Key Takeaways
- • ABP, the Dutch pension fund with more than €500 billion in assets under management, has exited all oil, gas and coal assets, including liquid holdings worth about €10 billion, following its 2021 commitment to cut €15 billion in fossil fuel exposure.
- • ABP's ANEB fund, the ABP Dutch Energy Transition and Biodiversity Fund managed by APG, has €250 million earmarked for direct investments in late Series A and early Series B start- and scale-ups, typically tickets of €10-15 million.
- • ANEB's portfolio manager Martijn Olthof says the mandate is unusual because European pension funds typically delegate early-stage investing to external venture capital managers, while ANEB makes its own minority-stake investments.
- • So far ANEB has made six direct investments and three fund investments with more than €100 million of exposure, and the mandate has widened beyond energy transition to circularity, sustainable food and agriculture, and biodiversity.
- • ABP targets a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 versus 2019 levels and net-zero emissions by 2050, and plans €30 billion in climate transition investment, including €10 billion in impact investments.
Summary
Dutch pension fund ABP, with more than €500 billion in assets under management, is one of the largest asset owners globally, and according to Net Zero Investor it has been relatively strong on climate change. Since committing in 2021 to cut €15 billion in fossil fuel exposure, ABP has exited all oil, gas and coal assets, including liquid holdings worth about €10 billion. The fund aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared with 2019 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and it plans to invest €30 billion in the climate transition, of which €10 billion is earmarked for impact investments.
A €250 million slice of this transition capital is allocated to direct investment in start- and scale-ups through the ABP Dutch Energy Transition and Biodiversity Fund (ANEB), managed by APG, ABP's asset manager. Martijn Olthof, ANEB's portfolio manager, told Net Zero Investor that European pension funds typically delegate early-stage investment to external venture capital managers, whereas ANEB makes its own investments. The stated aim is to fill a funding gap for innovative Dutch companies in the energy transition while targeting a reasonable risk-adjusted return. Tickets are typically €10-15 million, all holdings are minority stakes, and the mandate originally was asset-class agnostic but now covers direct private equity investments only. Its themes have expanded to include energy transition, circularity, sustainable food and agriculture, and biodiversity, in line with ABP's biodiversity policy.
To date ANEB has made six direct investments and three fund investments with more than €100 million of exposure. Named holdings include Soly, a solar panel installer, Triple Solar, which combines solar panels with heat pumps, NET2GRID, which uses AI on smart meter data to generate energy-saving advice, viktor.ai, which helps construction engineers reduce emissions, Taylor, which optimises solar panel performance, and Methaplanet, which produces pellets from horse manure to boost biomethane output. Olthof said Soly is performing well and that most portfolio companies are doing well, though ANEB does not report performance at a granular level externally. Larger anaerobic digestion projects fall to ABP's infrastructure team, which recently invested €250 million in the UK-focused bioenergy fund BioticNRG. Separately, ABP's alternative credit team issued a €27 million loan to Swedish low-carbon steel company H2 Green Steel, a mandate distinct from ANEB.
Olthof said ANEB's commercial venture capital co-investors often arrive at later rounds, leaving a gap at the earliest stages, and that some venture segments are too risky for the fund and would require government funding. Future priorities include businesses connecting circularity with the energy transition, and food producers developing carbon-neutral, deforestation-free and waste-free production methods. He also argued that regulatory barriers slow the food transition, citing slower approval of novel food ingredients in the EU compared with the US and Asia.
A €250 million slice of this transition capital is allocated to direct investment in start- and scale-ups through the ABP Dutch Energy Transition and Biodiversity Fund (ANEB), managed by APG, ABP's asset manager. Martijn Olthof, ANEB's portfolio manager, told Net Zero Investor that European pension funds typically delegate early-stage investment to external venture capital managers, whereas ANEB makes its own investments. The stated aim is to fill a funding gap for innovative Dutch companies in the energy transition while targeting a reasonable risk-adjusted return. Tickets are typically €10-15 million, all holdings are minority stakes, and the mandate originally was asset-class agnostic but now covers direct private equity investments only. Its themes have expanded to include energy transition, circularity, sustainable food and agriculture, and biodiversity, in line with ABP's biodiversity policy.
To date ANEB has made six direct investments and three fund investments with more than €100 million of exposure. Named holdings include Soly, a solar panel installer, Triple Solar, which combines solar panels with heat pumps, NET2GRID, which uses AI on smart meter data to generate energy-saving advice, viktor.ai, which helps construction engineers reduce emissions, Taylor, which optimises solar panel performance, and Methaplanet, which produces pellets from horse manure to boost biomethane output. Olthof said Soly is performing well and that most portfolio companies are doing well, though ANEB does not report performance at a granular level externally. Larger anaerobic digestion projects fall to ABP's infrastructure team, which recently invested €250 million in the UK-focused bioenergy fund BioticNRG. Separately, ABP's alternative credit team issued a €27 million loan to Swedish low-carbon steel company H2 Green Steel, a mandate distinct from ANEB.
Olthof said ANEB's commercial venture capital co-investors often arrive at later rounds, leaving a gap at the earliest stages, and that some venture segments are too risky for the fund and would require government funding. Future priorities include businesses connecting circularity with the energy transition, and food producers developing carbon-neutral, deforestation-free and waste-free production methods. He also argued that regulatory barriers slow the food transition, citing slower approval of novel food ingredients in the EU compared with the US and Asia.
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