Sprott Asset Management Inc. today announced the launch the Sprott Energy Fund and the appointment of Jason Whitley, of Whitley Energy Capital Partners L.P., as sub-advisor effective immediately.

The fund, which seeks to achieve long-term capital growth, will invest primarily in equity and equity related securities of companies that are involved directly or indirectly in the exploration, development, production and distribution of oil, gas, coal, uranium and other related activities in the energy and resource sector. The fund will be launched April 15, and has been seeded with $40 million of capital from both a large institutional investor and various officers and employees of Sprott.

Whitley, the former executive VP of Houston based R. Chaney & Co., an energy investment firm, has over 12 years of experience in energy investment research and management with focus on emerging North American energy companies. He began his professional career in 1991 as a research associate with Principal Financial Securities. Whitley moved to Rauscher Pierce Refsnes in 1993 as a research associate, Later, as a research analyst, he worked as a member of a team providing investment research coverage for the North American oilfield service sector, specializing in small and mid-cap companies that developed and utilized new energy technologies.

Whitley is expected to be a significant contributor to the success of the energy fund over the long term.

“We believe that the world is facing an era of sustainable higher energy prices, and investors should seek to capitalize on this trend. It is our belief that a peak in oil production may soon be at hand. Furthermore, we expect there to be considerable opportunities in not only the oil and gas area, but perhaps more meaningfully in coal, uranium, geothermal, energy technologies and other alternate energy strategies,” said Eric Sprott, CEO, in a release

Sprott Asset Management Inc. is a Toronto based private company with over $1.6 billion in assets under management primarily for institutions, endowments and high net worth individuals.