Investment
Green energy investment a 'once in a generation' shot: Mark Wiseman – BNN
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The chair of Alberta’s largest pension fund manager is hailing the shift toward green energy as the “investment opportunity of a generation.”
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) chair Mark Wiseman said the increased focus on the damage caused by climate change and the regime shift south of the border should accelerate the adoption of clean energy sources and create massive opportunities for forward-thinking investors.
“I think we’re going to see a massive acceleration, particularly in the first two years of the Biden administration, to a move to climate finance; to a move to green energy and to a move towards a much more aggressive policy transition and economic transition to net-zero [emissions],” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “So, I think hydrogen is one of the things that will, in all likelihood, play a very important role in that.”
AIMCo is among the eight largest pension fund managers in Canada, and had $118.8 billion worth of assets under management as of the end of fiscal 2019. The fund has posted an 8.2-per-cent annualized return on investments over the last decade.
While Canada has historically leaned heavily on the extraction and export of traditional energy sources, Wiseman said he is convinced the nation’s long track record of energy innovation should allow Canada to be at the fore of the green energy revolution.
“I really believe that this may be the investment opportunity of a generation. And, I believe Canadian investors, Canadian banks, Canadian pension plans can play an incredibly important role in leading what is now being described as transition finance,” he said.
“As we move to a net-zero world in 2030, 2040, 2050 and beyond, we are going to have to finance that change. Canadian corporations have the opportunity to be at the forefront of that change. I think we should view it as not something we have to be defensive about, but actually: ‘How are we going to play offence? How are we going to lead, in terms of transition finance?’”
The federal government has pledged that Canada will reach net-zero emissions status by 2050, joining about 120 other countries which have set the same goal.
Though Wiseman views the clean-power push as a potential boon for the domestic economy, he said that Canada’s oil and gas sector can play a critical role in bridging the gap as the green energy industry matures.
“Canadian natural resources and Canadian energy is still going to be incredibly important,” he said.
“Canadian energy has to play a very important role overall in North America.”
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Todd Boehly's investment house in advanced talks to buy private credit firm – Financial Times
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Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett speaks during an interview with Liz Claman on Fox Business Network’s Countdown to the Closing Bell, on May 7, 2018, in Omaha, Neb.Nati Harnik/The Associated Press
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK-A-N has set its sights on making a major new investment in Canada.
The U.S. conglomerate holding company, whose top shareholder is the 93-year-old billionaire, held its annual meeting on Saturday, live-streamed from a packed arena in Omaha, Neb.
Greg Abel, who is vice-chair of Hathaway’s non-insurance operations, is a Canadian who is widely seen to be Mr. Buffett’s successor in the executive suite and eventually become the company’s chair.
Members of Berkshire’s leadership team are now mulling options for a new foray into Canada.
“When we see anything that’s suggesting an idea that’s of a size with interest here and meets other requirements, they don’t have any hesitancy about putting big money in Canada,” Mr. Buffett said during the meeting. “There are things we actually can do fairly well, where Canada could benefit from Berkshire’s participation.”
The Oracle of Omaha heaped praise on Canada. “We do not feel uncomfortable in any way, shape or form, putting our money into Canada,” Mr. Buffett said.
“We don’t have any mental blocks about that country. And of course, there’s a lot of countries we don’t understand at all. So Canada, it’s terrific when you’ve got a major economy – not the size of the U.S., but a major economy that you absolutely, you feel confident about operating there.”
Mr. Abel also serves as chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which includes existing Canadian assets.
Assets north of the border include Calgary-based Berkshire Hathaway Energy Canada, which operates 13,000 kilometres of transmission lines and 300 substations in Alberta through AltaLink.
“It goes across many of our operating entities and then, as Warren touched on, all the businesses that we have a piece of that we’re invested in are up in Canada. So the presence is significant,” Mr. Abel said during the meeting. “We’re always looking at making incremental investments there because it’s an environment we’re very comfortable with.”
Mr. Abel recently received the Canadian Business Leader Award in Edmonton from the University of Alberta, where he graduated with a bachelor of commerce in 1984. At the university, he had plans to major in finance but later switched to accounting.
While it has been four decades since he graduated from the Edmonton university, he still visits friends and family regularly in Alberta, and he continues to monitor the Canadian economy.
“I would say the economy moves very closely to the U.S. So the results we’re seeing out of our various businesses that report both the U.S. and Canadian operations aren’t drastically different,” Mr. Abel said. “On the energy side, for example, we make very substantial investments up there in Alberta. But again, it’s very consistent with how that economy is growing.”
He is the nephew of the late Sid Abel, a hockey Hall of Famer who played for the Detroit Red Wings.
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Last year’s signing of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) is expected to bring Canada and Taiwan closer in economic partnerships, according to experts.
“FIPA is a landmark agreement between Taiwan and Canada,” said Angel Liu, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver.
“There are some bureaucracies, thresholds or some labour or environmental standards [issues] that, through FIPA, we can facilitate.”
She was among a host of officials and experts from Taiwan speaking late last month at a World Trade Centre Vancouver event. The conference zeroed in on business opportunities in Taiwan and how Canadian companies can capitalize on investment opportunities there following the signing of FIPA this past December.
FIPA helps provide more relaxed investment procedures for businesses making investments in each other’s territory by streamlining the process or foreign regulations and reducing some burdens on the licensing or reviewing process, according to Liu.
The Taiwan government hopes that FIPA will help attract more investments from Canada and deliver the image of Taiwan as a welcoming market for foreign investors, she added.
“It is just the beginning because it takes time for both sides to digest and to get to know each other more.”
There is “huge space” for growth in trade volume and business partnerships between Canada and Taiwan, especially at a time when both countries are looking to reduce their economic reliance on China, according to Huai-Shing Yen, deputy executive director of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.
Taiwan was Canada’s 12th-largest trade partner in 2022. Canada’s exports to Taiwan accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of its total exports and Canada’s imports from Taiwan accounted for one per cent.
“This suggests that Taiwan is not yet considered as a main supply source for Canada and the same situation applies the other way around,” said Yen.
She said the bilateral investment between both countries is also “lower than ideal” as Canada accounted for 0.1 per cent of the foreign investment in Taiwan over the past 10 years. And some areas have significant potential for growing trade and partnerships between Taiwan and B.C.
“The first potential is for agricultural products. And the second potential I would say is about the critical mineral supply, because Taiwan has a growing demand of some critical raw materials on which we want to diversify our import suppliers,” she said.
There are about 30 critical raw materials that Taiwan is highly dependent on China, and Canada has great potential to become Taiwan’s new partner in mineral supply, she added.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is another sector Taiwan companies are looking to relocate their investment to countries other than China.
“I understand that Canada wants to develop a strong ICT industry and it’s also an important area B.C. would like to further develop. … We can provide the ICT products and also can be your new source of ICT investments in B.C. as well as in Canada,” said Yen.
Liu said FIPA is a great step further but she also hopes the Canadian government seriously considers Taiwan’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to unlock more trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
“[We] encourage CPTPP members, including Canada, to start informal discussion and negotiations with Taiwan, so we can at least start the negotiation informally.”
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B.C. cyberattack: 1.5 billion ‘unauthorized access attempts’ daily
