No trumping AUM growth

Impax is a market leading manager of both listed and private equity funds, which invest in ways that take advantage of more environmentally sustainable corporate and economic growth globally.

With the addition of £500m to AUM, Impax closed another strong month. That brought total AUM to £6.5bn, c 8% growth in May, and recent momentum (from £4.2bn at end Sep 2016) suggests that efforts to build the scale and profile of Group funds and investment expertise in target markets have gained traction. We have again pushed up our FY17e revenues and earnings forecasts to reflect higher projected fees on the back of a revised AUM target of £7.0bn by end September,

We don’t regard President Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement as a significant impediment to Group ambitions, while management anticipates relatively superficial effects on both investment returns and potential demand for renewables. Existing regulatory mechanisms will continue to provide growth drivers for environmental solutions, supported by the economic benefit of reduced energy use and associated CO2 emissions.

All other countries remain firmly on board and many US states have since confirmed their individual intentions to fulfil their country’s commitment. Indeed there is still broad consensus regarding the need to maintain investment in renewables and other initiatives to improve water and air quality. Environmental market demand is increasingly based on economics, not subsidies: so, as the cost of renewables falls, they have become increasingly competitive alternatives to natural gas and coal-fired energy without subsidies.