Legal & General Capital has committed a further $100m to the impact investment advisory firm which provides debt financing for sustainable infrastructure projects in the Global South.
Legal & General Capital (LGC), part of the UK’s insurance and financial services group Legal & General, has committed up to $100m (€95.3m) to ImpactA Global, an impact investment advisory firm specialising in the provision of debt financing for sustainable infrastructure projects in emerging markets.
This latest investment follows an undisclosed earlier investment in March when the firm launched with LGC as a significant minority stakeholder.
ImpactA’s objective is to provide debt financing for sustainable infrastructure projects in the sectors of clean energy and renewables, sustainable mobility, health, and water and sanitation, most notably in the regions of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.
LGC said this latest injection of capital had been earmarked for investments with a focus on addressing climate challenges and reducing inequalities.
Commenting on the investment, Laura Mason, CEO at LGC, said: “As purpose-driven, impact-led investors, we are pleased to provide funding to our partners ImpactA as they secure opportunities to invest in sustainable infrastructure that offers the potential for positive financial, social and environmental returns.”
In response to questions from Impact Investor, Isabella da Costa Mendes, founding partner and co-CEO of ImpactA, said the firm had an active pipeline of projects and would initially look to make 15 to 20 investments over a three to four year period.
Explaining the types of projects the firm was looking at, she said: “One project involves the financing of a water project in Central America, bringing clean water to populations that will go without water for up to a week during the dry season – a situation getting more and more dire with extreme weather events. Another project involves bringing solar power to a region in West Africa, in an area with significant power shortages and where the cost of diesel as an alternative power source is very significant.”
Triple-line impact
ImpactA is focused on delivering what it calls triple line impact, including, pioneering women-led impact strategy, delivering financial markets impact though innovation, and driving impact outcomes in each individual investment.
Audrey Caulliez-Louis, partner and head of impact and ESG for ImpactA, explained the strategy in more detail: “We want to inspire more women-led funds to be launched on the financial markets, we want to provide some new solutions for transactions by providing that missing part of the capital structure, which blends public and private funds and unlocks other funds for bankable transactions to get to the finish line, and we want to set impact climate action and development targets, monitor, track and report on the benefit of the infrastructure asset on the local communities and firmly believe that the gender-lens approach will benefit both climate action and development.”
Gender lens
ImpactA has an all-female team of partners, which include da Costa Mendes and Caulliez-Louis as well as Victoria Miles, founding partner, co-CEO and chief investment officer and Susan Ward, partner, chief revenue officer and chief operating officer.
A gender lens is embedded in the company’s mission, although Caulliez-Louis explained that impact would primarily be focused on driving catalytic change in the market and supporting critical infrastructure in the four verticals of clean power, clean water, sustainable mobility and health services.
“[These] have been selected because we believe they are the most impactful to act on the communities, especially women, and the planet,” said Caulliez-Louis. “ Facilitating access to critical sustainable infrastructure hugely benefits the lives of women.”
Caulliez-Louis explained that the company’s impact management and measurement strategy included KPIs for each of the sectors targeted.
“We will screen our transactions for potential adverse impact and implement action plans for each asset we have in the portfolio. Where possible, we will also apply a gender lens on the management of the projects we invest in,” she added.
