Jamie Broderick’s Post

CalPERS, the US’s largest public #pension plan, is committing over $25bn to green-related private #market #investments, making it one of the largest commitments to unlisted climate #assets by a major fund. The pension group will examine private equity (#PE), #realestate, and #infrastructure markets, with a focus on opportunities in #Asia and #Europe, according to Peter Cashion, CFA, Calpers’ managing investment director. This marks the first time CalPERS has publicly revealed how it plans to spend the additional $53bn it committed last November to an expanded low-carbon #assets #portfolio. The new goal would take the total portfolio to $100bn by 2030. “We’re expecting [private markets will] represent more than half of the $53bn,” he added. This allocation will propel the $483bn fund to become one of the world’s largest investors in climate solutions. #Calpers #ClimateInvestment #SustainableInvestments #GreenMarketInvestments #LowCarbonAssets #PrivateMarkets #ClimateSolutions Financial Times | Josephine Cumbo | Attracta Mooney

CaLPERS is making a massive commitment to the decarbonisation agenda. Behind this it and other majors are chasing private credit as a burgeoning asset class. Fundamentally it needs to (preferably perfectly) match it’s investment returns to it’s annuity payments. This is part of addressing it’s overall ALM (asset liability matching) responsibilities. Consider many pension funds have massive long-term liabilities needing asset cover best done through returns indexed to inflation. But how to deliver that on scale is quite an ask. As it happens, I will be coming to the market with ultra long dated (sustainable) bonds at scale indexed to inflation. More to come. #sustainablefinance #greenenergy #inflation #greenbonds

Transport for London Pension Fund has taken a leap into the realm of renewable energy, acquiring a 26MW offshore wind farm. For me, as someone deeply invested in the future of our planet. Picture it: the Wadlow wind farm, a beacon of green energy, erected on UK soil close to Cambridge, is now part of a pension portfolio. This farm is no spring chicken, having sliced the air with its turbines since 2012, but it's an enduring testament to the UK's commitment to renewable resources. It's a vivid example of how sustainability and profitability need not be at odds. Since 2016, this particular wind farm has not just been contributing to a greener world but has also evidently been a sound investment for DIF IV. The energy transition is more than a buzzword; it's a pathway we're already marching—no, sprinting down. Investments like these aren't just about immediate gratification; they're a bet on a net zero future, a display of fiduciary and ecological responsibility coming together. What's more, thanks to strategic divestments like this, investors are seeing attractive, risk-adjusted returns. The message is clear: backing the green revolution can be both noble and profitable. And rest assured, this narrative doesn't end here. Anticipate more, as firms like DIF express unwavering interest in the UK renewable sector's potential. I'd love to know your thoughts. Is this the kind of investment pivot we need to see more of? Will the marriage of pension funds and renewable projects become the norm? #RenewableEnergy #SustainableInvestment #FutureOfFinance

#California will be one of the US Clean Energy Leaders in the next 4 yrs. Largest US pension fund CalPERS over halfway to $100B climate investment goal   CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost called the energy transition “one of the biggest investment opportunities in history” and said the fund aims to “provide the capital necessary” to help build a low-carbon economy. https://lnkd.in/gjDhQvZ2

As long-term investors with patient capital, Canada's largest pension funds can play a critical role in decarbonizing hard-to-abate companies and industries while generating returns for their members. But pension funds must allocate transition finance carefully to technologies that avoid greenwashing and actually phase-out and replace fossil fuels, not lock-in carbon pollution for decades to come.

AustralianSuper, as one of Woodside Energy's top investors, it's time you stepped up to your own claims of active ownership and start putting pressure on Woodside to drop its oil and gas growth plans. It's your responsibility to act in the best long-term interests of your 3 million+ members. Take a public stand against #oilandgas expansion and be ready to divest if Woodside refuses to align its business plans with a safe climate future. #superannuation #superfund #climateaction #climatechange

Join Pensions for Purpose, Beverley Gower-Jones OBE FEI and Gershon Cohen of Clean Growth Fund for an online roundtable, 19th September at 10am. Many institutional investors with listed portfolio companies are dedicated to motivate these firms to adopt robust ESG strategies. After switching to a green electricity provider, the primary challenge lies in decarbonising the supply chain (also known as Scope 3 emissions), but innovative technologies and collaborative efforts can drive significant progress. Hear the panel's views on where real difference can be made to the energy transition. REGISTER HERE: https://ow.ly/CXhM50SxLoY #PensionsforPurpose

Money growing on trees and mainstream alternatives lagging - this was 2023 for alternatives in a nutshell. Read more about the state of the alts universe in this column on the CAIA blog. #alternativeinvestments #realestate #privateequity #timberland #infrastructure #hedgefunds #investing https://lnkd.in/dGp5exjn

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (Government Pension Fund Global) reaches USD 1.8 trillion assets. - The fund invests in 9,000 companies worldwide. - Investments are spread across 72 countries. - Most of the fund is invested in equities, bonds, real estate, and renewable energy infrastructure. A lesson for oil-exporting countries

Pension funds and other institutional investors across the globe have gradually started to branch out into private markets, in a bid to enhance their returns and contribute more directly to the energy transition. But all that glitters is not gold, with increased allocations to private markets often comes a lack of transparency on the climate impact of those assets. While there are notable exceptions, many private market managers tend to limit disclosures of their carbon footprint which is often significant. Indeed, new research among 21 of the world’s largest private equity firms collectively managing some $6trn in assets shows that they are responsible for 1.17 billion metric tons CO2 equivalent of emissions a year in upstream oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and coal-fired power plants. These are the findings of this year’s Private Equity Climate Risk Scorecard produced by three NGO’s Americans for Financial Reform, Global Energy Monitor and the Private Equity Stakeholder project. The Scorecard assessed private equity companies based on three key criteria, their alignment with decarbonisation targets, the percentage of fossil fuel companies in their portfolios as well as an estimate of their overall carbon dioxide equivalent (TCO2E) emissions. The report found that last year alone, the 21 private equity firms in question were responsible for more than one giga tonne of emissions, exceeding the carbon footprint of the global aviation industry (as of 2019), it is also over three times as much as from the energy used to power all the homes in America, researchers said. “Private equity firms and their executives are making billions by investing public employees’ retirement money into planet-destroying fossil fuel assets,” said Amanda Mendoza, senior climate research and campaign coordinator of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “These billion-dollar companies make their profits while largely avoiding liability for the damages their fossil fuel investing causes frontline communities. At the end of the day, the price we pay for private equity’s greed is our health and livelihoods, for ourselves and generations to come.”