- Dutch pension funds ABP and bpfBOUW, and Pensioenfonds Vervoer have increased their commitment to ILX Fund I via their asset managers APG and Achmea IM, following its conversion into an evergreen fund structure
- ABP increases its investment in ILX to $1 bn, as part of its €30 bn impact investment strategy, demonstrating its commitment to SDGs and climate-focused development finance projects in emerging markets
- ILX also announces the 1st close of ILX Fund II, with commitments fromDanish pension funds Sampension and AkademikerPension for $185 mn commitments to ILX have increased 60% to $1.7 bn
- ILX Fund I has invested around $800 mn in 40 projects across 18 countries in emerging markets alongside the Multilateral Development Banks IFC,
EBRD, ADB, IDB-Invest and FMO
Amsterdam, 11th November 2024. ILX Management B.V, the Amsterdam-based emerging market private debt asset manager, announced two significant
milestones; an increased allocation to ILX Fund I, now an evergreen structure, and the successful first close of ILX Fund II. Together, this brings the total commitments across both funds to nearly $1.7bn.
ILX Fund I received additional commitments from its initial cornerstone investors. Europe’s largest pension fund ABP, as well as bpfBOUW and Pensioenfonds Vervoer via their asset manager APG and Achmea Investment Management. They, increased their commitments in total to $1.5 billion for ILX Fund I, with $1 billion coming from ABP as part of its €30 billion impact investment allocation. Together with the increased allocations, ILX Fund I will transition from a closed-end fund to a revolving, evergreen-type structure, providing investors continuity, scalability, flexibility, and efficiency. This transformation will support investors’ desire for a long-term, stable allocation to an impactful private debt asset class.
ILX Fund II, following the same development finance private debt strategy to ILX Fund I, secured its first close with commitments from Danish pension fund manager Sampension, acting on behalf of four Danish pension funds, and from AkademikerPension. ILX is in the process of arranging additional commitments with other leading pension fund investors in the evergreen ILX Fund I and closed-end ILX Fund II, towards a $3 bn combined target fund size. These funds will enable investors to flexibly allocate capital across attractive SDG and climate-targeted private debt investment opportunities in emerging markets, while also benefiting from the extensive expertise and resources of MDBs and DFIs.
Harmen van Wijnen, Chair Executive Board of ABP: “ABP aims to increase its investments generating double returns through impact investing. We apply a strict definition for these investments, which first and foremost requires an appropriate financial return combined with a measurable contribution to positive social and environmental impact. As a first-time investor in ILX Fund, we have come to an agreement with ILX to execute our impact investing policy. The development finance opportunities in emerging markets through partnerships with solid institutions such as the World Bank (through IFC) and the Asian Development Bank
are highly impactful. The progress since the start is remarkable and promising.”
Henrik Olejasz Larsen, CIO of the Danish Pension funds administered by Sampension, says: “Making financing available to emerging markets to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an important agenda for our stakeholders but difficult to achieve in practice. The ILX platform with co-investments alongside international development banks is a good way to achieve this while balancing emerging market risks and return.”
Chief Investor Officer (CIO) of AkademikerPension, Anders Schelde, says: “With this investment, we can check off both return and responsibility. A wide range of developing countries gain access to capital, while our members receive a stable return. This is truly a win-win for us”.
Manfred Schepers, CEO of ILX Management, says: “We are extremely proud of the progress we have made with ILX Fund I and are excited about the potential of ILX Fund II. The increased commitments from our original Dutch pension fund partners, as well as the new commitments from Danish pension funds Sampension and AkademikerPension, are a testament to the confidence they have in the ILX strategy and the opportunity that the development finance asset class provides in making attractive high impact investments in the emerging markets”
To date, ILX Fund I has made 40 investments in 18 countries for around $800 mn, and has co-invested alongside the International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB-Invest), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), leveraging their extensive emerging market experience, local presence, ESG safeguarding, and impact reporting.
ILX has recently been honoured with the UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment Award for Innovation in Responsible Investment Strategy as well as the
Special Award for Emerging Markets. These prestigious awards celebrate excellence and innovation in how asset managers incorporate ESG factors into their asset selection, portfolio construction, and allocation processes.
About ILX
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 Fund I was launched in 2022 with incubation support from the German, Dutch and UK governments and with cornerstone commitments from Dutch pension fund managers APG on behalf of ABP and bpfBOUW and Achmea Investment Management on behalf of Pensioenfonds Vervoer. ILX Fund II was launched in 2024 with commitments from Danish pension providers Sampension and Akademiker.
For more information:
Sofia Vega, Communications ILX, s.vega@ilxfund.com
About ABP
Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP (ABP) is the industry-wide pension fund foremployers and employees of government and educational institutions in the Netherlands. ABP has 3.1 million members and 533 billion euros (at 30 September 2024) in assets available.
For more information:
Asha Khoenkhoen, spokesperson ABP, +31622877556, asha.khoenkhoen@abp.eu
About APG:
As the largest pension services provider in the Netherlands APG looks after the pensions of 4.6 million participants. APG provides executive consultancy, asset management, pension administration, pension communication and employer services. We work for pension funds and employers in the sectors of education, government, construction, cleaning, housing associations, sheltered employment organizations, medical specialists, and architects. APG manages approximately
€577 billion (June 2024) in pension assets. With approximately 4,000 employees we work from Heerlen, Amsterdam, Brussels, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
For more information:
Elizabeth Palandeng, spokesperson APG, elizabeth.palandeng@apg.nl or visit www.apg.nl
About Akademiker
AkademikerPension is a member-owned pension fund where we manage DKK 145 billion on behalf of more than 170,000 academics.
For more information:
Jakob Lyders Tarpgaard, Press Officer, jlt@akademikerpension.dk
About Sampension
Sampension is the joint administration and investment management company of 3 independent pension funds and a life insurance company offering labour market
and company pensions in Denmark. With some 340.000 policy holders, Sampension is one of Denmark’s largest pension groups. It is covering employees in the municipal sector, state or regional authorities (Sampension Livsforsikring A/S), architects and designers (PAD), Agricultural Academics and Veterinary Surgeons (PJD), and Technicians- and Bachelor of Engineering (ISP).
For more information:
Rune Lindberg, Chief Press Officer, rli@sampension.dk