Below are a list of 15 investment trusts who could be considered green or sustainable investments.
There are a mixture of different portfolio types available. Some focus solely on renewable energy assets, some invest in energy storage infrastructure, whilst other invest in a range of environmentally-aligned listed companies.
It must be noted, however, just because these investment trusts appear in this list does not automatically mean that they are green investment trusts as you may define it personally. So please take a deeper dive into their portfolio via the links provided to check whether they meet your definition of green investment trusts.
For an general overview of what an investment trust is see here.
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund Plc
Principal Investment Area: Energy Storage
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund Plc focuses on energy storage systems based in the UK. The investment trust is looking to grow a portfolio of storage systems, including battery systems and gas engines, from 6 to 10 projects. If all these projects come to fruition they will have a combined power of over 200MW (No value of total storage capacity is given). Most of the assets will be geared towards providing grid services to the UK National Grid. For example fast frequency response, which helps to keep the national electricity grid at 50Hz. The investment trust is managed by the Gresham House New Energy Team who also run the Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1 and 2 PLCs.
Impax Environmental Markets Plc
Principal Investment Area: Listed Companies
Impax Environmental Markets Plc is an investment trust that invests in listed companies, i.e. stocks and shares. These companies operate in a range of environment related sectors such as clean energy, energy efficiency, waste management and resource management. Their investment philosophy is to invest in companies which exhibit environmental related themes such as resource scarcity, pollution, replacement of aging infrastructure, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The trust evaluates all investments based on internal ESG risk analysis methods and produces an annual environmental impact report. The investment trust is managed by Impax Asset Management Group Plc.
JLEN Environmental Assets Group Ltd
Principal Investment Areas: Solar, Wind, Anaerobic Digestion, Water Treatment, and Hydro
John Laing Environmental Assets Plc owns a range of clean energy assets. They have an installed capacity of just under 300MW of solar, wind, hydro, and anaerobic digestion generating projects in the UK and France. They also own stakes in three household waste and wastewater treatment plants. The investment trust is managed by John Laing Capital Management Limited.
Jupiter Green Investment Trust Plc
Principal Investment Area: Listed Companies
Jupiter Green Investment Trust Plc is an investment company that invests in companies around the world which have a significant environmental focus. The companies in which they invest are centred around three investment themes: infrastructure, resource efficiency, and demographics. The investment trust is managed by Jupiter Asset Management Limited.
Greencoat UK Wind Plc
Principal Investment Area: Wind Farms
Greencoat UK Wind PLC specialises in operating and investing in existing operating UK wind farms with the aim of providing a regular dividend to shareholders. They currently own over 35 onshore and offshore wind farms with a generating capacity of around 1GW. It is managed by Greencoat Capital LLP who also run Greencoat Renewables PLC.
Greencoat Renewables Plc
Principal Investment Area: Wind Farms
Greencoat Renewables Plc currently manages a portfolio of 19 onshore wind farms in Ireland. The investment trust is actively looking to expand their portfolio of energy assets overtime, whilst returning a stable dividend to investors. It is a euro-denominated fund. It is managed by Greencoat Capital LLP who also run Greencoat UK Wind Plc.
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund
Principal Investment Area: Energy Storage
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Plc specialises in operating and investing in battery energy storage facilities with a special interest in lithium ion batteries – but the trust is ‘battery technology agnostic’, meaning they are willing to invest in other energy storage infrastructure. They currently own nine battery storage facilities around the UK with potentially more to come. The trust is run by Gore Street Capital.
Foresight Solar Fund Limited
Principal Investment Area: Solar Farms
Foresight Solar Fund Plc owns a portfolio of over 50 solar projects in the UK and Australia with combined installed capacity of around 1GW. The investment aim is to return a stable inflation linked dividend to investors. The investment trust is managed by Foresight Group.
Bluefield Solar Income Fund
Principal Investment Area: Solar Farms
Bluefield Solar Income Fund manages just under 50 solar farms based in the UK. The fund is actively pursuing further acquisitions as it looks to grow its portfolio, whilst looking to provide investors with a stable annual dividend. Bluefield Partners LLP acts as the investment advisor to the investment trust.
NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited
Principal Investment Area: Solar Farms
NextEnergy Solar Fund is a solar focused investment trust, which invests in UK and Italian solar energy assets. They own 90 solar farms with a combined capacity of just over 755MW. The fund looks to provide investors with an inflation linked sustainable dividend as well as an element of capital growth. This will be achieved through reinvestment of net cash generated. The fund is managed by the NextEnergy Capital Group.
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust Plc
Principal Investment Area: Energy Efficiency Projects
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust Plc is an investment trust that owns a portfolio of 13 energy efficiency projects, including a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, LED retrofits, rooftop solar, and biomass boilers. The investment trust is managed by Sustainable Development Capital Limited.
The Renewable Infrastructure Group
Principal Investment Areas: Solar, Wind, and Battery Storage
The Renewable Investment Group is the owner of over 60 wind, solar and battery storage assets in the UK, Ireland and France. These assets have a combined installed capacity of around 1GW. The fund looks to provide investors with a long-term income-based return which is linked to inflation. The investment trust is managed by InfraRed Capital Partners.
Foresight Solar & Technology VCT Plc
Principal Investment Area: Solar Farms
Foresight Solar & Infrastructure VCT invests in a range of UK and Italian solar generation projects. Its UK projects are backed by the UK government’s feed-in-tariffs and have a combined capacity of 75MW. The venture capital trust is managed by Foresight Group.
Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1/2 Plc
Principal Investment Area: Wind and Solar Farms
Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1 Plc and Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 2 Plc are two clean energy focused investment trusts. A large proportion of the portfolio is solar assets based in the UK which make use of UK government subsidies – either feed-in-tariffs or renewable obligation certificates. Most of the assets are split 50:50 between Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 1 Plc and Gresham House Renewable Energy VCT 2 Plc. The venture capital trust is managed by Gresham House Asset Management Limited.
Conclusion: Green Investment Trusts
The above investments are frequently considered to be green investment trusts since they are invest in many activities which are considered environmentally friendly. However, only by taking a deeper dive into each trust’s portfolio of investments can you really know whether your definition of green fits with theirs.
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Remember, the value of your investments may go down as well as up and you may not get back the value you initially invested.