Japanese asset manager Sparx Group aims to set up a fund that invests in infrastructure for renewable energy by next year, anticipating strong demand as the country shifts away from nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster.
“We are seriously considering setting up a fund that invests in power generation plants of renewable energy, such as mega solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and so on,” Shuhei Abe, president and chief executive of Sparx, told Reuters in an interview.
“We want to launch and begin investing in the fund by next year,” Abe said.
Japan is overhauling its energy policy after the Fukushima nuclear plant accident, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami in March, shattered the public’s confidence in atomic safety.
To accelerate the growth of renewable energy sources, parliament has approved a law, which takes effect in July 2012, requiring utilities to buy electricity from such sources and pass on the cost to customers.
“I believe renewable energy will be a hot topic by July when the law is implemented, so we want to make some kind of initial move as soon as possible,” he said.
In South Korea, Sparx’s unit Cosmo Investment Management plans to launch its first Korean-domiciled, retail-targeted mutual fund in the first quarter of 2012.
Sparx and its stakeholder Lotte Group will put start-up capital of more than 1 billion yen in the Korean equities mutual fund, Abe said.
Abe said he hopes assets under management of the Korean mutual will grow to around 50 to 100 billion yen within three to five years.
Sparx is one of Asia’s biggest home-grown hedge fund firms and the only listed hedge fund in Japan. Sparx managed 533 billion yen in assets as of October.
Sparx is on track in attracting investments in its planned $100 million real estate fund that invests in companies building temporary hotels in areas hit by the March earthquake and tsunami, Abe said.
The first fund, worth about 1.1 billion yen, was launched in September and the second, worth about 3.5 billion yen, will be launched early next year, Abe said.
