Contact:
Global Infrastructure Asset Management LLC
Clay Norrbom, Managing Director
Cell Phone: (646) 379-1049
Email: clay@globalinfrastructurellc.com
Chicago, IL and Madison, WI – February 17, 2014 – Global Infrastructure Asset Management LLC (“GIAM”), the manager of the Geo Investors Renewable Infrastructure Funds, is pleased to announce the joining of John S. Nelson as a new Managing Director. For the past ten years, Mr. Nelson has served as a consultant to the design and construction industry, advising various investors, businesses, universities, and government agencies on business issues, sustainability, and project management solutions. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Speaking to his past contributions as a consultant to other investment funds, Daniel Oros of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers stated: “John Nelson is truly a rare individual in the world of sustainable infrastructure. I have yet to work with someone else who so confidently navigates the delicate balance between risk management and groundbreaking innovation that we need to understand as investors in energy technology. His combination of hard won experience as an executive, intellectual curiosity as an engineer, and brutal honesty as an advisor has proven invaluable to our fund.”
Mr. Nelson is the former CEO of Affiliated Engineers, Inc, a national design and engineering firm headquartered in Madison, WI with offices nationwide and overseas. During his 25 year tenure, the company grew into a national firm with a strong reputation for designing and managing large and complex projects for public and private entities, including many significant and award winning built works.
Mr. Nelson joins the two founders of GIAM, William Fitzgerald and Clay Norrbom, to help manage and grow the investment company as it launches its second fund focused on sustainable infrastructure investing. His decades of experience in sustainable infrastructure, energy fundamentals, and engineering of complex building and energy systems complements GIAM’s work with projects and companies whose primary focus is to meet core societal needs for energy, water, and natural resources in ways that limit their impact on the environment.
“We are very pleased to be able to add John to our team,” stated William Fitzgerald, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Global Infrastructure Asset Management. “John fills out our team with a keen technical eye and a career’s worth of business experience in managing, growing, and leading transitions in various companies. He will be an important partner for us and a valuable asset for helping our portfolio companies grow and prosper”.
Nelson added, “I am excited to join Bill and Clay to work together and add to what they have started. I’ve tracked Global Infrastructure Asset Management’s progress over the past three years and think it is positioned to become a national leader on two keys issues that are of great importance to me. First, how we can best manage and invest in sustainable economic development and second, how we as investors identify investments that allow us to do well by doing good.”
Mr. Nelson also serves the University of Wisconsin as a member and former Chair of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Board of Visitors; a director and member of the Investment & Development Committees of the UW Foundation Board, and a member of board of the Center for Advanced Studies in Business. Commenting on Nelson’s role on the UW Foundation Board, Mike Knetter, President and CEO of the Foundation stated, “he is collaborative, thoughtful, and totally dedicated to mission. He breeds confidence and trust in our institution.”
Further summarizing Nelson’s career to date, William Cronon, a distinguished UW professor and Director of the Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE) of the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies added: “John Nelson is a world-class engineer who thinks tirelessly about how infrastructure relates to the larger economic, political, and environmental contexts in which it is embedded. He’s a big thinker, a man of great integrity, and a wonderful human being.”
Mr. Nelson holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering, with the latter from UW-Madison Solar Energy Laboratory, and is a Registered Professional Engineer.
About Global Infrastructure Asset Management LLC
Global Infrastructure Asset Management LLC is an asset management firm specializing in investments in the infrastructure industry. It manages the Geo Investors Renewable Infrastructure Funds, which focus on sustainable infrastructure such as renewable energy, waste water treatment, water supply and conservation, and energy efficiency. It was founded in 2010 by William Fitzgerald, the former Chief Investment Officer of Nuveen Asset Management and Clay Norrbom, a former Director in the Citigroup Corporate and Investment Bank. It is headquartered in Chicago with an additional office in Madison, WI. Additional information is available on GIAM’s website (www.globalinfrastructurellc.com) or on the website of the Geo Investors Renewable Infrastructure Funds (http://geo-investors.com).
