Performance against wider global equity market
The Fund was launched almost five years ago, a period which has included sharp market rotations, rising interest rates and shifting policy environments. Reinforcing, we believe, the importance of active management, fundamental research and diversification across the value chain.
A leading investment team
3 months
YTD
Since Inception
USD Class I Acc
Index
Relative
25.5%
21.9%
5.4%
59.5%
+9.36%
-9.66%
+18.23%
Past performance is not indicative or a guarantee of future returns. Source: Polar Capital and Northern Trust International Fund Administration Service (Ireland) LTD, as of 27 February 2026. Performance figures represent the USD I Acc Share Class, launched on 30 September 2021. Fund and Benchmark performance data is shown in USD. If this is not your local currency, exchange rate fluctuations may cause performance to increase or decrease when converted into your local currency. Performance data takes account of fees paid by the fund but does not take account of any commissions or costs you may pay to third parties when subscribing for or redeeming shares or any taxes or securities account charges that you may pay on your investment in the fund. Such charges will reduce the performance of your investment. A 5% subscription fee can be charged at the Investment Managers discretion. All opinions and estimates constitute the best judgment of Polar Capital as of the date hereof, but are subject to change without notice, and do not necessarily represent the views of Polar Capital.
84.1%
Senior Portfolio Manager Thiemo Lang discusses how the investment landscape of smart energy has evolved over time, and how the Fund aims to invest across the entirety of the clean energy value chain.
Investing in a decarbonised energy future
The Polar Capital Smart Energy Fund is structured around four core investment clusters that together capture the electrification megacycle.
Within each cluster, the Fund invests across multiple subsectors and geographies to maintain diversification and avoid overexposure to any single technology or regulatory risk. Portfolio construction is driven by bottom-up fundamental research, with sustainability analysis fully integrated into the investment process.
Thiemo Lang,
Senior Portfolio Manager
Past performance is not indicative or a guarantee of future results.
Source: 1. Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Ireland) Ltd. Performance for the USD I Acc Share Class, 30 September 2021 to 27 February 2026.
Fund Highlights
From identifying the initial proprietary universe through to portfolio construction, monitoring, and engagement; sustainability is a core factor integrated into every stage of the investment process
79.3%
24.2%
+11.91%
1 year
The ‘electrification of everything’ is a multi-decade theme adding further momentum to decarbonisation. Rapidly rising electricity demand and constraints within current energy systems, ever more acute in the age of artificial intelligence, are creating exciting new opportunities as technology is deployed to break these bottlenecks.
The Polar Capital Smart Energy Fund is an actively managed, thematic portfolio investing across the energy value chain. It looks for the solution providers driving this next phase of the energy transition.
Analyst-Driven 100%
Data Coverage 100%
View fact sheet
Performance indicators
Sharpe ratio
0.5
Sortino ratio
0.7
Alpha
0.6%
Information ratio (net of fees)
0.2
Source: Polar Capital and Bloomberg, USD I Acc Share Class, 30 September 2021 to 27 February 2026. Benchmark: MSCI AC World Index Total Return Net Index. 1. Lipper, 27 February 2026. Peer Group: Lipper Global: Equity Theme - Alternative Energy. Past performance is not indicative or a guarantee of future results.
Thomas Guennegues
Senior Analyst
Thiemo Lang
Senior Portfolio Manager/
Team Head
Thomas Guennegues joined Polar Capital in September 2021 as a Senior Analyst on the Polar Capital Smart Energy and Polar Capital Smart Mobility strategies. As an analyst Thomas has more than ten years of experience in the area of thematic investing. Before joining Polar Capital, Thomas was an Equity Analyst from 2010 within Robeco's thematic product range dedicated to the RobecoSAM Smart Energy and Smart Mobility strategies.
