Clean energy is the future, but it is also very much the present. Some $329 billion was invested in clean energy in 2015 worldwide, even as fossil fuel prices fell. Wind and solar made up two-thirds of all new electric generating capacity added in the United States in 2015. The number of installed solar systems in the US hit 1 million early in 2016. Bloomberg New Energy Finance projected that $500 billion per year would be invested in new renewables for electricity generation worldwide between 2015 and 2025. In December 2015, 190 nations made commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Achieving those targets would increase that investment in new renewables to $800 billion per year, and more after 2025.
Experienced private equity and venture capital investor Rob Day has been front and center in Boston-area clean tech for fifteen years. Rob will provide a tour of the clean energy investing landscape to open the BSAS Investing in Clean Energy breakfast seminar on Thursday, June 9th.
The BSAS Investing in Clean Energy breakfast seminar is designed for investors – from high net worth individuals to large institutions – who see that this transformation in the global energy landscape is underway and want to understand how to participate. The seminar will provide investment professionals with an overview of the clean energy landscape and the investment opportunities available. Our subject matter experts will describe the opportunities currently available in the public markets and the private markets, and explain how innovations in technology and business models are shaping both current and future investment opportunities.
Registration (and continental breakfast) begins at 8:00am
Session Agenda:
- The Clean Energy Landscape – Market and Industry Perspective
Rob Day, Partner at Black Coral Capital - Public Market Opportunities
Elizabeth Levy, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Trillium Asset Management - Private Market Opportunities(Project Finance)
Kevin Krachman, CFO, PSM Clean Energy - Technology and Business Model Innovation
Mark Barnett,Partner, Foley Hoag LLP
Tod Hynes, CEO XL Hybrids
Sarah Wood Kearney, Executive Director, PRIME Coalition
Please join us for Investing in Clean Energy on Thursday, June 9th from 8:00 am – 11:00 am at the Metro Meeting Center, 101 Federal Street, Boston.
Please register here on the BSAS web site.
Meet the Speakers:
Rob Day is a Partner with Black Coral Capital, based in Boston. He has been a cleantech private equity investor since 2004, and acts or has served as a Director, Observer and advisory board member to multiple companies in the energy tech and related sectors. He also serves on the Board at the New England Clean Energy Council. Since 2005 he has authored the column “Cleantech Investing”, which currently appears on GreentechMedia.com. Rob received his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and his BA at Swarthmore College.
Mark Barnett has an extensive business law practice focused on the energy and clean technology and infrastructure sectors as Co-Chair of Foley Hoag’s Energy & Cleantech Industry Group and head of the firm’s Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development Practice. Mark works closely with clients developing innovative technologies and business approaches to solving energy and sustainability challenges, advising these emerging and high growth companies in all aspects of strategic development, financings and acquisitions, intellectual property and industry-specific regulatory and policy matters. He also leads the firm’s renewable energy project finance practice with a particular focus on solar energy project development and finance, working with a broad range of developers, project sponsors and investors in this dynamic and growing sector.
Tod Hynes founded XL Hybrids in 2009 and leads the company’s corporate strategy and operations. Tod is also a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has taught graduate course, Energy Ventures, since 2008. Previously, Tod was director of alternative energy at Citizens Energy where he launched the company’s wind development business. Prior to Citizens Energy, Tod founded a consulting and engineering company in distributed power generation. Tod also co-founded the MIT Clean Energy Prize and co-chaired the Energy Committee of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC), the organization that greened the 2004 U.S. presidential Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. He has a Bachelor of Science in management science from MIT.
Sarah Kearney is the founder and Executive Director of PRIME Coalition, a membership-based nonprofit that connects philanthropists and family offices to high-risk, high-reward investment opportunities that address climate change. PRIME’s mission is rooted in Sarah’s prior experience in the philanthropy sector and her research at the MIT Energy Initiative. At MIT, Sarah served as Director for the MIT Energy Conference, Graduate Student Chair for the inaugural DOE Women in Energy (C3E) Symposium, and teaching staff for the interdisciplinary course Energy Ventures. Based on her extracurricular contributions, she was awarded MIT’s Ronald Heller Entrepreneurship Award. Prior to MIT, Sarah served as Executive Director and Trustee of the Chesonis Family Foundation. She managed accounts, advised on investments, and crafted the foundation’s grantmaking strategy alongside Chesonis family members. She holds an MS in Technology and Policy from MIT’s Engineering Systems Division and a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia, where she was appointed to the honorary Raven Society.
Kevin Krachman is the CFO at PSM Clean Energy and is responsible for structuring PSM’s Solar Bond and Solar Tax Equity investment offerings. Kevin co-founded PSM to empower investors to invest directly in commercial solar projects to achieve competitive financial returns and an immediate social impact. Before PSM, Kevin worked for Apex Clean Energy where he was involved in project acquisition and financing. Before Apex, he worked for Analysis Group and Cornerstone Research where he led consulting teams working across a variety of industries and functions, including private equity, banking, and energy, on projects related to litigation, mergers & acquisitions, and profit maximization. Kevin holds a B.S. in Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, as well as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations.
Elizabeth Levy is a senior vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst at Trillium Asset Management. She also leads its All Cap Core and Fossil Fuel Free Core strategies and provides research to Trillium’s Community Investment portfolio. Before joining Trillium in 2012, Liz worked as a portfolio manager for Winslow Management Company where she managed two environmentally-focused investment strategies, the Winslow Green Large Cap strategy and the Winslow Green Growth strategy. Liz also provided equity research with a focus on water and green transportation companies. Before joining Winslow in 2004, Liz was a research associate for Tellus Institute, an environmental research organization. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the UMass Boston Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness and recently served on the Steering Committee of the Social Investment Research Analysts Network (SIRAN). Liz was previously Treasurer and Vice President of the Board of Directors of Harvest Cooperative Markets in Boston. Liz holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary, and a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, as well as the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.