Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has opened its first Nordic office, in Stockholm, Sweden.
The €1.4trn asset manager said the Nordic region was already a key market for it in Europe, but it was aiming to strengthen its presence in the area.
The office will be led by Anders Arjes, who joined LGIM today as head of Nordics institutional. LGIM said he would be supported by a dedicated sales function for the firm’s Nordic clients, based in London, and would report to Volker Kurr, head of Europe institutional.
Arjes joined LGIM from Deutsche Bank, but has previously served as head of global equities at AP4, Sweden’s fourth pension buffer fund, where he was also a member of the executive management committee. At Deutsche he was director in institutional equity sales and before that he was account manager in institutional equity sales at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux Nordic.
Kurr said: “LGIM has been active in the Nordics for a number of years, and our decision to open the first Nordic office in Sweden demonstrates our commitment to growing our presence in the region.
“It underpins our successful European growth strategy, and will enable us to focus on a key market for us, where we already have significant assets.”
‘Broad and global’ interest for new climate solutions fund
Alternative Investment Partners (AIP) Private Markets, an investment team within Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM), has closed a $110m (€100m) climate solutions fund, MSIM announced this week.
According to MSIM, the offering was launched in a first of its kind collaboration with the US congregations of Dominican Sisters to find investment solutions that focus on climate change and aiding marginalised communities disproportionately impacted by global warming.
It was also the result of collaboration across the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing and its investment management and wealth management divisions. AIP Private Markets launched an impact investing platform in 2014 in partnership with the Institute.
Richard Lockwood, head of distribution for northern Europe at MSIM, said the fund attracted interest from “a broad and global investor group, which includes private and public pensions, faith groups, healthcare systems, foundations and endowments, family offices and high net worth individuals”.
“There is a palpable need from investors for leading and innovative solutions in impact investing, and we are proud to close another successful fund raise,” he said.
Absolute return fund ‘first’
Ambienta, traditionally a private equity investor focussing on environmental sustainability trends, is establishing a public markets division and has launched an absolute return fund that it believes to be the world’s first long/short fund entirely focussed on environmental sustainability.
According to a statement from the asset manager, the new fund – Ambienta X Alpha – will take long positions in companies that are poised to capitalise on sustainability megatrends, and short decisions based on factors including “overhyped environmental themes and whether companies feature disrupted or unproven business models”.
The new fund is managed by a team led by Fabio Pecce, chief investment officer of Ambienta X, the new public markets division. Pecce and his team are new hires.
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