Generation Investment Management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Independent, private, owner-managed partnership |
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| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters |  London, England Washington, D.C. |
| Key people | Al Gore, Chairman David Blood, Managing Partner Mark Ferguson, Chief Investment Officer Peter Harris, Chief Operating Officer Peter S. Knight, President of Generation U.S. Colin le Duc, Head of Research |
| Employees | 32 (2008) |
| Website | www.generationim.com |
Generation Investment Management LLP (GIM) is a London-based investment management firm with an investment style that blends traditional equity research with a focus on sustainability factors, including social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is chairman of Generation, and David Blood — previously chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management — is CEO. The pair has given the company its nickname, "Blood and Gore."
Generation Investment Management LLP is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK.
Generation has built a global research platform to integrate sustainability research into fundamental equity analysis. The firm focuses on the economic, environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities that can materially affect a company's ability to sustain profitability and deliver returns.
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[edit] Building energy efficiency
According to the GIM website they have sponsored a full energy efficiency audit for each employee's residence, including suggestions for ways they can make home energy improvements. In February 2007, a conservative think tank cited a report by the Nashville Electric Service that showed Gore used an average 16,000 kilowatt hours a month for an average monthly bill of $1,206 in 2006. The typical Nashville home uses about 1,300 kilowatt hours.[1] Since then, Gore "has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly."[2] Kim Shinn of the US Green Building Council said of the renovations: "Short of tearing it down and starting anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher" for sustainable design."[3]
[edit] History
The November 2004 press release announcing the launch of the firm included the following quote from Gore:
- I'm delighted to join David Blood in founding this firm. The issue of sustainability has always been a passion of mine. Helping to establish the competitive business advantages of sustainability in an investment context with this exceptional team is a very exciting challenge.
- Transparency, innovation, eco-efficiency, investing in the community, nurturing and motivating employees, managing long-term risks, and embracing long-term opportunities are integral parts of a company's enduring capability to create value. Business leaders who align their business strategy and technical development with sustainability and social accountability will deliver superior long-term results to shareholders.
Generation began investing client money in April 2005, and has offices in London and Washington, D.C. The firm currently employs 32 people. Generation's Advisory Board, convened by Gore, helps set Generation's long-term thematic research agenda into global sustainability and renewable energy issues. Past areas of focus have included climate change, poverty and development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, water scarcity, pandemics, demographics and migration, and urbanization.
In November 2007, Generation and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) announced a global collaboration to "find, fund and accelerate green business, technology and policy solutions with the greatest potential to help solve the current climate crisis."[4] As part of the collaboration, prominent KPCB Partner John Doerr joined Generation's Advisory Board.
GIM also owns a 10% stake in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), CCX in turn owns half of European Climate Exchange.This gives Al Gore a financial bias towards promoting global warming control through the issuing of carbon credits[5]
[edit] Controversy
Online commentators and think-tank policy analysts have suggested that Al Gore has created a conflict of interest by working with GIM and simultaneously being the spokesperson for action on global warming.[6][7] The Competitive Enterprise Institute believes that the government policies Gore advocated to the U.S. Senate in January 2009 "will make him and his friends extremely wealthy at the expense of consumers."[8] Such criticism over this alleged conflict of interest has been made as early as March 2007.[9]
[edit] Partnerships
- The Alliance for Climate Protection (Repower America)
- World Resources Institute
- Natural Resources Defense Council [10]
- The Climate Project
- Mistra Foundation [11]
[edit] Investments
[edit] Funding opportunities
Generation Investment Management suggest use the funding opportunities from:
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Associated Press (2007-12-13). "The Associated Press: Gore Completes Renovations to Tenn. Home". http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcDkxa5vPOYsh-mZHZdeBShhlZcAD8TGQVP80. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ Fox News (2007-12-14). "Gore Completes Renovations to Tenn. Home". http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Dec14/0,4670,GoreTennesseeHome,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ CNN (2007-10-12). "Gore Makes Nashville home more "green"". http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/gore.home.ap/. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
- ^ "Generation Investment Management and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Create International Alliance to Accelerate Global Climate Solutions". Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Generation Investment Management. 2007-11-12. http://www.generationim.com/media/pdf-generation-kpcb-12-11-07.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- ^ http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22663
- ^ http://cei.org/node/21602
- ^ http://wizbangblog.com/content/2007/03/03/al-gore-inconvenient-profit.php
- ^ http://cei.org/node/21602
- ^ http://wizbangblog.com/content/2007/03/03/al-gore-inconvenient-profit.php
- ^ http://www.nrdc.org/
- ^ http://www.mistra.org
- ^ http://www.newresourcebank.com
- ^ http://cleantech.com/
- ^ http://www.investorscircle.net/
[edit] External links
- Generation Investment Management
- Announcement of collaboration with KPCB
- Generation Investment Management Profile from the Financial Times (requires log-in)
- For People and For Planet, a 3/28/06 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Al Gore and David Blood
- We Need Sustainable Capitalism, a 11/5/08 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Al Gore and David Blood
- When Principles Aid Performance, an article about the firm from the Financial Times
- Generation Announces Plans For New Investment Management Firm, the November 2004 press release
- SEC Regulatory Information and Disclosed Holdings
- Al Gore's Inconvenient Profit
- David Blood profile, Director magazine 2007
