Aiming to put the energy transition at the centre of the post-Covid economic recovery, while strengthening the balance sheets of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital's T2 Energy Transition Fund (T2) has attracted more than €1 billion ($1.2 billion) from over 150 investors.

T2 aims to invest in profitable companies that help reduce carbon emissions immediately, as opposed to providing a reduction in the long run, and look to accelerate the growth of European energy transition companies to turn them into global leaders in reducing the carbon footprint. It invests along three themes; energy efficiency, primarily through thermal renovation of buildings, decarbonised transport such as electric vehicles and the expansion and storage of renewable and decarbonised energy.

"We believe that it is our role as a responsible investor to direct global savings towards financing the real economy, providing vital support to companies seeking to contribute to a low-carbon economy," said Pierre Abadie, co-manager of Tikehau Capital's Energy Transition fund, "For the first time, this fund institutionalises climate investing but also aligns our investments with the International Energy Agency's net-zero roadmap which states that 80% of CO2 reduction required by 2030 will come from the massification of existing and proven technologies."

So far the fund has, along with co-investors, committed €440 million into six European companies targeting these areas.

An Environmental Finance Sustainable Investment Awards judge commended the fund's "strong combination of investment thesis related to the low-carbon transition and post-pandemic opportunity".