Featured Presenters:
Founders of Terra Verde Capital, Richard Bookbinder (I’ve known for over 7 years) and D. Tyler Jenks
Below firm & strategy detail.
TerraVerde’s investment thesis is that growing global populations have placed tremendous stress on natural resources and now there is an increasing awareness to the issues of global warming and climate change. With the world population expected to increase by 2 billion people by 2050, TVCM’s objective is to capitalize on the dramatic shift that is taking place in the way that companies manage and adapt their businesses in a resource constrained world. We need look no further than California’s recent worst water plight in 100 years or Texas mired in a multiyear drought. Many asset owners including institutional investors and high net worth investors are beginning to incorporate climate risk as a critical component for risk management in their portfolios by seeking new investment alternatives.
Infrastructure in the developed world is proving outdated, inefficient, unsafe, and hazardous to the environment. A recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, for instance, “awarded” America’s infrastructure a cumulative grade of D+ (an upgrade from D in the 2008 report). Dated bridges, dams, and levees threaten the safety of citizens each day, energy waste by an aging electrical grid leads to unnecessary emissions and consumer prices, and nuclear decommissioning and cleanup obligations pose deep financial and health costs. As climate change intensifies, further structural inadequacies will be exposed. According to a recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute, $57 Trillion is needed by 2030 to keep up with global economic growth. While this amount may appear to be daunting, it indicates the enormous deficiency of global infrastructures.
As an outgrowth of managing a hedge fund of funds for 14 years, several years ago the principals of TerraVerde Capital Management (TVCM) recognized the developing theme of resource depletion including water, aging infrastructure, environmental degradation, and sustainability.
Recognizing the challenges that were presented, TerraVerde Capital Partners LP (Fund) was launched in 2009, and funded with $3 million of internal capital as a dedicated infrastructure hedge fund of funds and an absolute return oriented fund.
The Fund currently allocates to 9 global managers who are niche specialists in strategies that include: infrastructure, transmission and transportation, weather and power trading, and long/short equity strategies that include water and waste water, power generation, and clean tech and renewable energy. The track records of the managers range from 5 years to over 13 years and average fund management companies’ assets range from $75 Million to over $180 Billion. The diversified portfolio capitalizes on the developing shift to efficiency and disruptive technology in which there will be many successful companies with many unsuccessful companies that fail to change their business models.
Now, with a 4 ½ year track record, TerraVerde is seeking acceleration capital to grow the fund, to reach critical mass, and be positioned to reach out to institutional and high net worth/family office investors.
Bios:
Richard Bookbinder
Richard Bookbinder formed Bookbinder Capital Management LLC (“BCM”) in 1999 and is actively involved in all aspects of fund management including portfolio allocation, manager research, and due diligence. Mr. Bookbinder currently manages two hedge funds of funds. The Roebling Fund LP was launched October 1999, and is an absolute return oriented fund. TerraVerde Capital Partners LP was launched July 2009 and allocates capital to specialized hedge fund strategies that focus on renewable energy and clean tech.
Prior to forming BCM, Mr. Bookbinder was a Founding Principal of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, LP in 1988, a leading investment bank specializing in the financial institution markets. Previously, Mr. Bookbinder was a Limited Partner and Associate Director in fixed income at Bear, Stearns.
Richard Bookbinder is registered with the National Futures Association as an NFA Associate Member, and currently holds a Series 3 registration with FINRA. Mr. Bookbinder earned a B.A. in Economics from Upsala College. Mr. Bookbinder also is a member of the U.S. Social Investment Forum, the American Council on Renewable Energy, and CERES. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Darrow School, New Lebanon, NY, and the Chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors Investment Committee of Washington College, Chestertown, MD. He also serves as the external advisor to Washington College’s student run Alex Brown Investment Fund. His book, Fund of Funds Investing: A Roadmap to Portfolio Diversification, was published by John Wiley & Sons in 2009.
- Tyler Jenks
- Tyler Jenks is the Portfolio Strategist of BCM and TerraVerde Capital Partners LP. Currently, he is the President and CIO of Lucid Investment, a division of Dumont and Blake Investment Advisors. From 1998 to 2007, Mr. Jenks served as President & Chief Investment Officer of Amivest Capital Management which was purchased by North Fork Bank in 1998. Mr. Jenks also served as Chief Investment Officer of North Fork Bank’s Trust Department as well as the Amivest Investment Strategy Committee and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. At North Fork Bank, Mr. Jenks served as consultant to the Bank’s Retirement Committee and North Fork Bank’s Asset/Liability Committee. North Fork Bank was purchased by Capital One Bank in 2006. Mr. Jenks joined Amivest Capital Management in 1991 and served as Senior Portfolio Manager. Prior to joining Amivest, Mr. Jenks founded Boston-based Kanon Bloch Carre & Co., Inc. and was Director of Research and Chairman of the investment committee from 1985 to 1991, where he was responsible for the design, development and implementation of mutual fund evaluation techniques.
Mr. Jenks graduated from Principia College with a degree in International Relations. On April 22, 1970, Mr. Jenks was the student key note speaker at the first Earth Day Environmental Teach-in. Mr. Jenks spent four years as an officer in the United States Coast Guard. As Executive Officer of the Captain of Port Honolulu, Mr. Jenks enforced the Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. While stationed in Hawaii, Mr. Jenks received his M.B.A. from the University of Hawaii. Immediately following his military service, Mr. Jenks joined several major Wall Street firms and spent his career as a student of markets and investments.
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