Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has committed almost A$1bn (€567m) to Macquarie Asset Management’s open-ended global green energy fund.
ART’s commitment to the Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO) is the super fund’s first major investment under its impact investing strategy, which targets deploying at least A$2bn by 2030 into assets that generate social and environmental benefits.
MGECO, which is also backed by fellow Australian superannuation fund UniSuper, invests in large scale, mature sustainable technologies to support the transition to net zero and help meet sustainable energy needs in Australia and overseas.
Nicole Bradford, ART’s general manager of sustainable investment and planning, said: “As a large investor with globally diversified portfolios, we recognise that some of our investments can serve a dual-purpose, delivering financial returns and seeking to make a positive difference.
“One of the many attributes of climate change is that it is an investment risk, but as we seek to transition to a low-carbon economy it also represents an investment opportunity, and investors like us can demonstrate how the capital we steward on our members behalf may contribute to the solution.”
Bradford added that ART’s commitment to deploy at least A$2bn to “impact investing by 2030 goes beyond just climate change, and may include assets in the health, social housing and aged care sectors among others”.
Michael Weaver, ART’s general manager of mid-risk assets and UK said: “MGECO will initially target investment opportunities across solar, onshore and offshore wind, and batteries in OECD countries including Australia.
“To the extent that commercial scale can be achieved, it may also target other technologies such as hydro and geothermal, bioenergy and energy storage, or natural climate solutions. The primary investment objective of MGECO is to make equity and equity-like investments in a diversified portfolio of sustainable infrastructure, real assets, and businesses.”
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