Economy

Money to be made from sustainable investment, says Impax chief

Published

11 years ago

May 16, 2014

Blue & Green Tomorrow

Investment that focuses on solutions to environmental problems “does better” than the mainstream over the long-term, according to Ian Simm, chief executive of Impax Asset Management.

Speaking to Blue & Green Tomorrow after the release of Impax’s half-year results on Thursday, which saw it report a 16% growth in assets under management to £2.55 billion, he said that the firm had proven a sustainability strategy is a profitable one.

He added, “We’ve been able to demonstrate in the last 16 years that you can make money from investing in resource efficiency and environmental markets – and you can actually do better in these areas than you can in the mainstream economy over time.”

Simm explained that evidence of the problems created by environmental damage and resource scarcity was “continuing to grow“. As a result, “businesses that are providing solutions to these changes are increasingly in demand, which means that there is going to be more value to go to the shareholders of those companies“.

Impax also reported strong net inflows of £189m – the amount of money it made compared to its outgoings – up from the £100m reported at the same time last year.

The release of Impax’s half-year results comes less than a month after it won a Queen’s Award for sustainable development. It is thought to be the first asset manager to be recognised in this category.

Simm said, “It’s been quite important to demonstrate that finance is key in sustainable development, and unless there are groups like Impax that are willing or able to aggregate institutional capital and divert it towards businesses that are making the planet more sustainable, then sustainable development isn’t really going to happen.”

Photo: Griszka Niewiadomski via freeimages