JP Morgan establishes alternative energy group

Investment bank JP Morgan has established an alternative energy investment banking group, bolstering its efforts to capitalize on the current growth of environmentally friendly technologies.

In an internal memo, the bank announced that it has hired Vandana Gupta to run the unit. Formerly a senior managing director in General Electric's commercial finance group specializing in energy finance, she was responsible for managing $1BN in equity investments in the energy and power sectors including solar and wind.

Prior to joining GECF, Gupta was a power coverage banker in Morgan Stanley's power group. She will be joined by Mark Zanoli, a managing director in JP Morgan’s San Francisco TMT Group, who will focus on emerging clean technology companies.

“These emerging technologies impact many of our industry groups so we will be looking for opportunities to partner in other sectors wherever possible,” said Doug Petno, head of Energy Investment Banking at JP Morgan. “Given the importance of energy to the global economy and the potential in emerging technologies, it is critical for the firm to make these investments,” he said.