Generation closes $683m climate fund
London, 1 May: Generation Investment Management has attracted $683 million into its Climate Solutions Fund – making it one of the largest fund-raisings for a vehicle of its type.

Meanwhile, the London-based fund manager, chaired by Al Gore, has announced that it has “soft-closed” its flagship large-cap Global Equity Strategy fund at $2.2 billion and has commitments to bring it to a final close at $5 billion within the next 18 months, a spokesman said.

The Climate Solutions fund will combine “active shareholdings” in fast-growing private companies and small-cap listed firms, with a small number of investments in larger listed firms with “a very strong exposure to climate change solutions”, the spokesman said.

The fund will invest in renewable energy technologies, building efficiency, cleaner fossil energy, sustainable agriculture and carbon markets, making average investments of $30 million a time. 

The spokesman declined to comment on the fund’s anticipated returns, but said that it carried a five-year lock-up period, with capital to be returned to investors inbetween five and 10 years. The fund-raising was entirely from Generation’s existing investor base.

Of the $683 million, $100 million is to be committed to a new fund, due to be launched today, from US venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, with whom Generation announced a collaborative partnership last year.

No details were available on the Kleiner Perkins Green Growth Fund, but the Generation spokesman noted that the two firms offered “complementary geographic footprints and skill sets”. He added that Kleiner Perkins would not have a formal role in the management of the Climate Solutions Fund.

Generation, established in 2004 by Gore and David Blood, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, specialises in long-term investing, based on integrated sustainability research.