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Owner of new private equity fund says impact investing is the way of the future

A longtime Greenwich resident has started a private equity fund committed solely to investing in renewable energy projects.

Impact investing is the way of the future in finance, according to Thomas Yee, who recently started GCT Anchor Fund. The venture, which has its offices in Stamford, began building up capital last fall, but Yee already has big expectations for its success.

Yees team plans to invest in new renewable energy projects overseas, foster their growth and ultimately sell them off. We take the raw project and grow it, Yee said. It requires technical expertise in these particular areas.

Yee expects the results will net a big profit, he said.

The market for investing in renewable energy projects in America is saturated, he said, so the fund will focus on working with ones abroad, such as in Portugal and Argentina.

Overseas theres more risk but opportunity for higher returns, Yee said, whose background includes working as a trader at Moore Capital Management and in the renewable energy sector.

His expertise in renewable energy, particularly in solar energy, together with a carefully-curated team equips GCT Anchor Fund with the tools to turn a profit for its investors while making a positive impact on the environment with its projects, Yee said.

We view social and environmental sustainability as a strategic imperative and as a select investment opportunity with a disciplined focus for acquiring investments from a pipeline of clean tech projects that offer high and steady returns with minimal market risk, the fund says on its website.

Opportunities are limited for investors to make money since the birth of large regulatory measures, such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, combined with highly volatile markets, Yee outlines in an industry paper titled How to Obtain Alpha in Todays Volatile and Unpredictable Markets.

His new funds emphasis on impact investing derives from Yees belief in its ability to make clients money, but it also has a lot of positive socio-economic ramifications, Yee said. It provides a social ethic, creates jobs and the economy increases. Theres a need for society to develop the most efficient energy.

In addition to his new fund, Yee is working on another project he hopes will do even more to revolutionize the world of finance. As outlined in his paper, market volatility plays a big role in frustrating investors portfolios.

Right now, theres no existing model that can quantify a sudden change in the market, Yee said. Computers dont provide for the financial effect of human emotions.

Its no small undertaking, but Yee hopes to one day produce a model that can react to any market swing, including the black swans. It would take into account the human effect on market volatility and anticipate a trade beneficial to investors. The answer to creating such a model comes from Yees academic studies in ontology, which he describes as a comprehensive set of meanings which describe human behavior.

Creating an algorithm which can translate expected human behavior into trades with a high rate of return is my real interest, Yee said.

MBennett@greenwichtime.com, 203-625-4411; Twitter @Macaela_

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Owner of new private equity fund says impact investing is 'the way of the future' - Greenwich Time