The behemoth Australian fund IFM Investors will sink £10bn (A$19bn) into infrastructure and energy transition projects in Britain by 2027 as part of a new memorandum of understanding with the Sunak government.
The decision by IFM – which is owned by 17 Australian industry super funds – comes as a coalition of business and environmental groups calls on the Albanese government to supercharge tax and other financial incentives to ensure Australia can attract sufficient capital to drive the domestic transition to net zero emissions.
The MoU between IFM Investors and Britain’s minister for investment will be signed at the Global Investment Summit in London. Kemi Badenoch, the UK’s business and trade secretary, characterised the commitment from IFM as “a very important investment for the UK’s innovative energy and infrastructure sectors”.
IFM, which has approximately A$217bn under management as at 30 June 2023, says there are significant investment opportunities in Britain’s energy transition because the country is providing a favourable investment climate.
Deepa Bharadwaj, IFM’s head of infrastructure Europe said: “We currently see significant deployment opportunities, particularly as part of the UK energy transition in areas such as offshore wind, solar, battery storage, renewable fuels, and pumped hydro.”
As IFM expands its investment portfolio in the UK, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Investor Group on Climate Change and WWF Australia will issue a joint statement declaring that Australia risks being left behind in a global race for capital.
The statement follows confirmation last week that taxpayers will underwrite the transformation of Australia’s energy grid through a radical expansion of the capacity investment scheme. In the biggest climate and energy policy development in a decade, the government proposes to underwrite 32GW of new electricity, consisting of 9GW of storage and 23GW of variable renewable generation.
