London-headquartered Guinness Asset Management has opened it’s discretionary managed service, Guiness EIS 5, to investment.

The new fund will invest in UK-based sustainable energy companies through the tax-efficient Enterprise Investment Scheme. The scheme typically offers investors a 30 per cent income tax relief, and no capital gains or inheritance tax.

Guinness EIS will target risk-weighted returns by making investments in “green” UK energy firms, which have predictable revenues, low technology risk and low correlation with other asset classes, a statement said.

“Investment opportunities include solar photovoltaic, wind, hydro electric, anaerobic digestion and biomass projects. We aim to deliver returns in excess of £1.50 ($2.40) to investors (including £0.30 ($0.50) EIS Income Tax Relief) net of all fees per £1.00 ($1.60) invested,” the firm added.

According to fund manager Shane Gallwey, many investors are looking to EIS investments as a means to diversify their portfolios.

"We continue to see a wealth of investment opportunities in the small-scale renewables sector. The UK has a maturing renewables sector with falling technology costs and increasingly experienced developers. The country's high and rising energy costs has led many businesses to look to renewables as a way of reducing these costs," added Gallwey.

The service will be managed by Shane Gallwey and Edward Guinness who have invested Guinness' existing EIS offerings. They are supported by an investment committee including Tim Guinness, Tom Hill-Norton, Andrew Martin Smith and Lord Flight, chairman of the EIS Association.

The fund has a target size of £10 million ($16.2 million) and will entail a minimum individual investment of £10,000 ($16,158).

Guinness Asset Management is a specialist fund manager in energy investing, which together with its US sister company, Guinness Atkinson Asset Management, currently manages over $600 million.