Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch and Generation enhance their partnership in sustainable investment

11 March 2008

Al Gore and David Blood, co-founders of Generation Investment Management (“Generation”), together with Thierry Lombard, Senior Partner of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, have unveiled the next step of their long-term partnership in “sustainable investing”. The two firms will share ideas and initiatives on the way to fund and accelerate green business and technology with the greatest potential to help solve the climate crisis.

During a press conference in Geneva, Al Gore did not simply remind the audience about the state of the planet. Alongside his partners, the chairman and co-founder of Generation clearly set out his concrete commitment to practical solutions. His intervention not only raised the public awareness of the critical nature of the situation, it also set out the need to develop tangible and realistic paths to a sustainable future. “Integrating issues such as climate change into investment analysis is simply common sense”, said Al Gore.

This is a vision shared by Thierry Lombard who believes that sustainable investment is emerging as a major theme in long-term investment. “The context of business is changing, and therefore so is investment”, explained the Senior Partner of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie. “And we are convinced that sustainable development and financial performance are complementary.”

The two firms will share research on opportunities in areas such as renewable energy, carbon markets, energy efficiency, cleaner fossil energy and sustainable agriculture. “There are many companies that are rapidly developing technologies that will have a significant impact on the world’s ability to manage the climate crisis. Our collaboration intends to identify the companies most likely to succeed in these areas”, added David Blood, co-founder and Managing Partner of Generation.

This next step in the collaboration reinforces the long-term partnership announced last November between Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch and Generation. The two firms decided then to join forces to promote sustainable investment, with Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch becoming Generation’s sole partner for distribution of Generation’s global equity strategy in Europe. This exclusive distribution agreement entailed the joint launch last November of an investment vehicle following the unique sustainability approach developed by Generation.

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