The
global asset management firm TCW Group, has acquired Los Angeles, CA-based Craton
Equity Partners, a firm that specializes in socially responsible investing.

Craton
Equity Partners provides growth capital to venture-backed companies within the
sustainability, resource efficiency and carbon-reducing technology sectors. The
firm has $241.5 million in assets under management and typically invests in
companies with low-capital requirement business models.

The
move comes at a time when investors are increasingly looking to diversify their
portfolios with alternatives, said Jess Ravich, group managing director and
head of alternative products at TCW.

Craton
Equity managing partners Bob MacDonald and Tom Soto will become managing
directors at TCW/Craton. Managing partner Kevin Wall will become a senior
advisor, while partner David Asarnow will serve as a senior vice president and
director of investments.

All former Craton Equity partners
will join the investment committee for TCW/Craton, along with Ravich and David
Wang, director of alternatives at TCW. All the new firm’s employees will be
relocated to TCW's Los Angeles office.

“Many
aspects of the economy are being touched by climate change and now require
investments in finding sustainable solutions. We see unprecedented amounts of
capital flowing into environmentally-conscious companies, and TCW/Craton will
endeavor to contribute to these solutions,” said Wall.

The TCW Group currently has
over $130 billion in assets under management.