#274 ‘Connecting Capital with Community’, Samuel Richards, Managing Director at Brightlight Impact

This special live episode of Purposely Podcast was recorded in Auckland at a Place-Based Impact Investing event co-hosted by Brightlight and Trust Investments.

Samuel Richards, Managing Director at Brightlight, joins me to discuss how purpose and investment can come together to deliver better outcomes for people and places. He talks about Brightlight’s journey, how it began, the challenges along the way, and what it takes to build an organisation that’s both commercially strong and values-driven.

A central theme of the conversation is the Te Puna Hapori Community Infrastructure Strategy - Te Puna Hapori meaning “spring of wellbeing.” The strategy aims to help create safe, warm and healthy communities where people can live, learn and thrive. It focuses on the types of essential community assets — social, educational and health infrastructure — that are often underinvested in across regional Aotearoa New Zealand.

Developed through a partnership between Trust Waikato and Brightlight, Te Puna Hapori seeks to unlock opportunities for wellbeing and resilience through targeted investment. The approach allows capital to flow into projects that deliver tangible, long-term benefits for communities, with investment options available through both fund and bond structures.

Samuel is joined by:

• Dennis Turton, CEO of Trust Waikato

• Simba Marekera, Head of Global Private Assets, Brightlight

• Tim Symons, Brightlight NZ

Together, they explore how global impact investing ideas can take root in Aotearoa, New Zealand and how capital, partnerships and community can work together to achieve meaningful, lasting outcomes.