In his position, he covered companies active in the areas of renewables, electric equipment and e-mobility. The integration of ESG criteria in the fundamental analysis was an integral part. Thomas gained practical technical experience during his employment at PSA Peugeot Citroën as a Fluid Dynamics Engineering Consultant and as a visiting scholar at Stanford University. Thomas holds an Engineering degree and a Master's degree in Fluid Mechanics from the University ISAE-SUPAERO. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Thomas Guennegues
Engineering degree and Master's degree in Fluid Mechanics, University ISAE-SUPAERO
Academic qualifications
15 years
Industry experience
Thiemo is Head of the Sustainable Thematic Equity Team and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Polar Capital Smart Energy and Smart Mobility strategies. Before joining Polar Capital in September 2021, Thiemo was the Head of Thematic Investing Energy/Mobility/Materials of Robeco Switzerland Ltd, Zurich, being the lead manager of the RobecoSAM Smart Energy and the Smart Mobility strategies. Prior to joining Robeco in 2007, Thiemo was Senior Portfolio Manager at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie of the Infology Fund, where he was in charge of the sub-sectors semiconductors and “new technologies”.
Thiemo began his investment career at his previous job at Activest/HypoVereinsbank, Munich in 1999. Being promoted to Portfolio Manager in 2002, he held the performance responsibility for the “Activest Lux NanoTech” fund. Before moving to the financial industry, Thiemo worked at Siemens as a development engineer. Thiemo holds a PhD from the Grenoble Institute of Technology in Optics/Photonics, and an engineering degree (Diploma of Electronics) from the University of Stuttgart.
Thiemo Lang
PhD in Optics/Photonics, Grenoble Institute of Technology
Diploma of Electronics, University of Stuttgart
Academic qualifications
26 years
Industry experience
1 month
10.6%
1.3%
+10.56%
Universe quartile1
1
Professional qualifications
CFA Charterholder
-
-
5 years
4.3%
Lessons from 15 years’ investing in smart energy
Relative
20.1%
17.6%
9.3%
55.1%
24.6%
-
Download fund overview
Guenther Hollfelder
Senior Analyst
Junwei Hafner-Cai
Senior Analyst
Stefanie Rath
Product Specialist
Guenther Hollfelder joined Polar Capital in September 2021 as a Senior Analyst on the Polar Capital Smart Energy and Polar Capital Smart Mobility strategies. Guenther has more than 20 years of experience as an equity analyst covering the technology sector. From January 2019 to August 2021 he worked as a buy-side analyst at Robeco in Zurich dedicated to the RobecoSAM Smart Energy and Smart Mobility strategies.
Previously, Guenther was a sell-side equity analyst at Baader-Helvea (2012-2018) and HypoVereinsbank (2001-2009) in Munich and Head of the Semiconductor & Technology Hardware research team at UniCredit in London (2009-2012). Before this Guenther has worked as a trainee for two years at Infineon Technologies in Munich and Cupertino, CA. He holds a MSc from Montpellier Business School in France and a Diploma in Business (elective in information systems & applied computer sciences) from the University of Bamberg in Germany. Guenther is a CFA Charterholder.
Guenther Hollfelder
MSc, Montpellier Business School
Diploma in Business (elective in information systems and applied computer sciences), University of Bamberg
Academic qualifications
Professional qualifications
25 years
CFA Charterholder
Industry experience
Stefanie Rath joined Polar Capital in October 2021 as a Product Specialist. Before joining Polar Capital, Stefanie was a Client Portfolio Manager responsible for Robeco’s thematic and impact equity strategies. As such, she served as the interface between portfolio managers, global sales representatives and various other stakeholders. Consequently, she was the direct point of contact for various kinds of product related queries. Among other tasks her job included daily interactions with wholesale and institutional clients to provide them with timely portfolio updates, taking the latest market developments into account and participation in webinars and roadshows.
Before she joined Robeco Switzerland Ltd, Zurich, in 2019 she was employed at Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a member of the Third Party Distribution Team. Her career in the investment industry started in 2013 when Stefanie joined the wealth management department at Raiffeisen Capital in Vienna. Stefanie holds a Master's degree in Finance from Grenoble Ecole de Management (London campus) and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Denver.
Stefanie Rath
Master's degree in Finance, Grenoble Ecole de Management (London campus)
Bachelor's degree, University of Denver
Academic qualifications
12 years
Industry experience
Junwei joined Polar Capital in September 2021 as a Senior Analyst on the Polar Capital Smart Energy and Polar Capital Smart Mobility strategies. Prior to joining Polar Capital, Junwei was the lead portfolio manager of the RobecoSAM Global Gender Equality Impact Equities Fund and the deputy portfolio manager of the RobecoSAM Global SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Equities Fund where she focused on companies whose businesses and products contribute positively to environmental and social objectives. Before being promoted to the portfolio manager role, Junwei was a senior equity analyst covering thematic research and the lead analyst for the RobecoSAM Sustainable Equities Water Fund where she was responsible for companies that provide technology and solutions to the water value chain and the environmental protection sector.
