Symbiotics has been selected by Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, the pension fund for the Dutch retail sector, to manage a EUR 100 million mandate investing in emerging markets private debt.
The portfolio will invest in small and medium enterprises and through microfinance in themes such as climate and energy, education and healthcare. Generating positive impact is fully integrated into the investment process. The mandate will focus predominantly on contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. It will target, in line with the focus of the investment policy of Pensioenfonds Detailhandel, SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and will seek for investment opportunities to contribute to SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and SDG 13 (Climate action). The fund will also be compliant with article 9 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
The mandate will be funded in the second quarter of 2022 and predominantly invest in unhedged local currency loans and bonds across emerging and frontier markets worldwide. The fund is designed especially for Pensioenfonds Detailhandel to reflect the themes in their investment strategy, as well as contributing to their objectives.
“With this tailor-made private debt portfolio managed by Symbiotics, we aim to contribute to our objective of making intentional and measurable impact in the real economy with a small part of our portfolio. Symbiotics expertise and experience in generating impact in emerging markets means that Pensioenfonds Detailhandel can now also achieve direct impact in emerging markets and, importantly, on topics that are relevant to the pension fund and its participants. We are looking forward to a fantastic collaboration.”, said Henk Groot, Head of Investment at Pensioenfonds Detailhandel.
“We are very excited to start this new partnership with Pensioenfonds Detailhandel”, said David Grimaud, Head of Asset Management at Symbiotics, “winning this mandate in one of the largest European pension markets builds on our solid track record in managing tailored impact debt portfolios for large institutions. We are grateful for the trust Pensioenfonds Detailhandel has put in our long-standing expertise, in particular in unhedged local currency debt across emerging and frontier markets. We see an increasing interest in our asset class from pension funds in countries across Europe, and we plan to further develop our existing partnerships in this segment.”
* * * * * * *
About Symbiotics
Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to financing micro- small and medium enterprises and low- and middle-income households in emerging and frontier markets. Since 2005, Symbiotics has structured and originated some 6,500 deals for over 520 companies in almost 95 emerging and frontier markets representing more than USD 6.5 billion. These investments have been purchased by more than 25 fund mandates and more than 50 third party specialized fund managers, forming a growing ecosystem and marketplace for such transactions. symbioticsgroup.com
About Pensioenfonds Detailhandel
With 1.3 million pension participants and assets of approximately EUR 37 billion, Pensioenfonds Detailhandel is one of the larger pension funds in the Netherlands. The pension fund strives for the best possible pension at the lowest possible costs and does this in a socially responsible manner. Pensioenfonds Detailhandel is convinced that responsible investment not only contributes to the well-being of people and the environment, but also yields better returns in the long term. pensioenfondsdetailhandel.nl
* * * * * * *
For more information, contact:
Samy Derradji, Corporate Communication Manager, Symbiotics
samy.derradji@symbioticsgroup.com
Florian Grohs, Managing Director, Symbiotics Netherlands BV
florian.grohs@symbioticsgroup.com
Tine van Heerikhuize, Press Officer, Pensioenfonds Detailhandel
tine.vanheerikhuize@bureaubpfd.nl