Mining vet launches environmentally, socially conscious firm

Natural resources industry veteran Damien Reynolds has launched an environmentally conscious firm, Kyoto Planet Financial. The Vancouver firm is composed of an asset management division and a private equity division that will target renewable energy and clean technology companies.

Damien Reynolds

Kyoto Planet Asset Management will invest capital through its Kyoto Planet Fund, the size of which was not disclosed. Kyoto Planet will invest 25 percent of the fund in private equity, either directly or indirectly through Kyoto Capital Partners.

Kyoto Capital Partners has raisedC$15 million ($15 million, €11 million) to date, through an initial offering of shares in its parent company to institutional investors and high net worth individuals, said Kyoto Planet Capital Partners' vice president of investment banking Paul Guedes. The firm plans to hold a second offering before the end of the year, at which point it hopes to raise C$20 million to C$30 million.

The firm has invested the capital in five companies: wind and wave energy firm Finavera Renewables, cleantech company Atlantic Hydrogen, Pan Asia Biofuels, eco-conscious television production company Ecomaniacal Productions and carbon footprint reduction consultancy Cleanairpass.

Kyoto Planet Financial will allocate one-third of its net profits to the Kyoto Planet Foundation, which will work to support non-profit community initiatives. Both entities are part of the Kyoto Planet Group, which also encompasses Kyoto Planet Enterprises, which offers environmentally conscious products and services to individuals and businesses

Reynolds’ background is primarily in the resource sector. He has founded and invested in several exploration companies and is currently the chairman and chief executive officer of Longview Capital Partners, an investment firm with $60 million in assets that focusses on the natural resources sector.