- Latin America’s first dedicated green bond fund partners with the renowned German impact investor to contribute to sustainable projects and positive environmental impact.
Luxembourg, 06 June 2023 – LAGreen, the Latin American Green Bond Fund, advised by Finance in Motion and Santander Asset Management, has attracted its first EUR 9 million (ca. USD 10 million) investment from a private-sector investor, Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (CZS).
The investment by one of the oldest company-affiliated foundations in Germany represents a significant landmark for the Fund, which only started investing around 2 years agoand has already passed the USD 100 million mark in bond investments.
The fund strives to build a more dynamic and diverse green bond market, with a variety of businesses and projects in Latin America, so that they can mobilise the finance needed to facilitate environmental and social change.
Through its investment, CZS seeks to promote the green transition in emerging markets, in this case by investing in a portfolio of green bonds in Latin America. The CZS investment represents an essential milestone for LAGreen’s goal of connecting green projects from Latin America with international private-sector investors through green bonds. Meanwhile, this investment gives the German impact investor access to assets in the region and a blended capital structure enhanced by the public sector investments from the European Union (EU), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and KfW.
CZS has invested in other Finance in Motion-advised impact funds through the years. It is an ideal partner for LAGreen as mobilizing resources toward supporting the green transition in emerging markets is one of their common objectives.
LAGreen Chairperson Johannes Scholl said: “We are thrilled that CZS has become our first private investor. It is the first milestone in our plan to leverage our public sector anchor investments with private capital. This is just the beginning of our private sector mobilization strategy.”
About LAGreen
LAGreen is the first green bond fund dedicated to Latin America.
By investing in green bonds and supporting new issuers with technical assistance, LAGreen’s goal is to boost environmental and social benefits across the region and promote the transition to a green economy. In addition, the fund aims to promote high impact standards for green bonds, both in terms of the impact of supported projects, as well as green credentials, reporting, and impact assessment.
As an impact investment fund advised by Finance in Motion and Santander Asset Management, LAGreen was established as an initiative of Germany’s KfW Development Bank, with seed capital provided by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
For more information visit http://lagreen.staging.coremarketingpartners.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
About Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
Founded in 1889 by the scientist and entrepreneur Prof. Dr. Ernst Abbe, Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is today one of the largest and oldest scientific foundations in Germany, providing funding for research and teaching in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The foundation concentrates on key topics that address current scientific, economic, and social challenges, focusing on universities and scientific institutions in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Thuringia. Since 2007, the foundation has approved over 700 projects, granting more than 300 million euros. Its funding activities are financed through the dividends of the foundation companies, Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG, that have been in the non-transferable sole ownership of Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung for over 100 years.
Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung is setting aside reserves for each funding commitment and manages a permanent investment portfolio of over EUR 350 million. The foundation’s investment strategy is aligned to its key promotional topics and embraces the concept of impact investing, considering both ecological and social aspects. Significant portions of the investments are directed towards thematic focus areas, including renewable energy projects such as hydropower, solar, and wind farms. Additionally, the foundation demonstrates impact-oriented commitment by investing in funds supporting development aid, and humanitarian efforts.
Media contact LAGreen
Anne Johnson
Marketing & Communications
Phone: +49 69 271 035 742
Email: info@lagreen.lu