Arcano Asset Management, the asset management arm of Arcano Partners, today announced the launch of Arcano Impact Private Equity Fund II (AIPEF II), with a fundraising target of €300 million. This fund continues the strategic focus of its predecessor fund AIPEF I, which raised investment commitments of €280 million from Spanish and international investors, including Italian, German and Nordic investors. The vehicle is designed to generate positive and measurable impact through investments in funds and companies that provide cost-effective solutions to many of the social and environmental challenges we face.
According to Arcano, in the wake of megatrends such as climate change, resource scarcity and demographic shifts, there is a proliferation of profitable companies seeking to respond to the growing demand for commercial business models that provide solutions to these challenges. By offering increasingly in-demand and less discretionary products and services, and operating in a favourable regulatory environment, these companies are better positioned to weather different economic cycles. Within the social and environmental challenges that are being more actively addressed, AIPEF II focuses on three investment themes, including decarbonisation, health and wellbeing, and quality education.
Pioneers in responsible investment
AIPEF II is the second fund of the same name launched by the firm following the strong performance of its predecessor AIPEF I, which was launched in 2020 as one of the first global private equity funds focused on profitable impact investing. This first fund, which has completed close to 30 transactions through the primary market, as well as co-investments and secondaries, has experienced a very positive evolution. Despite its short life and having operated in a challenging macroeconomic environment, it has already had some sales of companies with very attractive returns, confirming that it is possible to invest for positive impact while generating attractive financial returns.
With the launch of AIPEF II, Arcano Partners strengthens its commitment to responsible investment, which is ingrained in its DNA as an essential component of its strategy and culture. In September 2020, the firm was the first Spanish fund manager to adhere to the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM), an initiative that seeks to establish a framework for investors to manage impact at all stages of the investment process. Similarly, Arcano Partners has also received the highest rating from the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI): 5 stars. At the same time, Arcano, through its impact fund, continues to support initiatives to promote sustainability and impact investment, in this case through collaboration with the IESE business school, through the Arcano-IESE Impact Investing Competition.
Ricardo Miró-Quesada, Partner in charge of Private Equity & Impact at Arcano, said: "With the launch of this new fund we strengthen our leadership position in profitable impact investing and consolidate our position as one of the leading private equity managers in Europe.
Marta Hervás, Head of Impact Private Equity at Arcano, commented: "We remain highly committed to measuring and disclosing the impact generated by our funds' underlying companies. To achieve this, we have developed a proprietary analysis model and have already published two impact reports monitoring the evolution of the impact metrics of the more than 250 companies in the AIPEF I portfolio.
About Arcano
Arcano Partners, founded in 2003, is an independent global firm with more than 20 years of experience in international financial advisory and asset management. Arcano Partners currently has four business areas:
·Alternative Asset Management, with €10 billion managed and advised since the start of its activity in 2006, and with five asset classes: Private Equity, Credit Strategies, Real Estate, Sustainable Infrastructure and Venture Capital; Arcano has a strong focus on sustainability and responsible investment, being one of the benchmark asset managers in ESG.
·Investment Banking, providing advisory services in M&A, refinancing, restructuring and capital markets transactions to companies in various sectors; Arcano has teams specialised by sector, and additionally offering a cross-sector technology/digital approach.
·Arcano Research provides economic, real estate and differential market analysis, as well as geopolitical and technological analysis of both local and global trends. This analysis is extremely useful for optimising company decisions, especially in environments of extreme uncertainty where the impact of making mistakes is profound and can be mitigated by investing in quality analysis.
·Arcano Asset & Capital Finance, an area that allows investors to participate in the creation of solutions for the financing of real or intangible assets in Spain, under a stable regulatory framework and under a very solid investment structure in terms of risk protection.
Arcano has a team of more than 230 professionals of more than 16 nationalities, with 7 offices in Europe and the United States, and has become one of the independent firms of reference in the European alternative finance market.
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