Mandate roundup: Asset owner duo invests in Equita’s private debt

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The Fondo Italiano d’Investimento and the European Investment Fund have invested in Equita’s Private Debt Fund II (EDP II), which has announced its first closing at €100m.

Equita, an Italian independent investment bank, said the first phase of funding its Italian closed-ended investment fund, which is compliant with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), included a significant portion of existing Equita Private Debt Fund investors re-upping in the second fund – the largest being the Italian fund of funds Fondo Italiano d’Investimento, as well as new top-tier Italian and international investors, including the European Investment Fund.

An Equita spokesman, however, declined to disclose how much each asset owner invested individually.

The second phase of the EDP II fundraising process – which was launched in October 2019 with a target size of €200m (and a €250m hard cap) – will aim to attract Italian and international institutional investors interested in benefiting from the risk-return profile of this relatively new and growing asset class, Equita said.

Equita said the fund’s investment strategy will be in line with its predecessor Equita Private Debt Fund, investing in senior unitranche and subordinated bonds in sponsor-led transactions, with a maturity of five to seven years and a bullet repayment structure.

The target returns, it added, are expected to be in line with those of the first private debt fund, which is now fully deployed with an expected gross return of around 9.5%.

EPD II will also benefit from strong governance, leveraging on an independent decision-making process and full alignment of interests between investors and the managing team, it said.

Paolo Pendenza, head of private debt at Equita, said: “Given the current market environment, we are really satisfied with the results we achieved. The positive track record of the first fund and the ability of the private debt team to identify new investment opportunities have allowed Equita Capital SGR to complete the first closing of Equita Private Debt Fund II with €100m, setting the stage to reach the final target of €200m in the coming months.”

Quaestio awards Impax €79m sustainable mandate

Quaestio Capital Management, an Italian investment firm managing multi-asset, multi-manager portfolios for institutional clients, has awarded Impax Asset Management a €79m sustainable segregated mandate.

Quaestio initially awarded Impax €68.7m and subsequently allocated an additional €10m, it was announced.

According to Impax, the manager will run this segregated account using the same process as the Impax Global Opportunities Strategy. Quaestio selected this particular strategy based on how Impax integrates environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) into the investment process.

The strategy seeks to achieve long-term capital growth through investment in companies with sustainable competitive advantages and track records of consistent returns on investment, where the portfolio managers believe that these characteristics are not reflected in the share price, Impax said.

The global opportunities strategy uses the proprietary Impax Sustainability Lens to identify durable companies best positioned to seize these opportunities and mitigate these risks, the firm added.

The investment process includes a strong focus on the risks arising from the transition to a more sustainable global economy, whilst seeking to harness the opportunities that it presents.

Christian Prinoth, chief investment officer for Quaestio, said: “Impax is well recognised worldwide for its expertise in understanding investment opportunities arising from the transition to a more sustainable economy. ESG analysis is clearly an integral part of the Impax investment process, and we wanted to offer our clients access to that.”