Japanese Investor Anchors New Green Infrastructure Strategy

A new green strategy has been added to the Infrastructure Debt Platform at Natixis Investment Managers International. The dollar-denominated strategy will have a global scope, targeting yield transactions in the European and American markets. The anchor investor is Asahi Mutual Life Insurance, a well-known Japanese company.

Celine Tercier, Head of Infrastructure Finance at Natixis Investment Managers International Private Debt, says: “We are very pleased to welcome our first Japanese investor in our new green global infrastructure strategy.”

“Infrastructure debt has demonstrated its resilience during the COVID-19 crisis. As a consequence, institutional investors across all regions are now allocating more resources to infrastructure debt and especially to green strategies.”

The new strategy has obtained the GreenFin Label. GreenFin was created by the French Ministry for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, and provides a guarantee to investors that the investments contribute to ecological and energy transition. The label is based on four specific criteria: calculation of the share of green investment in a portfolio, formal exclusions of certain activities, consideration of ESG criteria and measurement of the positive impact of the investments.

Separately, the infrastructure debt team has agreed with Asahi Mutual Life Insurance to invest in sustainable development transactions in APAC, which proactively address climate change issues. The Infrastructure Debt Platform now manages more than $700m through four funds and mandates.

Alistair Ho, Head of Private Debt Real Asset APAC, says: “We are proud to partner with Asahi Mutual Life Insurance, a Japanese key financial institution, to invest in sustainable infrastructure debt in the APAC region.”

Laurent Belouze, Head of Private Debt Real Assets at says: “Thanks to the trust of our clients, our debt platform is growing rapidly, and we should announce new developments in the coming weeks.”