Dutch metal industry pension funds PMT and PME are to invest €75m each in a technology fund run by Innovation Industries, which focuses on local technology start-ups.

The €47bn PME said that MN – the asset manager for both metal schemes – had been involved in the set up of Innovation Industries Fund II, in order to make it meet the demands of both pension funds.

It added that the target capital for the investment fund was €250m.

PME previously invested €25m in the €75m Innovation Industries Fund I in 2017, which was oversubscribed when it launched.

The pension fund said the portfolio comprised 13 promising Dutch companies spawned by Dutch knowledge centres.

“We co-operate with four technology universities as well as applied research institute TNO for investments in ‘early stage’ companies,” said Harm de Vries, partner at Innovation Industries.

“This way, we ensure that scientific research doesn’t get stuck in the laboratory, but has an impact on society. We also invest in scale-ups seeking assets for international growth.”

Marcel Andringa, executive board member at PME, highlighted that investing in promising technologies meant investing in the metal schemes’ target sector.

“We can have an impact on developments in innovation as well as creating employment,” he said.

PME said that, as a private equity investment, the long-term returns of both technology funds were expected to be at least 2% higher than the results of its equity holdings.

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