Denmark’s pension fund for industrial sector workers Industriens Pension announced it has invested DKK1bn (€134m) in private equity emerging markets (EM) energy infrastructure fund Actis Energy 5.

The DKK174bn pension fund said the investment formed part of its strategy to significantly increase green energy investments in the next 10 years, having gradually expanded its unlisted investments in renewable energy in the Far East, Latin America and Africa over the last 10 years or more.

Jan Østergaard, head of unlisted investments at Industriens Pension, said: “Solar and wind energy in developing countries make important contributions to the green transition at a global level, and with the right partners, the area can continue to provide solid, long-term returns.”

Industriens Pension said the fund in which it had invested would focus on both the production and distribution of electricity in EM countries.

Global demand for energy was expected to triple by 2035, the pension fund said, with developing countries accounting for two-thirds of this. Because of this, the fund predicted that the green energy sector would generate strong returns over the next few years.

“For many years, our energy investments in emerging markets have delivered very attractive returns and led to significant CO2 reductions per year,” said Østergaard.

According to Actis’ website, the focus of the investment firm’s energy business is low-carbon energy generation and distribution in emerging markets - Africa, Asia and Latin America.

A spokesman for Actis declined to comment on a report on the Wall Street Journal Pro Private Equity news service earlier this month that the firm had raised $2.9bn (€2.5bn) of capital commitments from more than 20 institutional investors for Actis Energy 5 by the fund’s first closing.

Last week, Industriens Pension announced it had selected US bond giant PIMCO to manage its largest bond mandate, a DKK8.9bn global fixed income investment grade portfolio, saying it had transformed this mandate into a sustainable bond fund with more than a tenth of assets in green bonds.

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