SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Impax Asset Management
Impax is an asset management business investing in companies that are leading the transition to a more sustainable economy. Established in 1998 by Ian Simm, Founder and Chief Executive, Impax has pioneered investment into companies at the forefront of sustainable development. Headquartered in London and with nearly £40 billion of assets under management and 300 staff, today Impax is one of the largest investment managers dedicated to this area. Impax was previously recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category in 2020 and 2014. Here, Ian explains how the business developed… Ian, can you explain Impax’s investment philosophy to us? Ian: The idea behind our investment philosophy is quite simple. We’re living on a planet of around eight billion people – that planet is finite, and its population is growing but also demanding higher standards of living. The necessary switch to a more sustainable way of running the global economy is being facilitated by new technologies, smart entrepreneurial activity and government actions to shape new markets. We describe this as “the transition to a more sustainable economy” in which leading companies are growing rapidly and offering excellent potential investment returns for shareholders. As these trends are often difficult to analyse, there’s a compelling opportunity for an active manager like Impax to offer significant value to asset owners.
What sets Impax apart from other asset managers? Ian: Impax has been focused on investing in the transition to a more sustainable economy for more than 25 years, so our team has extensive experience. We were one of the first investors to identify and classify the investable opportunities within environmental markets in the late 1990s: we have one of the largest investment teams dedicated to this area and employ many specialists with deep sector expertise. Because this is our sole area of activity, we stand out from mainstream asset managers and as a result have picked up mandates from major asset owners around the world. Can you tell us a little more about some of the areas that Impax invests in? Ian: Within listed equities we invest in two main areas: thematic strategies, which focus primarily on companies solving environmental problems like climate change or water pollution, and our core strategies, which invest in the broader economy, using the Impax Sustainability Lens. We also have a growing fixed income business and a well- established private markets team investing in new energy infrastructure. How did you personally first become interested in this area? Ian: In my last year as an undergraduate I discovered ‘Our Common Future’, the report of the UN’s Brundtland Commission, which coined the phrase ‘sustainable development’, describing
Impax focuses on investing in the transition to a more sustainable economy (Getty Images)
how the planet was going to suffer major damage if we didn’t change the direction of economic growth. With a background in science and a personal interest in the environment, I was inspired to seek a career in this area - a process which took the next decade. Over these ten years, I completed spells as a management consultant (one being in McKinsey’s first environmental strategy team), a second degree in the United States and a short stint as an entrepreneur in the solar sector. In 1998 I founded Impax Asset Management, with our first client being a mandate with the World Bank to set up one of the world’s first solar energy funds. The rest, as they say, is history!
IMPAX ASSET MANAGEMENT Impax Asset Management, 7th Floor, 30 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4AJ Tel: +44(0)20 3912 3000 • impaxam.com
Ian Simm, Founder & Chief Executive, Impax
King’s Awards Magazine 2024
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