Kairos and Ambienta launch the Kairos Ambiente Fund
Kairos believes in growth of the sector – around 600 listed securities in the world – and launches a fund dedicated to the environment. It will be managed by a team led by Federico Trabucco with technical advisory from Ambienta.
Milan, September 2010 – Kairos Ambiente, a section of Kairos International SICAV, was launched on September 2010. The UCITS 3 flexible fund with no limits on geographical allocation invests in the environmental sector as a whole and thus not just in renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal) but also in energy efficiency, water and waste management, pollution control, bio-construction, smart grid, LED and other emerging areas.
The fund will be managed by Federico Trabucco, along with the Kairos team of analysts focused on utilities, industry and renewables and with technical advisory from Ambienta SGR.
Paolo Basilico, Managing Director of Kairos, commented: “Our strategy is to continue investing in new resources and on new projects, despite the financial market crisis. On the one hand, this distinguishes us within a sector of asset management focused solely on distribution. On the other, it enables us to increase assets, by 500 million since the start of the year, and finance the recruitment of new talent. The Ambiente fund reflects this strategy. We have for market prices to decline, and the sector now seems to offer great opportunities. We have hired a manager with great experience and signed an agreement with a technical partner that offers us the best advisory available in the market. This may seem an outdated, outmoded way of working to today’s aficionados of ETFs and sovereign bonds, but it will pay out has it always has in these ten years.”
For Nino Tronchetti Provera, Managing Director of Ambienta SGR: Ambienta is being investing in the Environmental Business since 2007, because we believe that sustainable technologies are a profitable business to invest in. The partnership with Kairos reflects our strategy in this wide sector, which shows great growth potential in several asset classes. The Ambienta team will provide advisory on the sector leveraging on our consolidated know-how, without losing focus on our core business, which is investing in high-growth “private” companies”.
For Federico Trabucco, the fund manager: “Kairos Ambiente was formed based on the conviction that the conditions exist for continued growth in the sector. The long-term trend, in fact, indicates growth in coming years driven by regulation, necessity, and new technologies. The increasing world population and number of consumers and the rising standard of living are strongly impacting the availability and pricing of energy, water and other resources, hence the need to use resources more efficiently. But it also presents a business opportunity for those able to make an innovative contribution. Some of the most interesting ideas are coming from companies regarded as “traditional”, without the risk of new technologies or untested business models.” We have identified a universe of around 600 listed securities worldwide from which to choose to structure the portfolio.
The objective of Kairos Ambiente is to participate in the long-term growth of the sector with less volatility and reduced risk in difficult market periods. The fund may take short positions and use derivatives, but it will maintain an investment, under normal conditions, of between 20% and 80% of NAV to give exposure to a volatile sector but one with excellent medium-term growth prospects.
Federico Trabucco, Piedmontese, has 22 years of experience as an equity manager and analyst. He comes from Prima SGR, formerly Monte dei Paschi Asset Management, where he was European mid- and small-cap manager and later in charge of equity funds.
