UBS Asset Management’s (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) business has raised over EUR 850 million for its second European infrastructure debt fund, Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform II (IDP II), surpassing the EUR700 million set target within six months of its launch.
The Fund will remain open to new subscriptions until year-end with a hard cap of EUR1 billion.
IDP II’s strategy targets private infrastructure debt opportunities of medium size in Western Europe, primarily through direct lending on senior secured projects, where it currently sees the most attractive risk-reward proposition. The asset class generates stable income from defensive assets providing diversification to institutional investors’ portfolios, as well as the capital efficient treatment it benefits from under Solvency II.
Commitments to date have been received from over 40 limited partners, comprising a mix of insurance companies and pension funds from Europe and Asia, 46 per cent of which have previously invested in IDP II’s predecessor, Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform I (IDP I) which closed in September 2016. IDP I is now fully invested, paving the way for IDP II which has a strong pipeline of attractive new investment opportunities.
REPM’s European infrastructure debt platform has already invested in 14 transactions with operations spread across 13 countries, building a strong track record of returns, in excess of 3.8 per cent gross IRR (circa 330bps spread) for IDP I.
Tommaso Albanese, Head of Infrastructure at REPM, says: “Our success in surpassing our fundraising target, with such substantial commitments from repeat investors, shows confidence in our ability to deliver attractive returns via the infrastructure debt markets. It also demonstrates the growing appetite for access to a diversified portfolio of tier-one quality infrastructure loans. This strong performance is a credit to the proven track record of our investment team, as well as the robustness of REPM’s wider infrastructure platform, combining compelling debt and equity strategies.”
