Hedge fund guru launches green investment firm

Stanley Fink, the former chief executive of the world's largest hedge fund company Man Group, has today announced the launch of a new investment firm designed to focus exclusively on environmentally friendly investments.

Speaking at the launch of Earth Capital Partners LLP (ECP), Fink, who stepped down as deputy chairman of Man Group after 21 years at the company earlier this year, said that the new venture would adhere to stringent green investment guidelines while still delivering competitive returns.

"Our objective will be to deliver attractive returns by investing in projects, companies and financial instruments, which address sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, water scarcity and energy security," said Fink, who has taken the position of chairman of the new group. "Sustainable development – meeting the needs of today without jeopardising the ability of future generations to meet their needs – is at the heart of our model."

The company will target investment institutions, sovereign wealth funds, corporate investment arms and ultra-high net worth individuals and is aiming to raise $5bn (£3.4bn) within five years.

It is to offer a range of investment funds with an environmental focus, including an environmental markets fund, an environmental infrastructure fund and a clean tech venture capital fund, as a number of joint ventures and other specialist investment products.

To underline ECP's green credentials it has pledged to adhere to stringent sustainable investment guidelines that will set out "no go" areas of investment and minimum environmental standards that the companies it backs will have to meet.

It has also developed its own Earth Dividend measurement system for assessing companies' contribution to sustainable development, which has been be nchmarked against the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Reporting Protocol and other international reporting standards.

Firms or projects that receive backing from ECP will then have to agree to report annually on their environmental impacts in line with the Earth Dividend system and agree to an improvement plan designed to raise their score each year.

Rufus Warner, chief executive of the company, said that the aim of the new firm was to prove conclusively that promoting the highest environmental standards and actively driving the development of a low-carbon economy can deliver significant investment returns.

"ECP's mission is to build a fund platform of institutional quality and scale to invest in real assets that make a meaningful difference," he said. "ECP aims to lead change in financial markets by demonstrating that financing the transition to a low-CO2, low-pollution, resource-efficient economy can be achieved sustainably and profitably."