•  
• Tweet
•  
•        Print
•  
•         Track Keywords
•  
• 

By Beverly Chandler, Opalesque London:

The Branta Solutions Fund from Roodhals Capital is one of the few hedge funds operating in the environmental and sustainable space. The $70m fund was the first fund seeded by IMQubator, the Dutch seeding firm, and launched in 2009. 2010 saw its best year to date with a return of 13.1%. Willem Appel is Chief Executive Officer and explains that the sustainable sector appealed to them because they felt there were genuine opportunities available there.

Appel says: "We are one of the earliest endeavours in this space and I can definitely say that when it comes to a broad based market approach we are one of a very few." Branta invests in public market securities, ideally in medium to large capital sized companies. "The size of the opportunity drew us to the sector" Appel says. "We saw that the offerings to investors did not always encompass the profitability of sustainable investment as a investment opportunity. While social responsibility is also important, we thought that we could capture the total opportunity."

As Appel explains, most companies in the public realm are affected by sustainable development issues, such as water issues for beverage companies or carbon emissions schemes for airlines. "At one point in time the valuations of these companies are affected and ......................

To view our full article Click here