LEI: 213800RAR6ZDJLZDND86

IEM PLC ANNOUNCES PORTFOLIO MANAGER CHANGES

·    Sanjeev Lakhani to join Fotis Chatzimichalakis to form new co-portfolio manager team

·    IEM has adopted a new benchmark, the Solactive Global Environmental Markets Specialists Index

Impax Environmental Markets plc (LSE: IEM) (the "Company" or "IEM") the UK's only investment trust focused on resource efficiency and environmental opportunities, today announces changes to its portfolio management team.  

Effective today, Sanjeev Lakhani has joined the team and will manage the portfolio together with current co-portfolio manager, Fotis Chatzimichalakis, who has been in his role since 2021.

With 17 years' investment experience, Sanjeev Lakhani joined IEM's manager, Impax Asset Management, in 2023 as a senior Industrials analyst with a research focus on stocks within the Impax Environmental Markets taxonomy. Sanjeev was previously an assistant portfolio manager at Highclere International Investors, where he also worked as an investment analyst covering Industrials and Utilities. Before that, Sanjeev was an Investment Manager at Janus Henderson Investors.

Jon Forster will take on the responsibility of a senior Industrials analyst focused on environmental solutions companies. In this new role, he will continue to contribute to IEM's idea generation and broader investment process. Jon will work closely with the managers to ensure a smooth transfer of his portfolio management responsibilities, before handing over fully on 31 December 2025.

Sanjeev Lakhani, Co-Portfolio Manager commented:

"Having worked closely with the team since arriving at Impax, I am very excited to be joining IEM as a portfolio manager. The Company is a unique vehicle with a track record of uncovering long-term growth opportunities in environmental markets, and I look forward to making my contribution."

Fotis Chatzimichalakis, Co-Portfolio Manager commented:

"I'm delighted that Sanjeev is joining the team at such an important time. IEM's portfolio has evolved significantly this year, and his ideas have played a key role in that. With a more concentrated portfolio of high conviction, attractively valued ideas, IEM is well positioned to go forward."

Glen Suarez, Chair of Impax Environmental Markets plc, commented:

"On behalf of the Board I'd like to thank Jon for his many years' service managing IEM's portfolio and to welcome Sanjeev to the team."

Separately, effective today, IEM is adopting a new benchmark, the Solactive Global Environmental Markets Specialists Index ("GEMS Index").

The GEMS Index will replace the FTSE ET100 Index, which has become unrepresentative of IEM's opportunity set since FTSE's Environmental Markets methodology diverged from that of Impax in 2021. 

The GEMS Index has been created to understand and measure IEM's performance, positioning, and risk relative to its investable opportunity set. It also allows shareholders to understand the structure and performance of IEM's thematic opportunity set against broader global equity markets. IEM uses the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) for this purpose, and the index will remain the Company's long-term performance reference.

Glen Suarez, Chair of Impax Environmental Markets plc, commented:

"As a Board, we identified the need for a more appropriate benchmark to reflect the Company's thematic investable universe in IEM's last annual report. Having consulted with Shareholders, we are confident that the GEMS Index will fulfil this role. This will give the Manager a clear reference for portfolio construction, risk management and performance attribution."

-ENDS-

Contact:   

Montfort Communications           iem@montfort.london / +44 (0)20 3514 0897

Notes to editors

Sanjeev Lakhani is a co-Portfolio Manager of the Impax Climate and Specialists strategies. He is also responsible for ideas generation, fundamental research and thought leadership for Impax's Thematic and Lens strategies with a primary focus on Industrials.

Sanjeev joined Impax in 2023 from Highclere International investors, where he worked as an investment analyst and assistant portfolio manager, covering International small and mid cap stocks primarily across Industrials and Utilities. Prior to that he worked at Janus Henderson Investors as an Investment Manager across their Sustainable, Global and International strategies. Sanjeev started his career at PwC where he worked in corporate finance and qualified as a chartered accountant (ACA).

Sanjeev holds a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the ICAEW.

Fotis Chatzimichalakis is a co-Portfolio Manager of the Impax Specialists and Climate strategies. Fotis researches stocks globally, focusing on the information technology and industrials sectors.

Fotis originally joined Impax as an intern in 2015, initially working in the listed equities team. He has held his current role since 2021. Prior to joining the firm, he had an internship at Barchester Green Investment.

A CFA® Charterholder, Fotis also holds the Investment Management Certificate. He has a master's degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and a master's degree in Sustainable Energy Systems from the University of Edinburgh.