Investment manager BlueOrchard has released its InsuResilience Investment Fund Private Equity II (IIF PE II).
The firm said that it will invest in Asian, African, and Latin American companies that are ‘active in the climate insurance value chain’. These will include, it said, insurers and reinsurers. BlueOrchard said that the fund is backed by German development bank KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It has a target size of $100m.
Philipp Mueller, CEO of BlueOrchard said: “With the first InsuResilience Investment Fund, we successfully built a market by leveraging our global network and impact expertise. With a pioneering investment strategy, we were able to build and grow a climate risk insurance value chain that will continue to help protect millions of people from the effects of climate change.”
He added: “With the support of our partner KfW, we can now build on the success of the first fund and launch this follow-on fund. It is great to see that this blended finance initiative, which mobilises public and private sector capital for the benefit of people and planet alike, continues to thrive. I would like to thank our investors and partners who are helping us to drive access to climate insurance in the hardest-hit regions.”
The first IIF, closed in June 2020, mobilised $80m from public and private investors. The fund has made nine equity investments in eight countries, and together with its sister debt sub-fund reaches over 40 million climate insurance beneficiaries in 26 countries as of June 2022. The fund attracted investments from established investors in both the public and private sectors, including the European Investment Bank and Soros Economic Development Fund.
IIF was set up in 2015 by KfW Bank on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, with its main purpose being to contribute to the adaption to climate change by improving access to and the use of insurance in developing countries.
The funds are the only components of the G20 InsuResilience Global Partnership (IGP) investing private capital in private sector companies to increase commercial insurance offerings in developing countries. IGP aims to protect more than 500m vulnerable people in developing countries against the impacts of climate change.
Earlier this year, the InsuResilience Investment Fund acquired 40% of Vanguard, a general and micro-insurance group operating in Ghana. Back then, it said it would be appointing directors to the Vanguard board to assist the company in driving its market expansion further, rolling out its micro-insurance distribution capabilities, and further enhancing governance.
