Brookfield Asset Management Inc. plans to raise at least $7.5 billion for a new climate-focused fund, as the Canadian investment firm builds out an ESG business led by former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. The Brookfield Global Transition Fund seeks to take advantage of accelerating interest in solutions to the global climate crisis, with a focus on renewable power and other investments that help cut carbon emissions.
It would be one of the largest — if not the largest — funds in a sector that’s attracting a flood of new capital. Activist investor Jeff Ubben is trying to raise as much as $8 billion for an impact investing fund at Inclusive Capital Partners LP. Roughly $347 billion poured into ESG-focused funds in 2020, leading to the creation of hundreds of new funds to catch the money.
The new fund will put money into green power generation, but the company also anticipates making investments that help industrial businesses cut emissions by changing production methods and making other efficiencies.
Brookfield Renewable Partners LP already operates renewable energy assets with a total capacity of about 19 gigawatts, the bulk of which is hydroelectric and wind. Bruce Flatt, Brookfield’s chief executive officer, said last year that the new environmental and social investing strategy could eventually grow as large as the firm’s real estate, infrastructure and private equity businesses. Brookfield manages about $575 billion.
Source: BNN Bloomberg
By Jason Kelly and Derek Decloet
