Manager research and alternatives expert David Hunter has teamed up with renowned institutional CIO Wendy Mayall to co-found Renewity, the world’s first multi-manager platform devoted solely to investing in renewable energy on a global basis.
Annual investment of around USD300 billion in renewable energy is needed to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5° C by 2050[1]. Hunter and Mayall 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.
In providing investors with access to a range of the best specialist renewable energy managers, deals and related opportunities, Renewity believes it can 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. By addressing investors’ desires to make a difference with their savings, Renewity aims to help drive the global transition to clean energy; at the same time, safeguarding ‘Global Commons’ resources today and for future generations.
David Hunter, co-founder and CIO of Renewity, says: “As investors we’re not moving fast enough, nor at sufficient scale, to address the urgent climate challenge. 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 a number of multi-manager businesses and platforms and has extensive experience as an investment CIO for institutional investors. Most notably, holding the role of Unilever Chief Investment Officer between 1995-2011 as well as Group Chief Investment Officer at LV= between 2012-2015.
Mayall says: “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.
“A multi-manager approach, itself driven mainly by scale dynamics and offering greater speed in deployment than a single manager approach, is not only vital to helping plug the renewable energy investment gap; it can also deliver the largest, widest and quickest social and environmental impact for investors and stakeholders.”
Also part of the core team launching the business are: Stephan Breban, who, as Head of Research, brings 30 years’ experience in advising pension plans on fund and manager selection as well as extensive expertise in renewables, having advised one of the earliest UK institutional renewable energy allocations in 2005; and Ravi Nevile, whose role as COO brings to the business deep real assets operational experience from his days at Aztec, ADIA and running Mercer’s Sentinel business across APAC.
