Slate Asset Management (“Slate” or “the firm”), a global alternative investment platform targeting real assets, announced today that it has launched an impact investment strategy focused on infrastructure and appointed Christian Schmid as Managing Director and Global Head of Infrastructure. He will lead the firm’s new Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy, which will target infrastructure assets that advance the global energy transition and drive reductions in carbon emissions associated with our cities and communities.

According to data from UN Habitat, cities consume 78 percent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, they account for less than 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. These urban communities face significant questions of how to limit their emissions and achieve their carbon reduction targets. Existing technologies can provide long-term, sustainable solutions but will require significant public and private sector partnership and collaboration. Through its Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy, Slate will partner closely with cities, companies and technology providers and invest across the infrastructure spectrum in long-term clean energy and sustainability solutions for urban settings.

“Meeting the ambitious net-zero commitments of governments and communities around the world will require massive investments to upgrade and modernize urban infrastructure,” said Brady Welch, Founding Partner at Slate Asset Management. “With our Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy, we have a unique opportunity to leverage Slate’s existing expertise, reach and relationships to put ourselves at the forefront of that change, and we are very pleased that Christian has joined us to lead these efforts.”

Schmid has more than 15 years of experience in public and private infrastructure investments, having led the origination and execution of infrastructure transactions valued at approximately US$40 billion across Europe, North America and Australia. That expertise includes acting on the buy-side and sell-side of dozens of large transactions, with an emphasis on renewable energy investments and other essential infrastructure.

“Climate change poses an increasingly significant risk to virtually every segment of our society, and cities have a strong incentive to address these emissions through urban planning, technologies and behavioral change,” said Blair Welch, Founding Partner at Slate. “Christian will draw upon his deep expertise and knowledge in this space to take our Cities and Communities Impact Infrastructure Strategy forward, enabling Slate to contribute to real and positive change globally.”

Schmid joins Slate from Queensland Investment Corporation (“QIC”), where he was the Sector Lead for Utilities and led the successful acquisition of CenTrio (formerly Enwave Energy U.S.), the leading pure-play district energy platform in the U.S. Prior to QIC, he spent 13 years at RBC Capital Markets, where he was a Managing Director responsible for originating and executing infrastructure transactions across Europe and North America. Some of his more recent transaction experience includes advising on the acquisition of Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. and Vicinity Energy in the US and sub-metering businesses Techem GmbH and ista International GmbH in Europe. He began his career at the German utility company RWE, where he worked in Corporate Finance. Schmid holds a Diplom-Kaufmann (MBA equivalent) from the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany and a MSc in Finance from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

“Slate’s young culture of innovation will be a significant advantage as we champion technologies and infrastructure solutions aimed at making our cities and communities more environmentally resilient,” said Schmid. “This culture, coupled with the firm’s well-established global footprint, vertically-integrated portfolio and focus on ESG, positions Slate well to unlock compelling investment opportunities tied to the global energy transition, while advancing our vision of a more sustainable future.”

Schmid started at Slate on February 21 and is based in the firm’s London office.

Source: Business Wire