Unigestion launches $250m fund-of-funds

01 February 2009

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Fund

Unigestion is set to launch two private equity funds (see page 5 for first fund). The second, Unigestion Environmental Sustainability Fund-of-Funds, is structured as; a Scottish Limited Partnership; German GmbH & Co KG; and FCPR (subject to investor demand); and has a target of $250m. The minimum commitment is $7.5m, with the commitment period set at three years from final closing. Its lifespan is 12 years with two potential expansions of one year each. The fund will be launched in the first quarter of 2009 and expects a first close late in the second quarter of 2009. SJ Berwin provided legal advice.

Investors

Target investors are existing investors in Unigestion's funds-of-funds programs plus new investors from the world of pension funds, insurance companies, family offices across Europe and the US.

Investments

The fund-of-funds encompasses strategies that focus on alternative energies, efficient use of resources and pollution control, across investment stages including venture capital, growth capital and infrastructure. It will seek to take advantage of a belief that the environmental sustainability sector will outperform other segments of the economy over the long term, whilst benefiting in the shorter term from the significant fall in the price of "sustainability assets" to levels not seen since 2004. The Fund will seek to invest in the best 10-12 underlying managers in the sustainability sector taking into account additional factors such as political and regulatory risks. The fund will invest slightly more than 50% in the US, and approximately 30% in Europe with the remainder in Asia. It will cover early-stage investments, growth capital, infrastructure and other strategies to deliver a balanced exposure to the environmental sustainability sector.

People

The in-house team of 23 professionals will be reinforced by a strategic committee of leading entrepreneurs and academics in sustainability, currently comprising; Bertrand Piccard, an aviator, explorer and United Nations goodwill ambassador working on a new project, Solar Impulse - an aeroplane powered exclusively by solar energy; Andrea Papandreou, associate professor at the Department of Economics of the University of Athens; and among others, a member of the Greek government committee for sustainable development; and Serafino Iacono, an entreprenEURand founder or co-founder of several companies, mainly in North and South America, including several which operate in the biofuel and windfarming segment.

Name: Unigestion Environmental Sustainability Fund-of-Funds

Target: $250 million

Focus: Cleantech, clean energy, energy efficiency and pollution control, all stages, US, Europe, Asia

Contact: Hanspeter Bader

Address: Unigestion SA

8C avenue de Champel CP 387

CH 1211 Geneva 12

Switzerland

Tel: +41 (0) 22 704 41 11

Advisers: SJ Berwin (Legal).