CDPQ and Generation Investment Management Launch Unique Long-Term Sustainable Equity Partnership

PR75625

MONTRÉAL and LONDON, October 08, 2018, /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

-  USD$3bn available to invest in sustainable, resilient businesses  

-  Strategy built on CDPQ and Generation's shared commitment to long term

investing  

-  The investment in FNZ, announced today, represents first transaction  

    La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ("CDPQ") and Generation

Investment Management LLP ("Generation") today announced a unique partnership

for sustainable investing over the long term. The Partnership, which will

combine the strengths of the two organisations, plans to invest an initial

USD$3billion in investments with an 8-15 year duration. This is a much longer

period than typical private equity investments and better suits the objectives

of sustainable value creation to build successful long-term businesses.

    The CDPQ-Generation Partnership will target businesses with outstanding

management teams and solid long-term growth prospects. These investments will

be net positive for the environment, benefit society and in many cases will use

technology as a key factor for driving change.

    David Blood, Senior Partner at Generation, said: "For nearly 15 years,

Generation has worked to prove the business case for long-term sustainable

investing across both listed and private equity markets. This partnership

affords us the opportunity to deploy longer term capital, which truly embodies

the concept of sustainable investing. This is not only an important stride in

fulfilling our own mission at Generation, but one that we hope will catalyse a

more sustainable form of investing in the capital markets."

    Michael Sabia, CEO of CDPQ, said: "This partnership is a natural match

between two like-minded organizations. Sustainability begins with long-term

involvement, which is why we made long-term investment the cornerstone of

CDPQ-Generation. We both integrate ESG principles at the core of our investment

strategies and believe they go hand-in-hand with attractive returns. We also

have tremendous complementarity, as we bring together Generation's world-class

equity research team with CDPQ's investment expertise and global network."

    John Bernstein, Partner at Generation, commented:  "We are extremely

impressed by the leadership CDPQ has shown to drive the long term sustainable

investing agenda, which has been the mission behind Generation since its

foundation in 2004. This Partnership will allow us to back larger private

businesses and will help them to take a longer-term view in the way they build

and back their own initiatives. It is an exciting development in the investment

industry and gives a new option to entrepreneurs and asset owners who want a

truly aligned partner."

    The first investment of the CDPQ-Generation Partnership, also announced

today, is in FNZ. FNZ is a global FinTech firm, transforming the way financial

institutions serve their wealth management customers. It partners with banks,

insurers and asset managers to help consumers better achieve their financial

goals. The CDPQ-Generation Partnership has acquired a majority stake in FNZ in

a deal valuing the company at GBP£1.65 billion (see transaction press release).

    Stéphane Etroy, Executive Vice-President and Head of Private Equity at

CDPQ, said: "We are delighted to be working with Generation, a pioneer in

long-term sustainable investing, and we are proud to make FNZ the first

investment of our new partnership.  FNZ's core mission of improving engagement

and lowering costs for long-term investors across all wealth segments, has

significantly improved access, choice and transparency of long-term savings for

all consumers. We also intend to work with FNZ to improve the ability of

consumers to build sustainability into their investment decisions."

    About CDPQ  

    Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is a long-term institutional

investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and

insurance plans. As at June 30, 2018, it held CA$308.3 billion in net assets.

As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, CDPQ invests globally

in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and

private debt. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter

@LaCDPQ or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.

    About Generation Investment Management

    Generation is a sustainability-focused investment management firm, founded

in 2004. It is an independent, private, owner-managed partnership with offices

in London and San Francisco. Its approach to active investment management is

focused on long-term performance and based on an investment process that fully

integrates sustainability analysis into decision-making. It is dedicated to

generating long-term success by investing in sustainable businesses that

provide goods and services for a low-carbon, prosperous, equitable, healthy and

safe society. As of June 30, 2018, Generation managed appx. US$20 billion of

assets on behalf of professional investors globally.

For further information, please contact:

CDPQ

Cesaltine Gregorio

Senior Director, Global Media Relations

+1-212-596-6314

+1-514-847-5493

medias@cdpq.com  

FNZ

Brian Buckley / Eilis Murphy

Brunswick

+44-(0)20-7404-5959

bbuckley@brunswickgroup.com  

emurphy@brunswickgroup.com

Generation Investment Management

Richard Campbell

CNC

+44-(0)203-755-1601

+44-(0)7775-784-933

generation@cnc-communications.com

Source: Generation Investment Management