The Westpac-owned Ascalon Capital Managers has launched a retail version of the Arkx Investment Management’s clean energy fund, hoping to capitalize on growing interest in clean energy stocks, electric vehicles and energy efficiency. “Moves around the globe to a low carbon economy will fundamentally alter what goods and services are produced, how they are produced and where,” Arkx managing director Geoff Evison said.

“A number of large, profitable companies internationally are already heavily involved in the production of renewable energy and in energy efficiency technologies. These companies stand to be major beneficiaries as governments grow in their resolve to combat climate change while ensuring energy security.” Evison said the fund will invest in a portfolio of 20-30 listed companies, all with proven and profitable technologies and strong balance sheets.

Arkx currently managed nearly $10 million in institutional money with a minimum subscription of $500,000, but the new fund will accept subscriptions of $25,000. Ascalon bought a 30 per cent stake in Arkx last year. Arkx describes the fund as suitable for “investors with a long-term focus.” It aims to outperform the MSCI World Index over a rolling five-year period. It says it has outperformed that index, as well as the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, since the fund’s inception in 2008.

Digging deep

Broking house Taylor Collison has been forced to find a home for more than 34 million shares in Panax geothermal, after a $3.7 million rights issue fell way short, and the broking house had to fill the difference to reach the $2 million it agreed to underwrite. Panax had sought up to $3.7 million in the 6-for-10 issue at 2c a share to help fund the development of highly prospective projects in Indonesia. It sold $1.3 million of shares, as just over a quarter of its 2,300 shareholders took up the offer, leaving Taylor Collison to take up 34.7 million shares worth $695,000 to sell to its clients.

Panax said that apart from the proceeds from the rights issue, it expects its cash position to be boosted by $1 million from the finalisation of its geothermal drilling program grant and from R&D tax rebates. Panax is looking to develop a suite of geothermal projects in Indonesia in partnership with PT Bakrie Power that have a total capacity of 300MW. “We received relatively strong support from our shareholder base, in an overall market that was and remains relatively tough, particularly so for renewable energy investment in this country,” managing director Kerry Parker said.

Solar deadline

The solar industry has demanded a response from the NSW government by the close of business today on its proposed "aggregated metering", which it says is crucial to the future of the industry in the state. Aggregated metering - calculating the output from rooftop solar over an entire billing period rather rather than short intervals - would allow households to use the entire output of the system to offset electricity bills, and give a strong price incentive to install the systems, at no cost to the government or other consumers, the industry says.

The proposal was made by the peak solar bodies, the Australian Solar Energy Society and the Solar Energy Industries Association, as the solar summit in Newcastle on Friday. They argue that half of the estimated 8,000 jobs in the solar industry in the state are at risk, and could be lost within two months without a clear signal from the government, which had said it wanted to await an investigation by IPART into the value of solar PV before taking action.

How green is your bond?

Australian fund managers are showing interest in investing in climate bonds, which are expected to be a key tool to leverage up to $1 trillion a year needed for the transition to the low carbon economy. The Investor Group on Climate Change, which represents Australian funds managing around $600 billion, said it is joining the International Climate Bond Standards Board, charged with supervising a program to provide investors and governments an easy way to assess the integrity of environmental claims for green bonds. "The transition to a low-carbon economy requires a wide range of energy and infrastructure investments,” IGCC CEO Nathan Fabian said. “Climate Bonds Standards will provide a simple tool for investors to screen the opportunities that come before them.”

Sean Kidney, chairman of the Climate Bonds Initiative, said most of the $1 trillion needed to flow into low-carbon industries will come from bond markets. So far, around $12 billion of bonds backed by investments related to climate change solutions have been issued internationally, and growing this “green debt” market will provide institutional investors with opportunities to switch from carbon intensive to low-carbon investments. Kidney noted that funds under management by global bond traders reached $105 trillion in 2010, and more than $6 trillion of new bonds were issued last year. “The challenge of redirecting just 1 percent per year of funds under management into building the low carbon economy is therefore eminently achievable," he said.