JP Morgan launches sustainable investment team to target high-growth climate firms
JPMorgan’s asset management arm has launched a new sustainable investment team as the banking giant ramps up efforts to hit its climate change commitments.
The new team will target growth-stage businesses tackling climate change and resource efficiency and will be anchored with an initial investment of up to $150m, one of its largest capital commitments ever made into an alternative investment strategy.
George Gatch, Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Asset Management, said: “As one of the world’s largest asset managers, we are committed to playing a leading role in the transition to a low carbon economy and are proud to be part of a firm that has established a 10-year $2.5 trillion sustainable development target.”
The new team will be headed up by Tanya Barnes, previously head of impact investing at Blackstone Inc, and Osei Van Horne, current boss of JPMorgan’s Asset Management’s climate-focused growth equity practice.
The firm’s top climate scientist and sustainability strategist Dr Sarah Kapnick will also serve on the team’s investment committee and work with firms within the team’s portfolio.
The moves comes after JP Morgan laid out carbon reduction goals last year and asked clients in the electric power and auto industries to meet carbon reduction goals and for oil and gas clients to significantly slow carbon usage by 2030.