Sienna IM launches European biodiversity private debt impact fund
Paris-based Sienna Investment Managers (Sienna IM) has launched the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund, with a €200m (£165m) target.
The fund, which is one of the first private debt impact funds dedicated to the preservation and restoration of biodiversity in Europe, has already received a €100m commitment from mutual insurance company Malakoff Humanis Group.
Sienna IM is a pan-European asset manager with €40bn of assets under management, of which more than 80 per cent are classified as Article 8 or 9 under the SFDR regulation.
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Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund is classified as Article 9 and primarily addresses three of the five pressures that directly affect biodiversity, namely the transformation of land and seas, pollution, and the direct exploitation of organisms. It is also part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The fund focuses on solutions for biodiversity, companies engaged in a transition process, those aimed at reducing their negative impact on biodiversity, and favours companies that significantly outperform their sector’s practices in terms of biodiversity preservation.
Each financed company will have been subjected to an in-depth analysis by Sienna IM, based on the expertise of the Quebec environmental solutions company Habitat.
Sienna IM has established a network of biodiversity experts that can be called upon depending on the sector covered by the financing under consideration.
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The fund will take a multisectoral approach, drawing on mid-market corporate financing, real estate debt, energy transition, and public sector. Sienna IM said that the differentiating factor of the fund addresses the multifaceted nature of biodiversity.
“We offer this unique fund to investors who are sensitive to the common footprint left for future generations on ecosystem services, which we benefit from today,” said private credit managing director Laurent Dubois. “As a committed player, Sienna IM pursues a privileged dialogue with the companies financed in order to support them in the context of projects preserving or restoring biodiversity.”
Aurélie Baudhuin, investment director of Malakoff Humanis, added: “As investors, we have a decisive responsibility: we must also encourage the development of innovative methods for measuring the footprint of activities on natural resources. This is not only an environmental imperative, but also an essential lever to ensure resilient and sustainable performance in an economic framework undergoing profound change.”
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