The first multi-manager platform devoted solely to investing in renewable energy on a global basis has been launched.
Renewity has been co-founded by former AON research head David Hunter and ex-Unilever chief investment officer (CIO) Wendy Mayall.
The platform will focus on the $300bn shortfall of renewable energy investment necessary to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement goals, the co-founders said.
Hunter and Mayall said they believe that an absence of “scale and speed” in accessing renewable energy opportunities is creating a capacity challenge that could impede efforts to address this shortfall.
Renewity aims to provide investors with access to a range of the “best specialist renewable energy managers, deals and related opportunities”.
The platform will aim to put “more capital to work faster, diversify drawdowns, optimise liquidity/yield and reduce risk for investors more efficiently” than a single manager proposition.
Through a specialised multi-manager structure and whole of market approach, Renewity will focus on distributing and deploying assets at scale in order to accelerate the closing of the renewables funding gap.
Hunter said: “The growing complexity and number of renewables managers across countries, strategies and technologies requires focused manager research to deliver effective solutions for investors.
“No sole-focused firm exists that delivers product, distribution and deployment at both scale and speed across the full, increasingly complex and varied range of technologies and countries.
“Even if such a single investment firm existed, it would be highly unlikely to deliver consistent excellence everywhere.”
Hunter has over 30 years’ experience within the industry and previously worked within the manager research and consultant teams of Mercer and AON, in the latter as head of its global research unit.
In the past 15 years, he has focused on advising and distributing infrastructure, private credit and renewables managers.
Mayall has built and led multi-manager businesses and platforms and has experience as an investment CIO for institutional investors.
Mayall said: “At the heart of this renewable investment shortfall lies an absence of scale and speed in developing institutional investment capacity.
“The demand is there, but even the largest and most credible single managers don’t have the ability to deploy the necessary levels of assets effectively or in a timely manner.
“Nor can investors wait for them to develop the capability to do so when the pace of change has been too slow to date.”