ILX Fund

SDG-Focused Emerging Market Private Debt

Solar Energy
ABOUT US

ILX is an Amsterdam-based asset manager specialising in global development finance co-investment strategies. It primarily focuses on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Climate Finance in Emerging Markets, and it is driven by a diversified, long-term, and impactful investment approach. This approach is underpinned by strong partnerships with global Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and centres around B-loan participations in SDG-aligned investments, particularly within the realm of Climate Finance.

ILX Management B.V. is licensed under the Dutch Act on financial supervision (Wet op het Financieel toezicht – Wft) with licence number 15004635. ILX Fund I and ILX Fund II are registered funds with the AFM.

OUR ORIGINS

The need to mobilise private institutional capital into emerging markets is paramount. In 2015, the UN International Conference on Financing for Development, coupled with the COP 21 Paris Climate Accord, called upon the private sector to help bridge the financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Climate Finance objectives. Almost in parallel, European-based institutional investors became increasingly sensitive to the same ESG considerations and development impact objectives that could enable the achievement of the SDGs and climate financing goals. But capital flows, albeit increasingly laced with a positive impact, have disproportionately remained in developed markets. To harness these impact-driven capital flows into emerging markets requires breaking barriers around perceived higher investment risk of Emerging Markets and the creation of scalable investment opportunities.

In this context, in 2017, the ILX Team, led by CEO and founder Manfred Schepers, set out to create a scalable investment platform, ILX Fund I; a USD 1.05bn SDG and Climate-focused emerging market private debt fund.

APG, Europe’s largest pension fund manager, was the cornerstone investor with an initial commitment of USD 750 million. The establishment of ILX was supported by grants from the German, UK and Dutch governments, as the ILX mission is in line with their policy objective to support the mobilisation of private institutional capital to EMDEs.

The fund provides institutional investors access to investment opportunities of the Development Finance asset class, by investing in private-sector loans arranged by Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)

OUR VISION
By 2030 global institutional investors will make significant allocations to emerging markets, directly supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
OUR MISSION
To create large scale investment opportunities in global Development Finance that directly contribute to sustainable development across emerging markets.

 
USD mln Target Fund Size
 
Projects
 
Years of Historical Development Finance Asset Class Data
ILX Fund

INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY

The investment philosophy of ILX is to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to its investors over the long-term whilst mitigating ESG risks and delivering positive, direct SDG-related impact results by investing in loans that contribute to the ILX Sustainability Themes.

INVESTMENT STRATEGY

ILX invests in syndicated loans originated and structured by MDBs and DFIs, thereby co-investing pari-passu with these DFIs in high-impact private sector loans in emerging markets. The market for syndicated DFI loans has existed for over 30 years. They are primarily hard currency-denominated loan participations that provide medium and long-term finance to projects and companies across core sectors, such as infrastructure, renewable energy, agribusiness, manufacturing and financial institutions.

As an independent manager, ILX applies a disciplined investment process to source, analyse and select loans originated by all leading DFIs. This results in a scalable investment strategy and a well-diversified portfolio optimised to achieve the fund’s investment objectives.

ILX Fund

INVESTMENT THEMES

ILX thematic focus areas directly contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across environmental, social and economic dimensions.

SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

ILX’s sustainability strategy is fully integrated with its investment strategy and is based on three key pillars aiming to safeguard the ESG risks and measure the SDG contribution of every investment.

Sustainability Strategy
OPERATING PRINCIPLES FOR IMPACT MANAGEMENT

ILX, as a founding member of the Operating Principles for Impact Management, discloses its alignment with the 9 principles, which act as a guiding framework to integrate impact management best practices throughout the investment lifecycle.

ILX DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Please click here for ILX’s Operating Principles for Impact Management Disclosure Statement.

ILX Fund

WHY INVEST

ILX Fund I provides a scalable US$1 billion unleveraged private credit investment strategy, participating in a diversified portfolio of syndicated emerging markets private sector loans, co-investing with leading global Multilateral Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions.

Commercially Attractive

Historical performance analysis of 7000+ DFI-originated private sector EM loans since the 1990’s show that historical returns are comparable to and less volatile than comparable credit asset classes such as Emerging Market Debt, High Yield Bonds and Leveraged Finance.

