Board of Directors
Helen Mahy (Chairwoman)
Helen brings a depth of knowledge in relation to the energy sector to the Company. She recently retired as Chairwoman of The Renewables Infrastructure Group and has valuable experience in investor and stakeholder engagement from that role and others.
Josephine Bush
Josephine is a Non-Executive Director with over 14 years’ experience specialising in the renewable energy sector.
Jo Peacegood
Jo is a Non-Executive Director with over 20 years of experience in the Investment Management sector including Listed Funds, Alternative Funds, Third Party Service Providers and Asset Managers.
Paul Le Page
Paul has over 24 years’ experience in investment and risk management, he was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company on 3 October 2023.
At the heart of NextEnergy Solar Fund is a highly experienced Board of Directors
NextEnergy Solar Fund is an investment company and therefore the Company has no employees.
The Company’s Board of Directors is made up of Five individuals who are all non-executive and independent.
The independent Board is responsible to shareholders for the overall management of the Company, including strategy and strategic aims, corporate governance, risk management and financial reporting.
The day-to-day activities, including investment management and administration, are outsourced to external service providers.
The Investment Manager, Investment Adviser and Administrator are responsible for implementing the Company’s strategy and managing the Company’s day-to-day activities and operations. The Company’s success is based on such implementation and management being effective.
The Board leads and provides direction for the Investment Manager, Investment Adviser and Administrator by setting the Company’s strategic objectives within a robust framework of risk management and internal controls.
The Board oversees the execution of the Company’s strategy and implementation of its key investment, financial, operational and compliance policies, enabling it to scrutinise robustly and challenge constructively the performance of the Investment Manager, Investment Adviser and Administrator.
Risk Management
The Board recognises that effective risk management is important to the Company’s long-term sustainable success.
Approach to Managing Risk
Our risk management process is designed to identify, evaluate, manage and mitigate (rather than eliminate) the significant risks the fund faces. The process can therefore only provide reasonable, and not absolute, assurance.
The Audit Committee formally reviews, on the Board’s behalf, the effectiveness of our risk management and internal control systems bi-annually. During the course of these reviews, the Audit Committee has not identified or been advised of any material failings or weaknesses that it has determined to be material.
Risk Appetite
The Board is ultimately responsible for defining the level and type of risk that the Company considers appropriate, ensuring it remains in line with the Company’s investment objective and Investment Policy that sets out the key components of its risk appetite.
The Company’s risk appetite is considered in light of the emerging and principal risks that the Company faces, including having regard to, amongst other things, the level of exposure to power prices, gearing and financing risk and solar resource risk.
Emerging and Principal Risks
Details of the emerging and principal risks we face that have the potential to materially affect our business are set out in the Company’s annual report (p55-57). There are some risks that we currently regard as less material and, therefore, they have not been included in the report, but they may become material in the future. Additionally, other risks may be unknown to us at present.
