Al Gore’s Investment Fund Just Just Won A Sweet New York City Contract

By admin on June 18, 2012

al gore climate change

Here’s something you might not have known: Al Gore is managing New York City pension funds.

That’s right, The New York Post reported this morning that the former Vice President’s “environmentally friendly investment fund” Generation Investment Management recently received a $ 16.56 million contract (in addition to the $ 12.8 million they received under former NYC comptroller Bill Thompson) from city comptroller John Liu to manage hundreds of millions of city pension funds.

For Liu, who’s faced increased pressure to keep pension funds sustainable, hiring Gore’s firm seems to be a perfect match.

For Democratic politicians like Liu and DiNapoli who want to burnish their credentials as environmentally responsible financial stewards, hiring Gore’s firm is like hitting a home run, analysts say.

“There’s a lot of pressure on pension funds to be environmentally sensitive. Gore’s name and stature in the pension-fund community is invaluable — particularly for Democrats. He’s Al Gore!” said Bill Sannwald, a corporate governance and ethics professor at San Diego State University.

But Liu’s spokespeople say that the proof is in the pudding, and by pudding we mean profits.

Liu spokeswoman Stephanie Hoo said Generation investments have earned a 22 percent return for the city. The firm has delivered a 32.7 percent return on its state pension-fund investments since its hiring in 2009, records show.

Not bad at all.

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