. The trust represents land owners of Ngati Tahu and Ngati Whaoa descent.

"Kevin has brought his passion to the organisation from a commercial perspective in terms of the trust reaching its goals," said trust chief executive Aroha Campbell.

Mr McLoughlin was born and brought up in Gisborne, where his parents still live. He was part-way through a bachelor of management studies when the chance inquiry at the ANZ in 1980 saw him recruited into a role that gave him a thorough grounding in all aspects of international trade finance.

He spent the next eight years in various positions at ANZ, ending up in a lending role in New Plymouth. He was then headhunted by National Australia Bank as a commercial manager in Hamilton. In 1995, NAB took over Bank of New Zealand, but decided to trade under the BNZ brand in New Zealand, so Mr McLoughlin found himself now working for BNZ. He moved into agribusiness banking, where he had his first exposure to Rotorua, serving a term there. He was then promoted to a senior agribusiness manager role in New Plymouth.

In all, he spent almost two decades at NAB/BNZ.

"It was a fruitful career and I enjoyed my time in banking, especially working in agribusiness," he said.

However, a consultant he had known from his university days got in touch about a possible new job opening. The consultant was involved in negotiating the joint venture arrangements with Mighty River Power on the 140 MW Nga Awa Purua geothermal station. The consultant's role included helping find someone to head up the trust's commercial operations.

"He told me he was looking for someone with banking skills, financial skills, governance skills, farming skills and electricity skills," he said.

Mr McLoughlin's banking career had equipped him with almost all the requirements and he quickly educated himself on the energy sector.

He came on board as chief executive of Ringa Matau in 2007 when the trust board had finalised its negotiations and was commencing the build of Nga Awa Purua, which was commissioned in 2010. Mighty River already operated the smaller Rotokawa geothermal power station in a joint venture with the trust.

When Mr McLoughlin joined, he was "a team of one", but now has seven staff members working with him in the commercial arm. The trust's commercial assets include a 900ha farm at Te Whaiti, which has been converted from sheep and beef to dairy with 1200 cows being milked.

"We have made a diversification play, but it is still a relatively small part of the total portfolio," he said. "We see dairy as having longterm sustainability. There is a growing world demand for protein, and we are continuing to look for opportunities to buy."

As well as overseeing all of the trust's commercial affairs, he also serves as treasurer of the New Zealand Geothermal Association, an industry advocacy and support group.

Married to Val, with two grown up children, Mr McLoughlin is a keen tennis player who competes regularly at interclub level and is a "social" mountain biker.