Impax Asset Management, an environmentally focused investor, saw net inflows of £830 million (€988 million) over six months – a figure that equates to a sizeable portion of its total assets under management.
The UK firm, which is listed on the AIM market for smaller companies and sub-advises funds marketed under BNP Paribas’ brand as well as its own name, had assets under management of £5.7 billion at the end of March following the record net inflows and positive investment performance.
The record inflows for the six-month period were not far from double the £496 million received in the previous 12-month period to the end of September 2016.
Ian Simm, chief executive, said the environmental markets in which the firm invests through listed and private equities had remained robust despite President Donald Trump threatening to pull out of the Paris Agreement that saw countries pledge to meet climate change targets.
“There is considerable support across Congress for the further development of renewable energy, and more investment is being targeted to increase the resilience of water supplies. Any efforts to roll back existing pollution regulations are likely to face stiff legal challenges,” he said.
Impax said it had seen demand from North America clients and Continental European investors and that environmental markets continued to evolve as the number of companies active in these sectors increased.
The firm said inflows had been strong for six consecutive quarters and that since March 31 when the company’s interim reporting period ended, AUM had risen to £6 billion.
White-labeled funds for BNP Paribas include funds based on Impax’s water and combined food and agriculture strategies.
Impax said that over the past two years, BNP Paribas has raised about €450 million for funds based on Impax’s food and agriculture strategy and the net assets of the BNP Paribas Aqua fund, which Impax has sub-managed since inception in 2009, recently exceeded €2 billion.
Impax’s revenue for the six months to March 31, 2017, was £13.9 million.
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