Olivia Wassenaar, Apollo

Apollo Global Management has launched a sustainable investing platform to invest $100 billion in energy transition assets over the next decade.

Building on the private markets momentum to finance climate change solutions, Apollo has created a platform to invest in the “decarbonisation of industry”, the firm, which manages $498 billion in assets, said in a statement. The sustainable investing group will be led by Olivia Wassenaar, who joined the firm in 2018 to co-lead Apollo’s private equity natural resources strategy.

Apollo plans to “deploy record capital across our entire platform” to support the firm’s energy transition goal, Wassenaar said in the statement.

Joseph Moroney, a 13-year Apollo veteran and partner at the firm, will help with the new strategy as head of sustainable finance function, and chief sustainability officer Dave Stangis is overseeing the initiative.

The sustainable investing platform will deploy capital and work with Apollo’s existing business groups including credit, private equity, real assets, natural resources and impact to meet a five-year goal to invest $50 billion in clean energy and climate-focused assets.

The sustainability platform will work with the firm’s $350 billion credit group to finance businesses seeking to reduce their carbon footprints and meet net-zero emissions targets, an Apollo spokesperson told New Private Markets.

The spokesperson declined to comment on fundraising plans for the sustainable investing platform.

Apollo has increased its focus on climate-related investments in recent years. The firm has committed more than $19 billion in deals including the acquisition of clean energy company Petros PACE Finance, the purchase of a stake in a 2.5GW renewable energy portfolio managed by NextEra Energy Partners and the launch of Ionic Blue, a joint venture with Johnson Controls to provide energy efficiency services.

While announcing the new investing platform, Apollo also made commitments that will direct sustainability practices across the firm’s portfolio, including by aligning its public reporting with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations.

Apollo also committed to reducing the carbon intensity of control investments made from the firm’s new flagship fund, which is targeting $25 billion, by 15 percent over the fund’s hold period. The firm recently pledged not to invest in fossil fuels from this fund, according to a recent Bloomberg article.

Impact investing is another area of sustainability Apollo has recently sought to prioritise. The firm began fundraising for the Apollo Impact Mission Fund in January 2021, targeting mature companies that operate “with a high degree of intentionality around impact”, Monta Ozolina, a principal in Apollo’s impact investing team, told New Private Markets in November.

The firm’s impact strategy, which in July had reportedly raised $500 million, is focusing on opportunities in health and safety, economic opportunity, education, industrial technologies and climate sustainability. In November, Apollo targeted efforts to curb drunk driving fatalities with the acquisition of 1A Smart Start, a company providing vehicle ignition interlock devices.