Osmosis Investment Management, the London based sustainable asset manager, has successfully closed an equity investment from Capricorn’s Sustainable Investors Fund, a seeding fund focused on sustainable and impact investment managers.
The deal, which was closed in the first quarter of 2020, will see Capricorn’s Sustainable Investors Fund join the Oxford Endowment Fund as large minority shareholders of Osmosis (Holdings) Limited and Capricorn partner Michaela Edwards take a seat on the Osmosis board. The strategic equity investment will deepen the firm’s US presence and facilitate the launch of the Osmosis Sustainable Market Neutral Strategy for US investors.
The strategy will be a levered replication of the Osmosis Sustainable Market Neutral Strategy which is currently run in a UCITS structure not available to US investors. The strategy will allow sophisticated institutional investors seeking a source of uncorrelated return to equity markets to allocate capital from their alternatives book with a positive environmental focus. The Osmosis Sustainable Market Neutral Strategy takes long positions in the most resource- efficient companies while shorting the most inefficient companies as defined by the Osmosis Model of Resource Efficiency.
Ben Dear, Chief Executive Officer of Osmosis Investment Management, says, “We are delighted to welcome Capricorn as a shareholder in Osmosis. Both parties share the same values and philosophy. We believe that the transition to a more sustainable economy and the critically important role the investment community holds in facilitating and ensuring the “must” transition is a “just” transition. As we emerge from the current crisis, all stakeholders, companies, employees, investors and society at large will be driving forward meaningful change.”
Michaela Edwards, Partner of Capricorn Investment Group, says, “We are excited to partner with Osmosis. Ben and his team share the same vision as Capricorn that companies with the most climate resilient and efficient business models will be advantaged and should have a lower cost of capital, stronger fundamentals, and ultimately grow enterprise value. As we address climate change issues, we need more firms like Osmosis being a catalyst to make the transition.”
The Osmosis investment approach of targeting excess return while delivering measurable, environmental benefits has seen increased investor interest as investors seek to address environmental concerns within their investment portfolios. The partnership with Capricorn further endorses this objective and pragmatic approach to sustainable investment.
About Osmosis
Osmosis launched in 2009 and is a sustainable asset management business headquartered in London with firmwide assets under management/advice of ~$1.3bn as at 30 April 2020. Government Pension Funds, State Pension Funds, Insurance Companies, Foundations, Endowments, Family Offices and Banks, are amongst our client roster spanning North America, Continental Europe, Nordics and the UK.
The Osmosis Model of Resource Efficiency (MoRE) is a proprietary investment database developed and maintained by the team at Osmosis. The MoRE model allows us to create an objective, sustainable, alpha generating investment factor, through the identification across thirty-three economic sectors of global large cap companies which are generating more revenue whilst consuming less resource than their sector peers. Our systematic investment strategies and funds target an improved risk-return profile whilst, importantly, delivering significantly reduced environmental footprints to their relative benchmarks. www.osmosisim.com
About Capricorn
Founded in 2001, Capricorn Investment Group was born from a belief that sustainable investment practices can enhance risk-adjusted returns. Underlying this investment approach is a deep desire to demonstrate the huge investment potential that resides in breakthrough commercial solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. One of the largest mission-aligned investment firms in the world, Capricorn has grown to manage more than $5 billion in multi-asset class portfolios for families, foundations and institutional investors. The firm has offices in New York City and Palo Alto.
About the Oxford Endowment Fund
The Oxford Endowment Fund, managed by Oxford University Endowment Management, made an initial investment in Osmosis Investment Management in 2012 and a further investment in 2019. Information on the Oxford Endowment Fund and Oxford University Endowment Management is found at www.ouem.co.uk.
This document is issued by Osmosis (Holdings) Limited, a London based investment management group.
For more information, please contact Lisa Harrison on 07716 912832 or [email protected]