Business builder Lowenstein joins Kava

Fiji Kava Ltd, Australian-Fijian Australian Securities Exchange listed company, has appointed Jack Lowenstein as a non-executive director. Mr Lowenstein is an experienced business builder and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed company director, who also has a long corporate history in Fiji.

He was the co-founder of the country’s first investment bank, Kontiki Capital Ltd.

Kontiki Capital is the manager of the Kinetic Growth Fund, which was a pre-IPO investor in Fiji Kava as well as at the IPO and in subsequent capital raisings. Mr Lowenstein is a director and shareholder in Kinetic and has invested in Fiji Kava both pre and post IPO.

Fiji Kava

Fiji Kava chair Andrew Kelly said: “As we continue our journey as a listed company, it’s important that we add to the strength of our board to ensure Fiji Kava realises its investment potential.

“Mr Lowenstein brings extensive experience and the contacts in investment, finance and business growth that we will need as a listed company in the future.”

Ground breaking

Mr Lowenstein said: “I look forward to joining Fiji Kava to help build on the ground breaking work that has already been done by the board and executive team to build a truly vertical supply chain and deep distribution channels into the likes of Australian giant Coles and other retailers.

“Fiji Kava can truly claim its ethical credentials by bringing much needed wealth to rural Fiji and the Fijian economy as a whole, while giving the western consumer a natural solution to the benzodiazepine crisis that is rocking the world.

“As a kava consumer myself, I see a terrific opportunity to do global distribution deals, open up new markets, build a robust ingredients and branded business and pioneer new product development.” Mr Lowenstein is currently a director of ASX listed Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Ltd, which is managed by Morphic Asset Management, which he co-founded in 2012.

Morphic Asset Management was acquired by Ellerston Capital in 2019.

Prior to establishing Morphic, Mr Lowenstein spent 14 years with global stock investor Hunter Hall International, where he rose to become deputy chairman of the ASX listed parent company and a director of Hunter Hall Global Value Ltd.

His career as a non-executive director began in 1997 when he joined the board of the iconic, but troubled ASX listed window furnishings company Kresta.

Trailblazer

When he left seven years later, the company’s share price was seven times higher, the company was debt free and earning operating profits of around $10m (FJ$15.27 million) a year.

In 1999, he joined the board of the embattled ASX listed global reinsurance company ReAC.

With the help of intense oversight from the rejuvenated board, ReAC managed to preserve and rebuild by settling substantially all the liabilities of the company. This in turn allowed for the company to gain Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) approval to relaunch itself as a specialist general insurance company, renamed as Calliden.

In 2015, Calliden received a joint takeover bid from Munich Re and Australian listed insurance broker Steadfast.