Insight

Generation Investment Management’s Just Climate racks up $1.5bn for debut fund

Climate Assets Fund I's limited partners include California State Teachers’ Retirement System, PSP Investments, AP4, Colonial First State Investments, Builders Asset Management and AP2.

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  • Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund anchored the fund
  • Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as fund counsel while Aztec Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. is administrator for the fund
  • Based in London, Generation Investment Management has more than $42 billion of assets under management and supervision, as of March 31, 2023

Just Climate, an investment business established by Generation Investment Management to address the net-zero challenge at scale, has closed its inaugural fund at $1.5 billion, beating its $1 billion target.

Climate Assets Fund I’s limited partners include California State Teachers’ Retirement System, PSP Investments, AP4, Colonial First State Investments, Builders Asset Management and AP2.

The fund’s founding investor group included Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund which anchored the Fund, IMAS Foundation, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Harvard Management Company, the Imprint Group of Goldman Sachs as well as Hall Capital Partners and its clients.

The fund will be part of Just Climate’s industrial climate solutions focus.

On the fundraising, Shaun Kingsbury, chief investment officer of Just Climate, said in a statement: “More than 50 percent of the world’s emissions come from the hard-to-abate industries. Without radical and urgent changes to the way that the financial sector approaches the decarbonisation challenge in these industries, which are the building blocks of our economy, there will be no net zero by 2050. Proven, transformational climate solutions are being developed to decarbonise the industrial sectors. With the right investment support, we believe they can scale rapidly to achieve better gross margins, a lower cost of capital and widespread market adoption.”

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as fund counsel. Aztec Financial Services (Luxembourg) S.A. is administrator for the fund.

Based in London, Generation Investment Management has more than $42 billion of assets under management and supervision, as of March 31, 2023.