Cleantech Investment

Following the 2005 Institutional Investor Summit, a group of institutional investors formed the Clean Energy Investment Working Group (CEIWG) of INCR to examine the opportunities and strategies for investment in clean energy and climate technologies. The working group is managed as a collaboration between INCR and the Clean Energy Group to facilitate the deployment of $1 billion of capital in companies developing and utilizing clean technologies.

This working group explores the interests of pension funds, institutional investors and other fiduciaries to develop enhanced, environmentally responsive investment strategies in the clean energy subsector that can deliver competitive returns. Collectively, the group is exploring opportunities to reduce the environmental and associated financial risks to their portfolios, and enhance long-term investment returns, to consider the benefits of prudent investments in appropriate clean energy and climate change-related technologies.

In order to access to accurate, unbiased information about the clean energy marketplace, and best practices of other public fiduciaries, these discussions include lessons learned from recent and rigorous examinations by institutional investors, and private equity investment opportunities in the clean energy sector. As Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding has said, "the issues in this area are complex, [and] it is difficult to get objective information. The market is ever-changing and historically has proven a difficult one for investors to navigate successfully."

Several other areas have also been identified in order to capture the opportunities in the cleantech sector:

• Adoption of new investment policies
• New investment allocations
• Creation of pooled investment fund vehicles
• Partnerships with state clean energy funds
• All institutional investors are invited to join these discussions.

For more information on this INCR working group, please contact:

For the Clean Energy Investment Working Group website, please visit http://www.cleaninvestment.org.