Copenhagen — The fund managing the wealth of the billionaires behind Lego is planning to step up investments in renewable energy. What started half a decade ago as an idealistic project to cancel the toy maker’s carbon footprint is now beginning to make much more financial sense for Kirkbi, which has $16bn in assets under management. "We see this as an investment area," Søren Thorup Sørensen, Kirkbi’s CEO said in a phone interview from western Denmark. "I’m very pleased that after starting with this back in 2012, it’s starting to show up on the profit line." Profits from the fund’s investments in renewable energy assets more than tripled in 2017, to 398-million kroner ($66m). Kirkbi already owns stakes in German and UK offshore wind parks, but Sørensen says it may expand into other areas. "The competition for the good projects has grown a lot bigger. Therefore we may also look at other technologies, including solar energy, which has now become a lot more efficient." Kirkbi manages t...
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