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
