Ben Guest, the CEO and portfolio manager of Hazel Capital, is enjoying a year of substantial gains. Hazel Capital’s long/short Santa Ana Fund is up 60% for the first half of 2009 and has outperformed many funds in the clean technology sector. Prior to founding Hazel Capital, Mr. Guest was a partner and portfolio manager at William von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital Management. The firm invests in clean technology, utilities, and waste management sectors.
Mr. Guest’s breadth of knowledge within clean technology translates into a unique investment philosophy, which he argues has driven his fund’s positive performance year to date. According to a recent article from the Dow Jones, he believes that the best performers “come from countries and sectors that have enjoyed state support.” The firm also takes bottom up approach to investments, taking long positions in quality companies with superior technological innovation and short positions in inefficient and overbought ones.
As for the second half of the year, Guest is bullish on solar energy. With “the cost of solar set to halve,” he has over-weighted his portfolio to one-third solar. With the pending hope of further government subsidy of the technology, he may not be to far off.
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