Published on 25, Oct 2022

Energea Introduces Revolutionary Renewable Energy Investment Product 

CHESTER, Connecticut – The evolution of saving money (which we often call “retirement planning”) has impacted American lives as much as any other policy or technology in the past 150 years.

In 1875, American Express created the first pension plan. To qualify for an AMEX pension, you had to be more than 60 years of age, have been employed by the same company for at least 20 years, have been recommended for retirement by a manager and have received retirement approved by the board of directors.

Pensions were the only real choice for workers (beyond leaning on family and traditional savings) until 1978 when the Carter administration created the 401(k). The 401(k) led to many more Americans saving for retirement. It was an economic success, although it is debatable who did better with the 401(k) system: the worker or Wall Street.

Today, retirement planning is changing again and for the better. Individual Retirement Accounts (or IRAs) give workers a tax break for saving for retirement like 401(k)s, but can be directly controlled by the workers themselves. That means far fewer layers of fees are paid to managers and exposes the investor to far more options than stocks and bonds which can help the shrewd worker disassociate from macroeconomic trends.

IRAs are especially useful in today’s economy. A Bloomberg Economics report recently put the chance of recession in the next 12 months at 100%. Pretty lousy odds. 

Inflation, currency, and an uncertain world order will take a toll on all retirement plans that aren’t aggressively ballasted with alternative assets with low correlation to the stock market. Pension funds and 401(k) plans exclusively managed by Wall Street will likely suffer the greatest losses.

Energea created the Energea IRA to help investors diversify their store hold of wealth. Unlike bitcoin or some of the other options out there, global portfolios of renewable energy projects are real assets that produce an inflation-adjusted commodity (electricity) which is sold through long-term contracts in multiple currencies. Investing in renewables in this way will ensure more investors catch the uplift generated by the fastest growing source of energy while also providing the uncorrelated ballast every retirement plan needs as we brace for market turbulence.

Energea’s investors have enjoyed a realized internal rate of return (IRR) of more than 12% since the launching of the platform in 2020. Energea has continuously identified lucrative solar projects for their investors inside three portfolios: Solar in the USA, Community Solar in Brazil, and Solarize Africa. Most investors spread their investments in Energea across multiple portfolios. 

Energea serves as an asset manager responsible for vetting projects and ensuring ongoing performance across the lifespan of each portfolio.

Yet, unlike the retirement plan managers of old, Energea strives to continuously improve the investor experience and deepen the relationship and transparency between investors and the assets they own.

Of equal importance, Energea believes that retail investors are the missing wedge of the global energy transition. Many of our investors are concerned about climate change and want to help deploy resources that contribute to the decarbonization of our energy grid. Other investors are simply looking to improve the performance of their investment portfolios with double-digit yields that can be compounded on a long-term basis.

The United States faces formidable challenges and the future of its economy and climate change are two of the biggest. Perhaps new investment products that capitalize on the demand for renewable energy, delivered directly to investors through a transparent platform, like the Energea IRA, can be the solution for both. 

Mike Silvestrini is a co-founder and managing partner at Energea. Prior to Energea, Mike was co-founder and CEO of Greenskies Renewable Energy, one of the largest commercial and industrial solar firms in the United States. He has managed multiple renewable energy funds worth more than $750 million in aggregate and has overseen the development of more than 400 renewable energy projects. He and his partners sold Greenskies in 2017. 

Mike served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, West Africa, and continues to serve as a board member of the Big Life Foundation, a wildlife conservation non-profit based in Kenya.

For more information about Energea, please visit its website or contact: 

Ryan Becnel

ryanbecnel@energea.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/energea.global/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/energea.global/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/energeaglobal 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/energea/