Sustainable Investments (ESG & SDG)

ILX identifies, measures and reports SDG-related results in a uniform manner, leveraging DFI reporting practices. For all investments, ILX avoids, minimizes and mitigates potential Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks, building on the extensive DFI safeguarding.

Dedicated Fund Manager

The ILX Team provides a uniquely specialised, disciplined and efficient investment process, build on a strong network of global DFIs and European institutional investors.

Additional Diversification

DFI-originated loans, which are mainly arranged in markets that are under-represented in the emerging markets bond markets, show low correlation to global credit risks and shocks.

Scalable & Long Term Strategy

The ILX strategy provides a scalable long-term investment opportunity, initially establishing a USD 1 billion investment portfolio, invested over a 3 years period, and with the goal of facilitating a multi-billion evergreen fund.

Global Pipeline & Access

ILX is unique in selectively participating in syndicated private sector loans originated by all global MDBs and DFIs that are seeking institutional co-financing.

 
USD mln Target Fund Size
 
Projects
 
Years of Historical Development Finance Asset Class Data
Dedicated Fund Manager

OUR PEOPLE

ILX is part of the Cardano Development group network, which includes companies that have over 10 years of experience in managing innovative development finance funds (USD 6 billion AuM).

Management Team

ILX is managed by a diverse team with on average over 20 years of senior-level experience in global capital markets, emerging markets, development finance, fund management and sustainability.

  • Elvira Eurlings

    Elvira leads the investment and sustainability team. She will join ILX on March 1st 2022. Since 2018, she has been Agent at the Dutch…
    Elvira Eurlings
    Chief Investment Officer
  • Manfred Schepers

    Manfred Schepers is the founder and CEO of ILX Management, the Amsterdam-based development finance asset manager and has 30+ years’ senior-level experience in both…
    Chief Executive Officer
  • Tanja Pelle

    Tanja is responsible for risk and operations management, including the legal and compliance of the Fund. Tanja is an emerging market professional with over…
    Chief Risk & Operations Officer

Investment Committee

The Investment Committee of ILX Fund I consists of ILX’s CEO (Manfred Schepers) and CIO (Elvira Eurlings), and external members: Hans Peter Lankes, Tim Turner and Joost Zuidberg.

  • Rosy Khanna

    Rosy Khanna has had over three decades of experience in development finance and impact investing across multiple industry verticals covering Asia, Latin America, Emerging…
    External Investment Committee Member
  • Joost Zuidberg

    Joost Zuidberg has been with Cardano Development since its inception, as the CEO of the TCX Investment Management Company from 2007. Since early 2015,…
    Joost Zuidberg
    External Investment Committee Member
  • Tim Turner

    Tim Turner is an expert in development finance risk management, gained through an extensive career at the AfDB, where he was Director Risk, Head…
    Tim Turner
    External Investment Committee Member
  • Hans Peter Lankes

    Hans Peter is a highly experienced development economist at international financial institutions, including the IMF, EBRD and IFC. From 2017-21 he was Vice-President of…
    Hans Peter Lankes
    External Investment Committee Member

The ILX Team

  • Jordy van der Drift

    Jordy is responsible for developing and executing ILX’s investment strategies, with a particular focus on portfolio construction and management. He has global experience in…
    Head of Portfolio Management & Business Development
  • Luz Martinez

    Luz leads the sustainability team and is responsible for designing and implementing the sustainability strategy of the Fund. Prior to joining ILX, she coordinated…
    Head of Sustainability
  • Sophie Gioanni

    Sophie is the Head of Investor Relations at ILX and is responsible for leading the fundraising efforts and maintaining and building relationships with investors.…
    Head of Investor Relations
  • YiuWing Hau

    YiuWing is responsible for leading the financial and administration team, and he is in charge of the financial and operational processes, and coordination to…
    Finance & Administration Manager
  • Senior Investment Manager

    Guillaume is a Senior Investment Manager, Head of Infrastructure and Energy. He is responsible for leading the infrastructure and energy projects. He has over…
    Head of Infrastructure and Energy
  • Investment Manager

    Wieger is the Head of Financial Institutions and Corporate as an Investment Manager. He is responsible for leading financial institutions and corporate projects in…
    Head of Financial Institutions and Corporates
  • Lydie Vellema

    Lydie is responsible for HR and general operations at ILX. Before joining ILX, she set up the Netherlands Board of Tourism abroad and had…
    Operations & HR Manager
  • Magnus Birknes

