Three of Canada’s largest pension funds are investing in a new fund focused on the global transition to a net-zero economy.
The Brookfield Global Transition Fund, founded by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., closed its funding after raising US$7 billion ($8.8 billion) with the help of the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
The fund will be focused on investing in initiatives with the potential to reduce the need to use fossil fuels in industries that are currently carbon-intensive. To do this, the fund will aim to leverage Brookfield’s expertise in renewable power, clean energy scaling and investments, according to a press release.
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Brookfield, a joint venture between the Ontario Teachers’ and the Singapore-based asset management firm Temasek Holdings, has set a hard investment cap of US$12.5 billion ($15.7 billion). The fund is expected to reach its hard cap before a second close later in 2021.
In the press release, former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who now serves as Brookfield’s vice-chair and head of transition investing, said the fund will help companies achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the date laid out by the Paris climate accords. “As the world increasingly focuses on sustainability, the required capital and investable opportunities are expanding faster than originally expected, creating an even greater opportunity for large-scale investments that address climate change and generate attractive returns.”
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In other news, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a co-investor in a biotechnology and medical technology investment fund from the Toronto-based venture capital firm Lumira Ventures.
Lumira Ventures IV, a fund that invests in health-care companies in Canada and the U.S, raised US$255 million ($321 million) during a capital expansion round. It will use the funds to invest in companies working to improve patient outcomes, increase health-care access and cut health-care costs.