FTFM Two of London's most prominent environmental investment funds are taking advantage of favourable market sentiment towards the sector to raise new cash through C share issues. Both Impax Environmental Markets and Jupiter Asset Management's Green Investment Trust are looking to raise up to £100m.
It is five years since Impax launched its fund and the market has changed drastically since its 2002 debut. The fund launched just after the tech bubble had burst, so the index had dropped 50 per cent in the previous 18 months, partly because many clean energy companies had become caught up in the tech frenzy. Ballard Power Systems, the fuel cells company, for example, had a market capitalisation of $15bn - today it is worth just $490m (€360m, £243m) and it still has not made a profit.
