The Sustainable Investment With Solar Experts Behind It
March 5, 2021 Insights
Skyline Clean Energy Fund (SCEF) is available to Accredited investors only. Learn more
Sustainable investing and Skyline Clean Energy Fund
With interest in sustainable investing on the rise in 2021, more investors are seeking investment funds that not only generate attractive returns, but employ ethical and responsible environmental, social, or governance practices.
Sustainable investing is a term that is often used interchangeably with socially responsible investing, but there is a notable difference. Sustainable investing can more broadly describe a class of investments that offer a positive impact on society and/or the environment. Socially responsible investing, by comparison, is a method of investing that filters particular investments based on the investor’s personal values and preferences.
Skyline Clean Energy Fund is an example of a sustainable investment that is not only making a positive impact by decarbonizing the energy grid in Canada, but also has extensive clean energy expertise behind it, to help generate maximum value for investors.
A sustainable investment with a history of environmental stewardship
There are collectively 30+ years of solar energy asset development and management behind SCEF.
SCEF is owned and operated by Skyline Group of Companies (Skyline)1, a $5.4 billion2 asset acquisitions, management, development, and investment firm.
Skyline strives to be a leader in its industry in terms of environmental stewardship and sustainability. In 2011 it launched its official sustainability plan called “Recognizing Our Responsibility” and has followed the plan since, setting a standard for waste reduction, environmental efficiencies, and customer education. (View Skyline’s new version of the “Recognizing Our Responsibility” Sustainability Plan for 2021).
Since the launch of Skyline’s environmental plan, it has facilitated many different environmental initiatives at its properties, including the installation of energy-efficient boilers and appliances, the retrofit of 400,000 bulbs with high-efficiency LEDs, and the installation of 24 EV chargers, just to name a few.
Skyline has also received numerous awards for its environmental stewardship over the years, including designation as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 2020, a member of the 2020 Growth List, and the Environmental Excellence award from the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO).
Solar expertise behind Skyline Clean Energy Fund
A large component of Skyline’s sustainability plan involved the construction and management of rooftop solar assets on Skyline’s properties across Canada.
The first solar assets were installed in December 2011 at a multi-residential property in Guelph, ON, owned by Skyline Apartment REIT, which are still active today. Skyline’s leadership team quickly realized the significant benefit of implementing solar across their property portfolio. Not only does the portfolio have a large environmental benefit, it also creates further efficiencies for the REIT investment funds themselves, by offering a supplementary income stream via the 20-year government Feed-In Tariff (FIT) contracts the assets operate under, whereby the government purchases the energy generated for a fixed price.
The team expanded the projects, and as at February 17, 2021, there is a total of 55 solar assets on various Skyline properties (47 assets on apartment properties owned by Skyline Apartment REIT; 5 assets on commercial properties owned by Skyline Commercial REIT?; 3 assets on retail properties owned by Skyline Retail REIT).
A sustainable investment leveraging Skyline’s solar expertise
After years of experience with the installation and management of solar assets on its REIT properties—and in an effort to push Skyline’s environmental initiatives to the next level—the Skyline team launched Skyline Clean Energy Fund(SCEF) in May 2018.
SCEF is a purpose-built clean energy fund, leveraging the years of experience cultivated by Skyline Group of Companies in the clean energy space.. This experience bolsters SCEF’s asset management expertise and allows it to realize the value potential in clean energy assets that others might miss.
There is strong belief in clean energy assets providing renewable and dependable power that is vital for the communities Skyline operates in, and will be relied upon for generations to come.
As with many sustainable investments, SCEF has the dual goal of generating attractive returns for investors, and making a positive long-term impact on the environment.
Rob Stein
President, Skyline Energy
Rob is responsible for the operational and financial performance of Skyline Clean Energy Fund’s clean energy asset portfolio, including overseeing acquisitions, dispositions, financial budgets, implementing and monitoring capital expenditure projects, and monitoring the assets’ functionality. With extensive experience in evaluating, building, maintaining, and selling renewable energy assets, his well-rounded knowledge of the solar energy industry is an invaluable asset to the Skyline Energy team.
1 Skyline, or Skyline Group of Companies, is an umbrella term used to generally refer to all associated entities.
2 As at December 31, 2020
An Accredited Investor, as defined by National Instrument 45-106, can have several definitions. Below are the most commonly relied upon definitions by Skyline Wealth Management Inc. (“Skyline Wealth Management”) investors:
- an individual who, either alone or with a spouse, beneficially owns financial assets having an aggregate realizable value that before taxes, but net of any related liabilities exceeding $1,000,000; (or)
- an individual who, either alone or with a spouse, has total net assets of at least $5,000,000; (or)
- an individual whose net income before taxes exceeded $200,000 in each of the 2 most recent calendar years or an individual whose net income before taxes combined with that of a spouse exceeded $300,000 in each of the 2 most recent calendar years and who, in either case, reasonably expects to exceed that net income level in the current calendar year;
About Skyline Clean Energy Fund
Skyline Clean Energy Fund (“SCEF”) is a privately owned and managed portfolio of medium to large scale clean energy assets, focused on acquiring income-producing assets across Canada, under long-term government contracts.
SCEF is offered as an alternative investment product through Skyline Wealth Management Inc. (“Skyline Wealth Management”), the exclusive Exempt Market Dealer (EMD) for SCEF.
SCEF is committed to surfacing value to its investors through asset monitoring and optimization, while providing a sustainable investment product based in clean, renewable energy.
To learn more about SCEF and its asset manager, Skyline Energy, please visit SkylineEnergy.ca.
To learn about additional alternative investment products offered through Skyline Wealth Management, please visit SkylineWealth.ca.
Skyline Clean Energy Fund is operated and managed by Skyline Group of Companies.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Bethany Curtis
Manager, Content Marketing and Communications, Skyline Group of Companies
5 Douglas Street, Suite 301
Guelph, ON N1H 2S8
519.826.0439 x231
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