Ecofin Limited, an investment management firm specialising in the global utility, infrastructure, energy and alternative energy sectors, launched the Ecofin Global Oil & Gas Fund. This Cayman registered fund employs a long/short equity strategy, close to market-neutral. It offers monthly liquidity and launched with USD32m of AUM.
The Ecofin Global Oil & Gas Fund (the Fund) invests mostly in the mid to large cap equities of super majors, integrated companies, exploration and production companies, refiners and service companies, on a global basis. This investment universe is comprised of more than 1,200 names throughout the world and accounts for circa 30% of global equity market indices.
The Fund’s stock selection is driven by the fundamental analysis of features such as access to resources, capital intensity or mid-cycle returns. Supporting this strategy is Ecofin’s 19 years of experience as a leading global utility and energy sector specialist, enabling it to capitalise on the information arbitrage along the energy value chain. Furthermore, with over 23-years of oil and gas sector expertise the Fund’s investment team is well positioned to capture the remarkable high dispersion of returns in this universe of companies.
The portfolio construction of the Fund is designed to maximise risk adjusted returns with low correlation to both the oil and gas sector and the energy commodity prices.
Bernard Lambilliotte (pictured), Ecofin’s Chief Investment Officer, says: “This oil & gas long/short strategy has been a very successful part of some of Ecofin’s other hedge funds for quite some time. We believe the remarkable market opportunities currently in this space will continue to be there for many years to come, which is precisely why we are now launching this strategy on a stand-alone basis”.
Daniel Lacalle, portfolio manager for the Fund, says: “We are convinced oil & gas companies will continue to engage in divergent strategic approaches to meeting the energy challenges of the world. By cross-referencing these choices with Ecofin’s analysis of the other actors in the global energy value chain, we believe we can seek out and capitalise on an information arbitrage which we expect to translate into superior returns for our investors”.
