Impact secondaries firm North Sky makes managing director promotion

North Sky Capital, an impact and sustainable infrastructure investor, has made a senior promotion, as its latest fund nears full deployment.

The Minneapolis-based firm announced on Thursday it has promoted Tom Jorgensen to managing director and added him to the investment committee for the Clean Growth impact secondaries platform. Jorgensen has been with North Sky for more than 11 years, having joined as an analyst from Piper Jaffray in 2010.

“Tom played an integral role in shaping our impact secondaries strategy,” said managing director Danny Zouber. The platform invests across four themes: cleantech and climatech, food and agriculture, waste and water, and healthcare.

North Sky is investing the $220 million Clean Growth Fund V, which closed above target in September 2019. That fund will be fully deployed by the end of the first quarter, according to chief executive Scott Barrington. There remains “very robust dealflow”, especially in food and agriculture, and healthcare, he added.

Among the fund’s limited partners is Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, which committed $25 million, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Speaking to Secondaries Investor in October, Barrington said portfolios of impact stakes began to return to market in the third quarter after a period dominated by GP-led and preferred equity deals.

LPs generally sell impact stakes because their priorities change, rather than for liquidity reasons, Barrington said. “Energy storage, electric vehicle charging, grid optimisation technology, indoor farming… The definition [of impact] is always evolving and every CIO has an idea of what it is.”

Clean Growth V has achieved an average discount to net asset value of 33 percent on LP portfolio transactions and 45 percent for GP-leds, the firm noted.

North Sky has invested more than $1.1 billion across its impact secondaries and infrastructure funds. Its three impact secondaries funds have received $307 million of commitments and made 38 investments, according to its website.

Rod James contributed to this report