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UBS Asset Management launches second infrastructure debt fund with EUR448.4m of seed commitments

UBS Asset Management’s (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) business has launched its second infrastructure debt fund, Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform II (IDP II), with seed commitments from initial investors of more than EUR448.4 million.

IDP II has been launched on the back of the successful performance of its predecessor – the Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform I (IDP I), which is now 94 per cent deployed and has a strong pipeline of attractive new investment opportunities. The strategy of this follow-on fund remains consistent; IDP II will focus on private infrastructure debt opportunities in Western Europe, primarily through direct lending, aiming to take advantage of the continued capital supply/demand imbalance in the mid-size European infrastructure investment market, where borrowers are seeking alternative sources of capital.
 
The capital seeding IDP II comes from nine institutional investors, comprising a mix of insurance companies and pension funds spread across five European countries and Japan. Over 75 per cent of these institutions are also invested in IDP I. The asset class provides defensive and stable income streams and benefits from capital efficient treatment under Solvency II.
 
IDP I closed successfully in September 2016. The fund’s capital has been deployed into 11 investments to date, creating a balanced portfolio across sub-sectors and countries. The latest investment was made into the refinancing of a brownfield toll road in Poland, where IDP I has committed EUR75 million.
 
IDP II will be managed by an experienced investment team led by Tommaso Albanese, the Fund’s CIO, based in London, and forms part of REPM’s global Infrastructure team of 31 professionals working across six offices globally with EUR3.37 billion (CHF3.95 billion) of capital commitments for investment into infrastructure, through debt and equity strategies.
 
Tommaso Albanese, Head of Infrastructure at REPM, says: “Our ability to effectively deploy the proceeds of our debut infrastructure debt fund so swiftly and the fact that we have attracted such substantial seed commitments, largely from repeat investors, is testament to the ability of our team to access the excellent investment opportunities in the European market.”
 
Thomas Wels, Head of Real Estate & Private Markets at UBS Asset Management, adds: “REPM’s Infrastructure team have built a strong track record in the private infrastructure debt market, which it will leverage to further expand its platform and attract more client interest for this alternative asset class. With a strong pipeline of new opportunities under review and a growing investor appetite for longer-term stable income-driven returns, I am confident that IDP II will enjoy similar success to its predecessor.”
 
 

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