43: Lars Meisinger & Alex Lenz of Aquila Capital: Creating Sustainable Real Asset Solutions with Smart Capital

Aquila Group is a leading investment manager in real asset solutions. 

Its sustainable investment strategy focuses on investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, infrastructure, residential real estate, green logistics as well as timber and agriculture. 
Founded in 2001 by Dieter Rentsch and Roman Rosslenbroich as one of the first German alternative investment firms, Aquila Group currently manages EUR 11.2 billion for institutional investors worldwide (as of 31/03/2020).

Lars Meisinger is Head of Aquila Capital’s international client advisory and corporate development. Prior to joining Aquila Capital in 2016, Lars was responsible for strategic product development at UBS Asset Management. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer at BlackRock Alternative Investors for the EMEA region. His long professional experience includes eight years in management roles at Man Group and senior positions at AXA Investment Managers in both London and Frankfurt. Lars holds a master's degree in economics from Maastricht University and a bachelor's degree from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Alexander Lenz was recently appointed CEO Asia Pacific at Aquila Capita. He is based in Singapore and has worked in the renewable energy sector since 2007.  
Prior to joining Aquila Group in 2020, Alexander was the CEO of Conergy where he focused on development and investment in solar PV assets, both utility scale and behind-the-meter C&I, across the Asia Pacific region.  Previously, when Conergy was part of a global group, Alexander was the CEO & President APAC, responsible for the group’s business in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with a focus on project development, turnkey EPC contracting, and O&M of utility scale solar PV assets in the region. 
Before moving to Asia, HE was Head of Corporate Development in Conergy’s headquarters in Hamburg.  Alexander was previously a consultant in the Restructuring and Corporate Finance practice of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Berlin and in the management consulting practice of Deloitte in Duesseldorf.  He holds a master’s degree in Economics from Maastricht University, in The Netherlands.

Highlihgts:

• Our business focuses on real assets or essential assets, renewable energy, real estate, timber and agriculture.
• "We are moving the goalposts away from ESG steadily to impact in the future, where it's not only about compliance with environmental aspects, social and governance aspects."
• "... one of the very few independent investment managers in Germany, and in operation for 20 years, is in my view, a strong indication of the vision that the two founders set out Roman and Dieter."
• “We want to bring to the table smart capital, as opposed to passive capital that is abundantly existing, but doesn't really get to the point.”
• There is an interest in investing in Asia.
• More institutional investors in the region are interested in increasing exposure to renewable energy and sustainable investments.
• We support by not just creating our own renewable energy offering but by helping create a broader universe of offering for renewable energy that benefits everyone.
• The renewable energy market is constantly changing you need to stay ahead, stay intellectually curious and have the ambition to analayse the market and create sound investment decisions.

Time Stamp:

[06:36] What is sustainable and impact investing?

[09:19] What does Aquila Capital do?

[15:59] What makes Aquila different 

[19:13] Exploring new markets in APAC 

[19:44] Future plans and vision for Aquila Capital in APAC

[23:00] Investme