She has spent more than 12 years in the area of sustainable investing, of which the integration of material ESG criteria in the valuation of companies and active ownership were an integral part. Prior to joining Robeco Switzerland Ltd, Zurich, in 2010, Junwei held various portfolio management roles at EFG International and Wegelin & Co.
Junwei Hafner-Cai
Bachelor's degree in Business (major in Banking and Finance),
Nanyang Technological University
Academic qualifications
Professional qualifications
22 years
Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA)
Industry experience
Economies must envision and empower an energy future that is smart, sustainable, and secure to bring CO2 emissions under control and limit the effects of global warming. We seek to invest in the innovative companies helping to enable this transition, a long-term investment opportunity against the backdrop of global efforts to decarbonise.
Energy Conversion and Storage
Power conversion
Energy storage
+
Article 9 fund
Under the EU's SFDR; sustainability at the heart of the investment thesis and outcomes
Building an impressive track record
Annualised return of 14.8% since launch1
Highly specialised thematic investment team
With a proven, long-term track record investing in the sector
Capturing multi-decade themes
New big demand drivers, from AI to EVs, point to a long-term sustained growth
Globally diversified portfolio
40-80 companies positioned to benefit from electrification and the energy transition
Electricity: The cornerstone of multiple megatrends
The Polar Capital Sustainable Thematic Equity team project that electricity is set to rise from 20% of global energy use today to nearly 60% by 2050. That’s an increase of 2.5 x or 3% p.a.
Electricity generation to increase by 2.5-times, or 3% p.a. (CAGR 2020-2050)
Share of electricity in energy use 2020
Electricity demand growth from 2020
Multiple megatrends; Big Data, humanoid robots, heat pumps, EVs and green hydrogen should drive strong growth – around 65% of all new electricity demand should come from these themes.
Installed data centre capacity worldwide
The most compelling opportunities today sit at the intersection of rapidly rising electricity demand and structural bottlenecks in the system. This dynamic is particularly apparent in AI infrastructure, where data centre operators are increasingly constrained and access to reliable and sufficient power rather than computing hardware is expected to become the primary challenge for AI deployment.
Thiemo Lang, Senior Portfolio Manager
Our approach allows the portfolio to capture multiple points of value creation along the energy system, from upstream electricity infrastructure to downstream efficiency gains inside data centres, factories and buildings, rather than relying on any single technology or policy outcome.
Buildings
Industrial processes
Transportation
Big Data
+
Energy Efficiency
Smart grid equipment
Hydrogen infrastructure equipment
Electric grid and hydrogen distribution
+
Energy Transmission and Distribution
Solar supply chain
Wind supply chain
Renewable power producers
+
Clean Power Generation
92.4%
76.0%
16.4%
3 years
PAIs
Impact reporting
Voting and engagement
Fundamental analysis
ESG assessment
Watchlist
Universe
Portfolio
Define the four investment clusters, enabling the decarbonisation and electrification of the global energy sector.
Indentify individual companies with thematic exposure and allocate them to one of the four clusters.
Minimum thematics, revenue threshold to the sustainability objective
Thematic exclusions (i.e. fossil fuels)
Norms-based (i.e. UNGC, ILO and controversial products exclusion
Controversy assessment (i.e. energy, biodiversity and land use, health and safety, product safety)
Good governance assessment (i.e. board independence, shareholders' rights, renumeration practice, tax compliance)
Proprietary analysis on material ESG factors (company/sector-specific) beyound PAIs
PAIs, good governance, impat reporting (thematic purity level, CO2 emissions, CO2 potential reduction, water, waste emissions, SDGs)
Voting and engagement
ESG risk monitoring
Minimum thematic
exposure
DNSH
PAIs
Good governance screen
Sustainability objective
Decarbonisation and electrification of the global energy sector
Electricity to become majority of energy use
Share of elecricity in energy use 2050
19.6%
57.4%
80.4%
42.6%
Share of electricity in energy use 2020
