Congratulations to our successful candidate Christopher Smith, who has been named EVP, Chief Financial Officer, and member of the Management Committee of Greenbacker. He joins a dedicated team of energy transition investment experts driving Greenbacker’s continued growth and success, and furthering their mission to empower a sustainable world. We are grateful to have been a part of the search process and to play a small part in supporting the firm’s important aims.
Smith is a seasoned CFO and leader, who brings over 20 years of accounting and finance experience within the energy sector to Greenbacker. Over the course of his career, he served as Partner and CFO at SER Capital Partners, a private equity firm focusing on sustainability. Under his tenure, the firm successfully closed on over $500 million in capital commitments, directing investments into critical areas of the energy transition, including battery storage and energy efficiency. Smith led Sunnova Energy, Inc. through its initial public offering (“IPO”) in 2019, as the company’s interim CFO & Treasurer. As Managing Director & Treasurer at Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure, he spearheaded the firm’s financial strategy and closed numerous bank and capital market transactions. He began his career in energy and infrastructure finance with Enron, Constellation Energy, and Merrill Lynch and was subsequently CFO of Boston-based Energy Management, Inc. (working with founder Jim Gordon on the Cape Wind project). Smith earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Alabama, an MBA from Harvard University, and he is a Chartered Financial Analyst.