Generation Investment Management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Generation Investment Management LLP

Type	Independent, private, owner-managed partnership
Founded	2004
Headquarters	London, England Washington, D.C.
Key people	Al Gore, Chairman David Blood, Managing Partner Mark Ferguson, Chief Investment Officer Peter Harris, Chief Operating Officer Peter S. Knight, President of Generation U.S. Colin le Duc, Head of Research
Employees	28 (2008)
Website	www.generationim.com

Generation Investment Management LLP is a London-based investment management firm with an investment style that blends traditional equity research with a focus on sustainability factors, including social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is chairman of Generation, and David Blood — previously chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management — is CEO. The pair has given the company its nickname, "Blood and Gore."

Generation has built a global research platform to integrate sustainability research into fundamental equity analysis. The firm focuses on the economic, environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities that can materially affect a company's ability to sustain profitability and deliver returns.

According to the GIM website they have sponsored a full energy efficiency audit for each employee's residence, including suggestions for ways they can make home energy improvements. In February 2007, a conservative think tank cited a report by the Nashville Electric Service that showed Gore used an average 16,000 kilowatt hours a month for an average monthly bill of $1,206 in 2006. The typical Nashville home uses about 1,300 kilowatt hours.^[1] Since then, Gore "has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most environmentally friendly."^[2] Kim Shinn of the US Green Building Council said of the renovations: "Short of tearing it down and starting anew, I don't know how it could have been rated any higher" for sustainable design."^[3]

The November 2004 press release announcing the launch of the firm included the following quote from Gore:

I'm delighted to join David Blood in founding this firm. The issue of sustainability has always been a passion of mine. Helping to establish the competitive business advantages of sustainability in an investment context with this exceptional team is a very exciting challenge.

Transparency, innovation, eco-efficiency, investing in the community, nurturing and motivating employees, managing long-term risks, and embracing long-term opportunities are integral parts of a company's enduring capability to create value. Business leaders who align their business strategy and technical development with sustainability and social accountability will deliver superior long-term results to shareholders.

Generation began investing client money in April 2005, and has offices in London and Washington, D.C. The firm currently employs 28 people. Generation's Advisory Board, convened by Gore, helps set Generation's long-term thematic research agenda into global sustainability issues. Past areas of focus have included climate change, poverty and development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, water scarcity, pandemics, demographics and migration, and urbanization.

In November 2007, Generation and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers announced a global collaboration to "find, fund and accelerate green business, technology and policy solutions with the greatest potential to help solve the current climate crisis."^[4] As part of the collaboration, prominent KPCB Partner John Doerr joined Generation's Advisory Board.

Generation Investment Management LLP is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK.