Energy Transition Investment Firm Quinbrook Hires Global Head of Sustainability: 5 Things to Know

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, an investment management firm focused on the energy transition, has hired Hilkka Komulainen to succeed Anne Foster as global head of sustainability and impact.

Here are five things to know about Quinbrook's business and sustainability strategy, and Komulainen's business experience.

1. Business Focus, Scope and Scale: Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, founded in 2015, is based in London, United Kingdom. The investment firm focuses purely on infrastructure needed to drive the energy transition in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. Key investment areas include onshore wind and solar power, battery storage, reserve peaking capacity, biomass, fugitive methane recovery, hydro and flexible energy management solutions.

Quinbrook's leadership team has collectively invested roughly US$6.9 billion of equity capital in 40 GW of energy infrastructure assets representing a total transaction value of USD US$29.8 billion, the company asserts.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Quinbrook's overall sustainability strategy is outlined here. The efforts focus on biodiversity and natural capital, and an energy transition and climate risk initiative.

3. New Global Head of Sustainability and Impact: Hilkka Komulainen as of November 2024 directs Quinbrook’s sustainability and impact initiatives across all fund’s and regions, and she serves on the Quinbrook Investment Committee. She succeeded Anne Foster, managing director and head of sustainability and impact. Foster had been in that role since December 2023 or so. We don't know where Foster is heading next.

4. Previous Roles and Business Experience: Komulainen previously was head of responsible investment at Aegon UK, a financial services firm and defined contribution (DC) pension provider in London that serves more than 9,000 employers. At Aegon UK, Komulainen established and led the responsible investment team, oversaw Aegon’s climate and stewardship efforts, led Aegon’s efforts to invest in the energy transition and served on Aegon’s investment leadership team, the Quinbrook hiring announcement said. Earlier, she held key posts at Inter Fund Management, EY, the OECD, the United Nations, and the Principles for Responsible Investment.

5. Executive Perspectives: In a prated statement, Quinbrook Co-Founder and Managing Partner David Scaysbrook said: “Quinbrook’s long standing commitment to bringing the most innovative, authentic and impactful solutions to advance the energy transition is fundamental to everything we do. I have known Hilkka for over 10 years from her time at the UNPRI and her extensive experience in ESG, sustainability and impact investment make her an ideal and exciting addition to the Quinbrook team as we continue our efforts to deliver truly impactful investments that will drive large scale industrial decarbonization outcomes for North America, the UK and Australia.”

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.