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Asset Manager Sees Promising Year for Energy Efficiency Investments

Jan. 28, 2014

Impax Asset Management Group sees a strong year ahead for energy efficiency investments. The asset manager says in Investment News that the driver is technology, not government subsidy. But company founder Ian Simm remains cautious about fuel cells, energy storage and electric vehicles.

Elisa Wood

Impax Asset Management Group, which manages $4 billion in assets for institutional and high net worth investors, is reporting that it sees the next 12 months as particularly promising for energy efficiency and other clean energy markets.

Founder Ian Simm writes Jan. 28 in Investment News that it is more than a cyclical pickup. The drivers are building regulations, energy efficiency standards and pollution rules, he says.

“Earnings of companies exposed to these themes are starting to rise strongly as the global economy recovers and new houses get built, automobiles roll off the production lines and long-delayed infrastructure projects move forward,” he says in the article.

He also says that the trend does not depend on government subsidies. Instead, he credits better technologies with proven business models. At the same time, he is cautious about fuel cells, energy storage, second-generation biofuels and electric vehicles. With some exceptions, these technologies may still be too unproven for listed equities, he says

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

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