IFC Asset Management Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the International Finance Corporation has today completed fundraising for its infrastructure equity fund, with a total of $1.2 billion raised, up from its target of $1 billion. 

The IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, has received capital commitments from 11 investors, comprising IFC and a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC, as anchor investors, and 9 sovereign and pension fund investors from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America.

The Fund's mandate is to make equity and equity-related investments alongside IFC in a broad range of infrastructure sectors in developing countries. It will be managed by an AMC team based in Washington, D.C. and Singapore.

The aim is to create a well-balanced portfolio diversified by region and by sub-sector, with investments in sectors that include power, transport, utilities and telecommunications.

The Fund offers institutional investors a cost-efficient platform to make direct infrastructure investments in markets where barriers to entry and transaction costs for investors can be a significant deterrent.

Gavin Wilson, CEO of IFC Asset Management Company commented:

“Poor infrastructure inhibits growth, improved infrastructure accelerates growth. While infrastructure investing has grown in developed markets, it is still largely an orphaned asset class in many emerging regions. What is missing is long-term risk capital that understands where the growth opportunities lie and recognizes the need for well-structured investments that address the real risks involved, not simply the perceptions of risk. The Fund will help to fill this gap, taking advantage of the risk mismatch and benefiting from IFC’s extensive track record and expertise in such investments.”

The level of investor interest in the Fund highlights IFC's catalytic role as a key partner for other investors as well as being a leading direct investor in private-sector infrastructure in developing countries. A member of the World Bank Group, IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, IFC’s new investment commitments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion. 

IFC’s committed portfolio in infrastructure sectors totaled more than $11 billion as of the end of FY2013, while its new investment commitments in infrastructure sectors totaled $2.7 billion.