Ex-Merrill Lynch Manager Launches Carbon Hedge Fund

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our or .

| Sourced From |

Robert Preston, a former portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch, recently launched a hedge fund focusing on companies working on clean technologies and energy delivery efficiencies.

Specifically, the Craigmillar Equity Fund concentrates on companies that are benefiting from the long-term energy de-carbonization trends. The firm believes that density consideration has been the driving force of energy evolution, affecting all sectors of the economy.

“Coal is easier to store than cords of wood,” it said. “Oil, by truck, was easier to move than coal by rail. Gas can be shipped to homes by pipe. A wire is smaller than a pipe.”

The fund, which launched in July, has suffered along with the rest of the industry this year, dropping some 20% since inception, according to public databases. It charges a 2% management fee and a 20% incentive fee and a $250,000 minimum investment requirement.

Prior to Merrill Lynch, Preston also held senior positions with other large financial firms including Paine Webber, L.F. Rothschild, Union Bank of California and Nomura.