energy transition

Nuveen Infrastructure’s Glennmont Partners, a major clean energy infrastructure manager, on Thursday said it has raised 250 million euro through its energy transition enhanced credit II strategy, or ETEC II, based on a Luxembourg alternative fund.

The ETEC II fund is one of the new Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, or Raifs, that were officially registered in Luxembourg this month. 

Does the green investing taxonomy leave the financial service industry open to charges of greenwashing? The “Taxonomy in Practice” panel at last week’s Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) “Sustainable Finance Forum” discussed the challenges and pointed to solutions. 

With listed infrastructure companies passing inflation directly on to their customers, investors can use them as a hedge against rising inflation, according Thomas van der Meij of Van Lanschot Kempen, a Dutch wealth management firm active in the Benelux region.

“Communication towers, toll roads and, to a lesser extent, airports perform well in a high-inflation environment. Meanwhile, US railways and energy transmission companies are benefiting from high commodity prices,” he explained. 

The energy transition is anything but smooth. This week, two energy suppliers went bankrupt in the United Kingdom and more are to follow. All this as a result of the record prices for natural gas. In continental Europe, too, the prices for natural gas are going up vertically.

Ultimately, the price of oil is determined by supply and demand. What is special about the oil price is that, in theory, there are several equilibrium prices. This is because a large part of the supply is linked to a state budget. Where normally the supply goes down when the oil price goes down, there are countries that in the past pumped more oil to realise the same yield.

Knowing that the final price is determined by the marginal buyer and the marginal seller, identifying these two parties is essential for predicting the oil price.

The IPCC report is widely seen as disturbing and alarming. The urgency is clear. The most important consequence for investors is that it will lead to more inflation. After all, the report’s obvious aim is that more must be done to combat global warming.

Strong inflows into clean energy ETFs have pushed valuations of the various subsectors higher. To mitigate downside risks, a broader perspective on the sustainability theme is needed. Semiconductor manufacturers in particular are interesting, says Thiemo Lang, manager of the RobecoSAM Smart Energy Fund.

Hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition and will therefore offer plenty of opportunities for investors. However, investors should not underestimate the diversity of the hydrogen market, according to Candriam.

The Belgian asset manager notes in its report “Hydrogen power - Enabling a virtuous decarbonisation loop” that recent government measures to highlight the potential of hydrogen as an energy source of the future have boosted the performance of certain hydrogen stocks. Some stocks have even tripled in the last twelve months.