Pictet Alternative Advisors (“PAA”), the Pictet Group’s wholly owned alternative investment business, today announces the launch of the Pictet Private Assets SICAV – Environment Co-Investment Fund I ELTIF (“the Fund”), offering investors greater access to innovative environmental technology investments across private markets.
The Fund will target 20-25 investments, originated through Pictet’s network of more than 90 active relationships with private equity managers, spanning from established generalists to sector specialists.
The strategy implements the Planetary Boundaries1 scientific framework into its environmental investment approach. Since earth has now transgressed six of the nine boundaries, putting humanity “well outside of the safe operating space”, private capital is required accordingly to catalyse investments in the technologies and solutions to avoid, mitigate, or reverse the damage being done. Furthermore, the current penetration rate of environmental technologies is still low but expected to grow exponentially and shows attractive investment prospects with a projected market size of USD 12tn by 2030.2
The Fund’s strategy targets the most compelling investment opportunities across five fast growing segments: greenhouse gas reduction; sustainable consumer; pollution control; the circular economy; and enabling technology. It will follow a co-investment approach, taking minority positions alongside high-quality PE firms globally.
Led by Pierre Stadler, Head of Thematics PE, and Nicolas Thomas, Thematics Principal, the Fund builds on Pictet’s 25+ year track record in thematic investing and more than 300 co-investments executed since the first deal in 1992. Pictet currently operates 20 thematic strategies, including 8 environment strategies, with a team of over 70 investment professionals.
Pierre Stadler, Head of Thematics PE, commented: “Through this new fund, investors have access to a portfolio of rigorously selected PE co-investments. With so much innovation in private companies, and specifically those focused on addressing environmental challenges, we see significant value being created in this theme. Our experienced team is highly selective when choosing where to invest, focusing on businesses with a proven ability to achieve consistent growth and cashflow.”
Nicolas Thomas, Thematics Principal, added: “Pictet has a strong history of thematic investing and we are excited to offer clients our highest conviction opportunities within the environmental theme. As the transition to a more sustainable world constitutes one of the greatest challenges societies have ever faced, companies providing environmental solutions could generate significant financial returns and above-average long-term growth.”
The strategy will be classified as an article 8 fund under SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation). The minimum subscription is of EUR 10’000 for the retail share class (P EUR share class).
1 Developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) and other organisations, the Planetary Boundaries framework identifies the nine most critical environmental dimensions that are essential to maintain a stable biosphere.
2 Roland Berger GreenTechAtlas, as of 16.03.2023.
