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The Polar Capital Sustainable Thematic Equity Team

Thiemo Lang joined Polar Capital from Robeco Switzerland Ltd, Zurich, in September 2021 to set up the Sustainable Thematic Equity investment team. The team manages a Smart Energy Fund and a Smart Mobility Fund, both of which are global equity portfolios investing in companies aiming to address sustainability challenges – as per each Fund’s specific theme – across the market-cap scale.

Total AUM (as at 29.02.2024)

2021

Established

92

Combined years of experience

5

Team members

None

Thiemo Lang

Senior Portfolio Manager / Team Head
None

Thomas Guennegues

Senior Analyst
Guenther Hollfelder

Guenther Hollfelder

Senior Analyst
None

Junwei Hafner-Cai

Senior Analyst
None

Stefanie Rath

Product Specialist

Thiemo Lang

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.

  • PhD in Optics/Photonics, Grenoble Institute of TechnologyDiploma of Electronics, University of Stuttgart
  • 24 years

Thomas Guennegues

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 a Engineering degree and a Master's degree in Fluid Mechanics from the University ISAE-SUPAERO. He is a CFA Charterholder.

  • Engineering degree and Master's degree in Fluid Mechanics, University ISAE-SUPAERO
  • CFA Charterholder
  • 14 years

Guenther Hollfelder

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.

  • MSc, Montpellier Business SchoolDiploma in Business (elective in information systems and applied computer sciences), University of Bamberg
  • CFA Charterholder
  • 23 years

Junwei Hafner-Cai

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 holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business, major in Banking & Finance from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and is a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA).

  • Bachelor's degree in Business (major in Banking and Finance), Nanyang Technological University
  • Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA)
  • 20 years

Stefanie Rath

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.

  • Master's degree in Finance, Grenoble Ecole de Management (London campus)Bachelor's degree, University of Denver
  • 10 years

Funds managed by the Sustainable Thematic Equity Team

i

Smart Energy Fund

Launch date30.09.2021
AUM
5Team size

Smart Energy Fund

The Fund’s investment objective is to provide long term capital growth. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a portfolio of companies worldwide that provide technological solutions and services targeting the decarbonisation of the global energy sector.
i

Smart Mobility Fund

Launch date30.09.2021
AUM
5Team size

Smart Mobility Fund

The Fund’s investment objective is to provide long term capital growth. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing in a portfolio of companies worldwide that support, through their technology solutions and services, the decarbonisation and transformation of the global transportation sector.