UK local government pension schemes (LGPS) are among investors that have supported Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management to raise €2.5bn for its fifth infrastructure debt platform.

Edmond de Rothschild said LGPS Central, one of the UK’s eight local authority pension asset pools, made a “significant investment” into the Benjamin de Rothschild Infrastructure Debt Generation (BRIDGE) V fund, which had its final close at the end of last year.

Other investors include pension funds and insurance companies based in the UK, Europe and Asia.

The amount raised is double the €1.25bn secured by the previous fund in the series, BRIDGE IV, which closed in 2020.

Mike Gillespie, investment director for private credit at LGPS Central, said: “We are pleased to have secured a commitment to BRIDGE V, becoming the first UK LGPS investor to do so. 

“What first stood out to us was Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management’s ability to provide consistent returns over the long term, coupled with an impressive zero loss and default record; the firm clearly places a very strong emphasis on risk analysis and mitigation which was evident in our due-diligence review.”

BRIDGE V is classified as an Article 8 fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and invests across all infrastructure sectors in both senior-secured and higher-yielding debt. The platform has invested predominantly in Europe with some select exposure to non-European OECD countries.

Gillespie said the fund’s dual offering of senior-secured and “yield-plus” debt also enabled LGPS Central to target its “own expected return by weighting our commitments to each sleeve accordingly”.

Jean-Francis Dusch, infrastructure debt CIO at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, said: “We are proud to have been selected as LGPS Central’s partner for the development of infrastructure debt in Europe.

“We are committed to making this first step of our partnership a long-term success and assist LGPS Central in its ambitions to finance a diverse pool of sustainable infrastructure assets with strong ESG impact.”

Edmond de Rothschild said it recently launched BRIDGE-VI, the next fund in the series.

To read the latest edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.

Topics

Related Companies