The fund, co-headed by the former Bank of England governor focuses on investments that can speed up the transition to a net-zero economy.
Brookfield Asset Management raised $10bn (€9.3bn) in the first closing of its second Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF II) amid “significant support from both existing and new investors, cementing Brookfield’s position as the world’s largest transition investor among private fund managers”, it said in a press release.
The fund is the successor to its inaugural Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF I), which closed to investors in June after raising a record $15bn. At the time, Brookfield said BGTF I was the biggest fund of its kind in the world. The investment firm currently manages over $850bn in assets globally.
“We have demonstrated beyond doubt the breadth and scale of attractive investment opportunities in the transition to a net-zero economy,” said Mark Carney, chair and head of transition investing at Brookfield and co-head of the fund. “By going where the emissions are, the Brookfield Global Transition Fund strategy is aiming to deliver strong risk-adjusted financial returns for investors and make meaningful environmental impacts for people and the planet.”
Carney was governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Before that, he was governor of the Bank of Canada for six years, after a 15-year stint in various roles at US banking giant Goldman Sachs. In 2020, he was named UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, while he also acts as a finance adviser to the British Prime Minister.
‘New trends’
Corporate demand for decarbonisation technologies “is now the primary driver of transition investment, delivering significant economic value as well as meaningful environmental benefits”, said Connor Teskey, the fund’s co-head and CEO of Brookfield Renewable Power & Transition.
Just like its predecessor, the new fund will focus on clean energy, accelerating sustainable solutions, and moving carbon-intensive companies to greener business models. Portfolio companies include a UK-based onshore renewables developer and a solar development partnership in India.
“New trends are also emerging, such as supplying reliable, clean power to the surging data and technology sector, building entirely new industrial supply chains, and scaling technologies required for industrial decarbonisation,” said Teskey. “The strong first close for the latest Brookfield Global Transition Fund demonstrates the growing appetite among leading global investors to capitalise on these trends.”
Fundraising for the BGTFII is expected to conclude in the third quarter of this year.
