Sienna IM creates first private debt biodiversity impact fund

Sienna Investment Managers has announced the creation of Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund, the first private debt impact fund dedicated to the preservation and restoration of biodiversity in Europe. The fund has a target of €200 million and already has an endowment of €100 million from the Malakoff Humanis Group.

Laurent Dubois, Managing Director – Private Credit, Sienna IM

Classified as Article 9 under the SFDR regulation, the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund aims to support European companies and projects that contribute to the preservation and restoration of biodiversity, in particular through impact clauses.

It 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. The fund focuses its investment strategy on three main areas: solutions for biodiversity, companies engaged in a transition process aimed at reducing their negative impact on biodiversity and the “best practice” approach, favouring companies that make a special contribution to biodiversity preservation.

“Biodiversity is increasingly under pressure and we offer this unique fund to investors who are sensitive to our legacy to future generations,” said Laurent Dubois, managing director – private credit, Sienna IM. “As a committed player we want to start a dialogue with the companies financed in order to support them in the context of projects preserving or restoring biodiversity.”

Each financed company will have been subjected to an in-depth analysis by Sienna IM. Systematic financial, extra-financial, and biodiversity monitoring will be carried out through tailor-made indicators, reflecting the materiality and commitment of the company to biodiversity issues, such as the volume of water saved per cubic metre, the percentage of wetlands preserved, or the percentage of raw materials from certified sustainable sources.

Sienna IM has established a network of biodiversity experts that can be called upon depending on the sector covered by the financing under consideration. In addition, due to the bilateral nature of the financing, the ongoing dialogue between Sienna IM and each company will facilitate the implementation of relevant tailor-made indicators, regardless of the sector.

The fund will have a multi-sectoral approach, spanning mid-market corporate financing, real estate debt, energy transition, and public sector.

“The multi-sectoral approach, thanks to Sienna IM’s diversified expertise, and the bilateral approach, specific to private debt, are all assets for real support for European companies and projects in favour of biodiversity,” said Claire Sanson, fund director. “This support will be all the more relevant as our financial and extra-financial analyses feed off each other, which is reflected in the ability of our management and ESG teams to work in tandem.”

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