    Magnus is responsible for IT and risk management. Prior to ILX he spent over eight years at Degiro as a risk manager leading the…
    Risk & IT Security Manager
  • Inés van der Vorst

    Inés is responsible for legal and compliance affairs and leading the team. Prior to joining ILX, she worked as Legal Counsel for BBVA, acting…
    Inés van der Vorst
    General Counsel
  • Arthur van Eden

    Arthur supports business development in the creation of new investment strategies and enhances portfolio management. Before joining, he worked at Van Lanschot Kempen where…
    Portfolio Management and Product Development Officer
  • Mishal Kooverjee

    Mishal is an Investment Officer responsible for preparing investment proposals across all sectors. Prior to ILX, she was a consulting manager at PwC and…
    Investment Officer
  • Victoria Walker

    Victoria supports ILX with implementing the Sustainability Strategy of the fund, with a focus on climate finance, and assists with the integration of any…
    Associate Sustainability Officer
  • Mees Wielinga

    Mees supports the ILX team as a strategy analyst. He focuses on business planning, new strategies and stakeholder engagement. Before joining ILX, he worked…
    Strategy and Product Development Analyst
  • Simone Boes

    Simone supports the Investor Relations team in its fundraising efforts. Additionally, she manages the current investors and oversees investor reporting. Before joining ILX she…
    Associate Investor Relations Officer
  • Geert Zittersteyn

    Geert has been at ILX since 2021 and has contributed to the development of the manager through his technical knowledge of financial products, data…
    Associate Investment Officer
  • Arlind Jani

    Arlind supports the sustainability team at ILX specialising in Principal Adverse Impacts (PAI), TCFD, and other ad-hoc sustainability initiatives. He has a diverse background…
    Junior Sustainability Analyst
  • Sofía Vega Núñez

    Sofía supports ILX in communications, including marketing, relationships with the media and, social media. Prior to joining ILX, she spent two years at AlphaSights…
    Communication Analyst
  • Guglielmo Papini

    Guglielmo serves as an investment analyst at ILX, where he performs quantitative and qualitative due diligence for project finance, corporate finance, and financial institution…
    Investment Analyst

    Supervisory Board

    The Supervisory Board members of ILX Management B.V. are Nanno Kleiterp, Theo Kocken and Hannah Rossiter.

    • Nanno Kleiterp

      Nanno Kleiterp is the Honorary Chair of the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI), the association of 15 European development banks. He is also Chairman…
      Nanno Kleiterp
      Chairman Supervisory Board
    • Theo Kocken

      Theo Kocken is professor of Risk Management at VU University Amsterdam, founder of the Anglo-Dutch pension investment & risk management firm Cardano and chairman…
      Theo Kocken
      Supervisory Board Member
    • Hannah Rossiter

      Hannah joined ILX as the final Supervisory Board Member. She is a managing director at Kroll, heading the Financial Services Compliance and Regulation services…
      Supervisory Board Member

    Advisory Group

    ILX is supported by a senior advisory group with extensive experience in development finance, emerging markets, pension fund management, sustainability and impact investment.

    • Erik Bergloff

      Professor Erik Berglof is the inaugural Chief Economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and member of the Secretariat for the G20 Eminent…
      Advisory Group Member
    • Nancy Lee

      Nancy Lee is a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International…
      Advisory Group Member
    • Wim Borgdoff

      Wim Borgdorff is Member of Board of Trustees of Van Leer Group Foundation. Previously, he was a member of the Board of CDC, the…
      Advisory Group Member
    • Brigitte Posch

      Brigitte Posch is Head of EM at Apollo Global in London. Prior to that, she was Global Head of Barings’ EM Corporate Group since…
      Advisory Group Member
    • David Klingensmith

      David Klingensmith is currently an independent director on the investment committees of 5 equity funds in Africa and the Western Balkans. From 1996-2013, he…
      Advisory Group Member
    • Guido Schmidt-Traub

      Guido Schmidt-Traub is Managing Partner at Systemiq Ltd. From 2012-2020, he was Executive Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which operates under…
      Advisory Group Member
    Media

    LONG-TERM INFRASTUCTURE PANEL

    An event organised by Uxolo

    AFTER MOVIE - ILX SEMINAR

    Additional Information

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    ILX Fund - SDG-Focused Emerging Market Private Debt
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