APG Gives Major Backing to ILX Fund Targeting SDG Credit Investments
Posted on 01/18/2022
ILX Management B.V. (ILX) is the Amsterdam-based manager of emerging market focused private credit fund, ILX Fund I. 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). The Fund’s investment strategy benefits from the DFI’s experience of investing in emerging markets. ILX Management B.V. invests in syndicated loans originated and structured by multi-lateral development banks (MDBs) and development financial institutions (DFIs), thereby co-investing pari-passu with these DFIs in high-impact private sector loans in emerging markets. ILX Management B.V. was initiated by Cardano Development, received important grant funding for its development phase from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (KfW) on behalf of the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ), the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
ILX formed a new emerging markets SDG-focused private credit fund. The United Nations (Sustainable Development Goals) SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. ILX’s investment process identifies direct-impact, SDG-targeted private-sector loans in emerging markets, arranged by the international development banks such as the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), African Development Bank (AfDB), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB Invest), and the International Finance Corporation.
APG Asset Management will invest US$ 750 million on behalf of its pension fund clients Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and bpfBOUW, thus strengthening its financial commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in emerging markets. Following the US$ 750 million first-close commitment from APG, ILX targets US$ 1 Billion in total fund size for ILX Fund I. ILX focuses on four key investment themes, to directly address SDG targets and the key objectives of climate mitigation and adaptation: (I) Energy Access and Clean Energy, (II) Sustainable Industry and Infrastructure, (III) Inclusive Finance, and (IV) Food Security.
Behind ILX
Manfred Schepers is the CEO of ILX and from 2006 to 2016 he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and led the Bank’s Institutional Investment Partnership in creating its Equity Participation Fund.
