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Panelist biographies

Chair: Kelly Sims, Senior Investment Director, Austrade, San Francisco, USA
Kelly Sims is the Australian Trade Commission’s (Austrade’s) Senior Investment Director for San Francisco. She coordinates Austrade’s investment attraction strategy across the United States, and also provides strategic and operational input throughout the Americas.

Kelly has specific responsibility for West Coast-based US investors and companies which have a strong focus on technology, including cleantech, IT, and life sciences. Her experience also includes assisting financial services firms and fund managers to invest in Australia, and Fortune 500 companies already based in Australia, to investigate new investment opportunities in R&D, manufacturing, strategic operations, and services.

Kelly holds an Honours Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Wollongong and a Masters of Management in Industry Strategy from the Australian National University.

Paul Ho, Managing Director, Hudson Clean Energy Partners
Paul Ho joined Hudson in September 2008 as a Principal, specializing in biofuels, biomass, geothermal and other renewable energy sectors. Mr. Ho has over 14 years of experience in the energy sector, including a focus on renewable energy, and particularly on alternative fuels, since 2005. Mr. Ho joined Hudson from Credit Suisse in New York, where he was Director in the Alternative Energy Group overseeing the firm’s banking efforts in alternative fuels on a global basis. At Credit Suisse, Mr. Ho led many defining transactions in the biofuels space, including the first biofuels capital markets financing, the first large-scale biofuels M&A deal, the largest biofuels IPO globally and the first large-scale acquisition of a biofuels company by a strategic player, among others. Mr. Ho also covered other alternative energy clients including companies in biomass, waste-to-energy, coal-to-liquids, coal gasification, wind, wind equipment manufacturing and hydro. In addition, Mr. Ho worked closely with many leading private equity outfits in connection with their clean energy investments.

Prior to his renewable energy focus, Mr. Ho had extensive experience in energy sector bond and bank financings, equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and advisory assignments spanning five continents, with aggregate transaction value in excess of $50 Billion. Mr. Ho began his career at Credit Suisse First Boston in 1994 in the Global Energy Group, specializing in energy sector project financings. Prior to rejoining Credit Suisse in 2004, he worked in Goldman Sachs’ Energy Group (1999 - 2001), where he was involved in large-scale project financings for multi-national energy companies; at Luminus Management (2001 - 2002), a power sector-focused hedge fund; and at WestLB (2002 - 2004), where he focused on energy sector merchant and corporate banking opportunities.

Mr. Ho received his BA with distinction in Economics and Statistics from the University of Chicago.

Walter Vester, Principal, Blackstone Cleantech Ventures
Walter Vester is a Principal of Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners and is based in New York. Before joining Blackstone in 2008, Mr. Vester worked most recently as a member of the venture capital team at Alliance Bernstein L.P. While at Alliance Bernstein, he was involved in the firm’s investments in A123Systems, Artificial Muscle and Powerspan. He has fourteen years of investment and operating experience in the energy and technology sectors. He was also a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Vester received a BS in Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MS in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Lunt, Executive Manager - Investments, VicSuper, Australia

Peter Lunt is currently Executive Manager Investments at VicSuper, where he holds overall responsibility for investing the assets of VicSuper Fund. In addition, Peter is VicSuper’s nominee Director on the Board of Regnan Governance Research & Engagement Pty Ltd, a company part-owned by VicSuper. He joined VicSuper in 2005 as Manager Sustainability Investments with particular responsibilities in governance and sustainability across the investment portfolio, with an emphasis on alternative asset classes.

In these roles, Peter seeks to integrate analysis of environmental, social and risks and opportunities into VicSuper Fund investments, providing for the retirement incomes of VicSuper Fund members. This includes incorporation of ESG considerations in the selection of external investment managers.

Prior to joining VicSuper, Peter was senior research analyst with the Sustainable Investment Research Institute (SIRIS). In this role, Peter held responsibility for researching sustainability aspects of certain sectors and companies with the ASX200, business development and consulting. Prior to SIRIS, Peter worked as a professional forester with various plantation managers in Victoria and New South Wales, with a focus on resource modeling and sustainable forest management.

Peter holds a combined Bachelor of Science (Forestry) / Bachelor of Economics, a Masters of Environment, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investments and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.