Investment manager Stanlib, together with group companies Standard Bank and Liberty, is launching a large-scale Energy Transition Fund to assist with the energy transition across the continent.
Standard Bank and Liberty will provide initial seed assets of R3-billion to the fund, which will be managed by Stanlib.
The long-term goal is to create easier access to the asset class to mobilise capital from institutional investors such as pension funds, development finance institutions (DFIs), banks, South African fixed-income funds and the like to build this up to a $1-billion (R20-billion) pan-African investment vehicle.
Achieving this goal will depend on investor appetite and investment opportunity.
“The initial seeding from SBK and Liberty ensures that this fund will be able to offer scale and diversity from the first day it is launched to the institutional market, which is unique in the alternative assets space.
“We believe the Fund will be well received, as it will offer compelling risk-adjusted and smoothed returns with a predictable income stream,” says Corporate and Investment Banking CEO Kenny Fihla.
The fund will invest in a pool of energy transition and project loans with different maturities and in different technologies, such as renewable energy and related clean technologies, to enable Africa to fulfil its energy transition goals at scale.
Stanlib’s team of credit and infrastructure assets experts will manage the fund, applying their experience in deploying credit to energy and impact opportunities, while providing investors with steady income and capital growth.