Jupiter to launch new environmental investment trust
Please note: the name of this investment trust has changed to the Jupiter Green Investment Trust - click here for more

Jupiter is delighted to announce the launch of a new environmental investment trust that will give investors the opportunity to benefit from increasing demand for environmental solutions.

The Jupiter Green Century Investment Trust will invest in a global portfolio of companies operating in one of six key areas - water management, clean energy, green transport, waste management, sustainable living and environmental services. Jupiter believes these areas will benefit most from greater concerns over environmental issues with governments around the world increasingly introducing subsidies and tax breaks to help them meet environmental targets.

The new trust will be managed by a team of 17 environmental investment experts in London and Boston, US. Charlie Thomas, manager of the Jupiter Ecology Fund and the Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust, will be lead manager of the new trust, working with Jupiter's eight-strong SRI research team to select stocks in all regions, except the US. The American portfolio will be sub-contracted to Boston-based Winslow, which has a team of eight environmental investment professionals, led by Matthew Patsky.

Emma Howard Boyd, head of SRI and corporate governance at Jupiter, said: "We believe this new Trust is a unique proposition for investors, both in terms of the size of the investment team and the investment approach we are using. Instead of focusing on negative criteria, we have taken a positive stance - there will be no restrictions on the stocks we can invest in, providing they fit into one of our six investment themes.

"We believe focusing on finding companies that operate in the environmental sphere that offer the best growth prospects, rather than assessing stocks on negative criteria will enable us to address many of the perceived performance issues typically associated with green investing and broaden the appeal of environmental investing as a result."

Speaking on the six themes that will drive the investment process, Charlie Thomas, who will manage the new Trust, said: "Environmental issues are clearly at the top of the political agenda, not just in the UK but globally. Much of this debate in recent months has been focused on dwindling energy supplies and rising oil prices but other issues are of equal importance.

"In the next 20 years, for example, average water supply is expected to drop by a third at the same time as demand is set to grow exponentially. There is, in addition, growth in environmental legislation and an increasing focus on recycling as governments look to use waste to produce energy. These drivers will, in our view, result in strong growth for quality businesses in these areas."

Matthew Patsky, fund manager at Winslow, added: "These investment trends are truly global. Even in the US, where there is a lack of support at a federal level, individual states and municipalities are pushing for environmental change. In  the north-east, for example, a number of states have banded together to put together targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are akin to the Kyoto agreement that at a federal level the US has refused to sign. So, while the rate of change around the world may differ, the momentum appears to be unstoppable."

Prospectuses for the Jupiter Green Century Investment Trust, will be available from early May. The trust will be launched in June.

Notes to Editors:

Jupiter Green Century Investment Trust will have a simple capital structure, with ordinary shares priced at 100p and one warrant issued for every five shares bought. The annual management fee will be 0.85% of net asset value.  

Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust announced proposals for the reconstruction and voluntary winding-up of the Company on 3.4.06. Shareholders, with the exception of Participating Subscription Shareholders, will have an opportunity to roll their investments over into the Jupiter Green Century Investment Trust, to receive cash, or a combination of the two.