SPOTLIGHT SERIES: KEVIN HALEY

Foss & Company is comprised of a group of experienced tax credit professionals, representing a depth of knowledge within their respective fields. In this blog series, we highlight different Foss & Company team members to shine a light on the diverse and dedicated people that help make us who we are.

Kevin Haley has rejoined Foss & Company as Senior Vice President of Investments, after serving as a founding member of a transferable tax credit marketplace startup company. He brings substantial expertise on both tax equity and transferable tax credit transactions and supports the capital raising team to raise new tax equity funds and broker transferability deals. Prior to his work on tax credit transactions, he was a strategic advisor at the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), working with Fortune 500 companies pursuing renewable energy power purchase agreements. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Hope College in Holland, MI, and an MBA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

 

To learn more about Kevin, read our latest Spotlight blog series installment:

How did you get started in the tax credit investing industry?   

I began my career working on tax credit policy in Washington, D.C. My work mainly involved researching and analyzing the tax equity market, collaborating with project developers, and educating Congress and regulatory bodies on the benefits of tax credit investing for the U.S. economy. This was a great introduction to the market and after several years, I moved over to a transactional role working directly with large, corporate investors.

More recently, my work raising capital for tax credit investments has included matching investors with historic real estate opportunities, traditional tax equity for renewable energy projects, and sourcing tailored transferable tax credit deals. Tax credit investing is growing rapidly compared to my early days in this space when the big banks dominated the investment side of the market.

Seeing the wide range of Fortune 500 corporations, midsized taxpaying companies, family offices and private equity firms pursuing tax credit investing gives me tremendous optimism about the growth of the industry.

When did you join Foss & Company and what interested you about the company?  

I first joined Foss & Company in 2021, based in Denver, CO, and working with clients across the Midwest. I departed to join the founding team of a startup company working exclusively in the transferable tax credit space. This was a tremendous opportunity to immerse myself in the new transferability market and build expertise with that transaction model. After helping the startup get off the ground, I returned to Foss in 2024 to lead their national investments team and resume work on tax equity investments, and transfer deals.

I was interested in Foss due to their 40+ years of experience in the tax credit business. There aren’t many other investment firms who can claim that track record, including work with Fortune 100 companies and smaller, private investors.

In particular, Foss & Company offers a complementary range of tax credit solutions. Renewable energy tax equity, transferable tax credits, federal historic tax credits, and state tax credits can all combine to help investors manage their tax liabilities. Foss is also innovating in the transfer credit market, offering hybrid investment structures, transfer credits secured by large institutional investors, and leveraging an experienced originations team that can source deals specific to any investor’s needs. Lastly, in my experience, corporate investors are always laser-focused on risk management. Foss & Company has built multiple teams dedicated to conducting due diligence and post-close asset management—services critical to any type of tax credit investment or purchase.

What do you find important or interesting about tax credits? 

Tax credits are a flexible tool that can meet different objectives for different investors. Some corporations simply want a better way to pay their taxes. Transferable renewable energy tax credits, state historic credits, or programmatic tax equity investments can be a great way to manage tax liability on an ongoing basis. Utilizing a firm like Foss & Company to manage these programs makes the logistics easy for corporate tax teams.

Alternatively, some corporations want to make tax a profit center and leverage working capital already earmarked for tax payments into investments that offer an attractive, risk-adjusted yield. Tailored tax equity investments can regularly offer a double-digit return on investment capital, and due to the nature of the investment structure, often include high internal rates of return. For investors in search of yield, working with an experienced structuring team helps ensure these hurdles are met with high-quality projects.

Personally, the thing I find most interesting about tax credits are the underlying projects themselves. Being able to support “steel-in-the-ground” through a tax credit investment is a wonderful way for taxpaying companies to positively impact local communities. In the historic rehabilitation tax credit world, this is especially interesting through the revitalization of aging real estate. Seeing historic buildings come back to life via tax credit investments is an interesting and exciting experience!

How has the tax credit investing industry evolved and where do you see it going? 

When I started in the industry, there were a small number of tax credit investors in the renewable energy space. Upwards of 75% of the capital invested in wind and solar projects came from a handful of large banks. Smaller, community-oriented projects had a hard time attracting capital.

Today, that paradigm is flipped on its head. I still work closely with the largest F500 companies in America on multi-hundred-million-dollar transactions. However, the middle and lower middle markets are rapidly expanding. If your company pays $5mm or $10mm of tax each year, you can now access the tax credit market for transferable renewable energy credits or state HTCs.

I believe this trend will continue with the Inflation Reduction Act creating a 10+ year runway for renewable energy tax credits. The historic tax credit program has strong, reliable support at the federal and state levels from policymakers on both sides of the aisle. As more corporate taxpayers gain experience with tax credit investing and see the impact they can have by redirecting their tax dollars into local communities, this market will continue to grow.

What is one thing people may not know about tax credits? 

Tax credits are incredibly flexible, and with the right approach to structure and transaction methodology, they can provide numerous benefits to corporate investors. I’ve worked with investors who prioritize cash flow management and want their Treasury group to benefit from tax credit applications. I’ve also worked with companies who have a strong ESG mandate and want to use their tax capacity to support impact-oriented projects within their corporate footprint.

While many people may think of tax credits as a one-dimensional tool—reducing tax liability—the reality is much broader than that. I’d encourage any corporate leader to think critically about the benefits of tax credit investing and build an internal business case that aligns with their overall corporate priorities.

Any other insights you would like to add? 

Tax credits come in many flavors. The most savvy investors we work with will utilize multiple types of credits to achieve their goals and will work with Foss & Company to create a programmatic approach to procuring credits each year. This reduces their transaction costs and creates a reliable benefit for the company with minimal work. I’d encourage any corporate tax, treasury team, or CFO who is considering tax credits to talk with us about how to maximize value and build a forward-looking plan.

Those interested in learning more about Kevin, can contact him at ke***@fo*******.com.