Fundraising

$750m second close for AMP infra debt fund

An additional 23 investors, including Chinese insurance giant China Life, have brought the Australian firm closer to its $1bn goal.

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Sydney-based investment manager AMP Capital has held a second close on its second global infrastructure debt fund, bringing its total capital raised to $750 million, according to a statement from the firm.

Since the first close of AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund II (IDF II) on $300 million in August last year, AMP has attracted another $450 million from 23 investors, bringing the total number of investors in the fund to 40. They are based in countries such as Japan, South Korea, China, the UK, Switzerland and the US.

China Life Insurance, the RMB2.5 trillion (€293 billion; $402 billion) mainland insurance giant, was named as one of IDF II’s most recent investors. Although China Life has invested heavily in domestic infrastructure – including RMB8 billion in three Tianjin projects and a RMB10 billion urban infrastructure project in Suzhou – this is understood to be one of the company’s first ventures into overseas infrastructure.

“The momentum we’re experiencing for raising funds for IDF II is very pleasing and we are on track to meet our final target of $1 billion,” AMP’s global head of infrastructure debt Andrew Jones said in the statement. “This reflects the increased interest in infrastructure debt globally. Specifically, investors who have joined IDF II like our defensive strategy and focus on delivering stable, attractive yields.”

Jones added that AMP expects to complete fundraising by the end of the year, and has already been deploying capital raised at first close. The firm has built up a pipeline of investments to examine, primarily in mature markets. Since the first closing in August, AMP has announced a number of investments for IDF II, including a subordinated debt financing for power generation facility Astoria Project Partners in New York.

AMP has been investing in infrastructure debt since 1998, and closed its first fund dedicated to the asset class in 2012 with just over $500 million of commitments. The firm has a total of ten professionals in the infrastructure debt team in its London, New York and Sydney offices.