Dutch pension asset manager PGGM will invest €250m in impact loans originated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) over the next three years.
On behalf of its pension fund client PFZW, PGGM will co-finance new EBRD loans with a duration of five to 10 years.
PGGM expects the loans to be mostly climate-related. “Think about projects for the generation of renewable energy. We are open to all kinds of impact investments, but our experience is that this is the kind of project that’s most easily accessible for us as investors,” a PGGM spokesperson said.
The EBRD was founded in 1991 to help make the former communist bloc in central and eastern Europe make the switch to a market-based economy. This century, the bank has expanded its operations to countries in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
“The EBRD will make loan proposals to us that we will evaluate based on expected return, risk and impact,” the spokesperson said.
“This partnership with EBRD is a new step in our investment strategy. With this cooperation we hope to get access to new, impactful investment opportunities and to benefit from the deep expertise and high standard EBRD has built on over an extended period in the countries where it is active,” said Ricky Singh, a senior investment manager of emerging markets credit at PGGM.
PGGM’s investment is somewhat comparable to the €1bn investment made earlier this year by pension funds Vervoer, BpfBouw and ABP in a fund managed by ILX, which also invests in impact loans of development banks.
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