BlackRock is creating a new unit to take advantage of "historic" opportunities in the clean energy transition that could see trillions of dollars in investments, according to an internal memo seen by Pensions & Investments.
The transition capital unit will operate within BlackRock Alternatives.
Historic challenges and opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon economy are "on par with the rise of emerging markets and digitization in recent decades," the Oct. 17 memo said.
"We believe many hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars per year, will be invested through the transition and we have spent the past several years becoming a global leader in transition investing to ensure our clients have the tools they need to navigate it."
In public markets, those tools include the largest sustainable indexing and ETF franchise and an active thematics team. In private markets, BlackRock capabilities include partnerships on climate Infrastructure and decarbonization, it said.
"Our aim is to be the clear global leader," the memo said.
The transition capital unit will be led by Dickon Pinner, the former head of McKinsey's global sustainability growth platform. Mr. Pinner is a reservoir engineer and worked on clean technologies at McKinsey, the memo said. Mr. Pinner will report jointly to BlackRock Vice Chairman Philipp Hildebrand and Edwin Conway, global head of BlackRock Alternative Investors. He will serve on the BlackRock Alternatives Executive Committee and senior sustainability committees, the memo said.
The new unit will partner with portfolio managers and BlackRock Capital Markets to find proprietary transition-focused opportunities across asset classes and geographies, and will collaborate with other BlackRock sustainable teams to develop new investment strategies and funds and deepen investment research capabilities, the memo said.
