Engagement with Foresight Group

Foresight Group is a leading infrastructure and private assets investment manager operating across Europe and Australia. The firm focuses on long-term investments in real assets, particularly in sustainability-led sectors such as renewable energy, energy transition and associated infrastructure, which are typically difficult for investors to access directly. We engaged with the company as its scope 3 emissions profile seemed very high compared to its peer group.

In our research prior to the meeting, we found that Foresight’s reporting on its carbon footprint much more comprehensive than many of its peers. We wanted to understand if the company’s scope 3 emissions were higher simply because its reporting was more comprehensive, or whether there were other factors driving the level upwards.

In our research prior to the meeting, we found that Foresight’s reporting on its carbon footprint much more comprehensive than many of its peers.

The Foresight team were very willing to meet and arranged for us to speak to two sustainability experts in the business. They were able to show us that the cause of the high emissions was from two key sources within one of the infrastructure funds it manages. Firstly, the fund holds some gas generation assets in Australia. These assets make up less than 10% of the Group’s assets under management but account for two-thirds of scope 3 emissions. Energy-from-waste assets (predominantly incineration) also have a heavy emissions profile within the fund. Combined, gas generation and energy-from-waste account for 89% of infrastructure emissions.

We questioned the process to allow gas generation into its fund, given the Group’s strong sustainability credentials. Foresight’s response was that the site came as part of a broader, and fairly, recent acquisition of another specialist infrastructure asset management business in Australia and that the acquisition also included a reasonable exposure to the growing renewable market in the region. We explained that having gas generating assets in funds it manages is not ideal from our perspective, even though our screening policy does allow for situations like this, i.e. where a company has a very small amount of exposure to a sector that we would otherwise avoid investing in directly. They were able to give a reasonable defence by explaining that in Australia, coal remains the dominant energy source, and that gas is very much seen as a cleaner alternative in that market.  

We were pleased to hear that Foresight intends to recruit a specialist to look at carbon forecasting, as that represents a significant commitment to understanding its emissions profile and should enable the company to take informed decisions around carbon reduction targets.

We then asked about the company’s plans to set net zero targets for its business and fund range, and by implication what that would mean for holding gas assets. The company representatives replied that improving emissions data quality is its initial priority, but that they are looking at decarbonisation across the investment portfolio, although this is still early stage. We were pleased to hear that Foresight intends to recruit a specialist to look at carbon forecasting, as that represents a significant commitment to understanding its emissions profile and should enable the company to take informed decisions around carbon reduction targets.

Foresight’s team also highlighted that it measures the emissions avoided (sometimes called scope 4 emissions) by its investments in cleaner infrastructure and has published data to show that its investments avoid more emissions than it emits.

Outcome

The meeting confirmed our view that the company has undertaken significant work to understand the emissions profile of its investments and is reporting in far more detail than its peer base. We plan to check in with the company later in 2026, to see how its decarbonisation ideas are progressing. 

Written by Ita McMahon 

This article was originally published as part of our Q4 2025 Investment Management Report (IMR).

Information is accurate as at 13.01.2026. Opinions constitute the fund manager’s judgement as of this date and are subject to change without warning. The officers, employees and agents of CIP may have positions in any securities mentioned herein. This material may not be distributed, published or reproduced in whole or in part. With investment, capital is at risk.