AXA & Insurance Development Forum Announce First Close of Infrastructure Resilience Development Fund
AXA, in collaboration with the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), is pleased to announce the first close of the Infrastructure Resilience Development Fund (IRDF). Managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a BlackRock subsidiary, the IRDF is built upon the Infrastructure Resilience Development Blueprint developed over the past two years by IDF members including AXA, Convex, Generali, SCOR, Swiss Re, and Zurich. Following intensive collaboration with BlackRock/GIP, this innovative structure was designed to meet the investment criteria of the insurance sector and other institutional investors, aligning with the IDF’s core mission: to close natural catastrophe protection gaps and enhance resilience for vulnerable communities in emerging markets and developing economies.
This debt fund will invest in small to medium-sized commercial infrastructure projects across Latin America, Asia, and Africa. It aims to build a diversified portfolio of resilient infrastructure assets, including clean water and water management, waste management, energy, transportation, hospitals, digital infrastructure, and other vital assets. The fund offers investors access to a blended pool of senior and mezzanine debt, with the goal of delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns, predictable cash flows, alongside positive social and environmental outcomes.
The first closed raised USD 340 million, including a substantial commitment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the IDF members who contributed to the fund’s blueprint. The fund has also approved its first investment and has a pipeline of potential projects. Fundraising will continue into 2026, with plans to attract additional capital from insurers and other institutional investors.
This project is an important step in unlocking investment in infrastructure projects in emerging markets and developing economies with an attractive risk-return profile. Our view is that the resilience theme is highly complementary to infrastructure and will allow for a broad range of investments across different sectors. Having the ability to deploy capital supported by both private and public money through such blended funds is key for institutional investors and the IRDF is specifically tailored to the needs of institutional insurers and pension funds. On behalf of the IDF’s Infrastructure Task Force, we are very thankful to BlackRock for transforming our initial idea into an investable opportunity, with significant growth potential
Jean-Baptiste Tricot, Group Chief Investment Officer of AXA Group
Insurance Development Forum and French Development Agency Launch – IDRIMA – a Groundbreaking Integrated Disaster Risk Management Alliance
The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) and the French Development Agency Group (Agence Française de Développement and Expertise France – together “AFD Group”) are delighted to announce the formation of the Integrated Disaster Risk Management Alliance (IDRIMA).
Signed at the IDF Summit 2024, this unique strategic partnership aims to strengthen the long-term resilience of sovereign, sub-sovereigns and public utilities in the Global South to the impacts of climate disasters through comprehensive financial solutions, combining the expertise of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Public Development Banks (PDBs), and insurers.
Michel Liès, Chair of the IDF Steering Committee and Chair of Zurich Insurance, said: “The IDF and its members are at the forefront of recognising the essential role of insurance in enhancing resilience and adaptation. This alliance with the AFD Group is a significant step forward in our mission to integrate disaster risk management with climate adaptation strategies. By embedding risk management measures and actions into financial solutions from the outset, we can offer better protection measures to sovereigns in addition to ensuring critical infrastructure in the Global South is resilient to disasters over the long-term. This partnership will also help protect essential services such as water and energy, ultimately enhancing the stability and sustainability of communities vulnerable to disaster impacts.”
Christine Poursat, head of AFD Financial Systems said : “Tackling the impacts of climate change requires an unprecedented effort across all sectors of society. The IDF and AFD Group’s joint commitment aims to accelerate the identification and adoption of comprehensive financial solutions to better protect against climate disaster risks. The alliance will leverage on the private insurance industry’s expertise and work closely with PDBs to develop robust solutions for vulnerable countries, enhancing resilience and adaptation to climate change.”
IDRIMA Context
The annual COP negotiations have highlighted the critical need for Climate Resilience, Adaptation, and Loss and Damage considerations within climate finance. Key financial stakeholders, public and private, are joining forces and expertise to deepen their cooperation.
The Commitment
The IDRIMA Operational initiatives will initially focus on three key areas to provide critical support and expertise and embed issues of risk management, risk financing and insurance into the development of comprehensive financial solutions for Sovereign, Sub Sovereign, Public Development Banks and Public Utilities which are engaging with the AFD Group:
Policy Dialogue: better integrating insurers’ expertise into policy dialogues, offering insights on disaster risk reduction measures.
Default Protection Cover: investigate ways to design and offer protection against sovereign and sub-sovereign defaults in the event of major climate events.
Public Asset Financing and Protection: test utilities’ appetite for portfolio-level protection for priority assets against climate risks and financing premiums for protection implementation.
In parallel with the IDRIMA operational initiative, the partnership also involves advocacy and engagement initiatives aimed at increasing the level of collaboration between the public, private and development sectors. The advocacy and engagement initiatives will in particular help share and disseminate this expertise among local and regional public banks.
H ΕΑΕΕ μέλος του Insurance Development Forum (IDF)
Η Ένωση Ασφαλιστικών Εταιριών Ελλάδος (ΕΑΕΕ) έγινε μέλος του Insurance Development Forum (IDF).
Το IDF ιδρύθηκε με σκοπό να βελτιστοποιήσει και να επεκτείνει τη χρήση της ασφάλισης και των τεχνικών διαχείρισης κινδύνου για την οικοδόμηση μεγαλύτερης ανθεκτικότητας και προστασίας για πολίτες, επιχειρήσεις και δημόσιους οργανισμούς που είναι ευάλωτοι σε καταστροφές και τους συναφείς οικονομικούς κραδασμούς, με έμφαση στις οικονομικά αδύναμες κοινωνίες. Αποτελεί σύμπραξη δημόσιου και ιδιωτικού τομέα, διοικείται από τον ασφαλιστικό κλάδο και υποστηρίζεται από διεθνείς οργανισμούς.
Η Ελίνα Παπασπυροπούλου, Γενική Διευθύντρια της ΕΑΕΕ η οποία θα συμμετέχει ως εκπρόσωπος της ΕΑΕΕ στην Operational Committee του IDF, σχολίασε σχετικά : «Στην ΕΑΕΕ επεκτείνουμε το δίκτυο των συνεργασιών μας και τη σύνδεσή μας με παγκόσμιους φορείς που έχουν ως στόχο τη διάδοση της ασφάλισης ως βασικού εργαλείου διαχείρισης των κινδύνων για την προστασία των ανθρώπων. Έχοντας ως κοινό στόχο τη θωράκιση των κοινωνιών και οικονομιών από καταστροφικά και άλλα γεγονότα μέσω της ασφάλισης, θα συμβάλλουμε ενεργά στο έργο του IDF με την τεχνογνωσία και τις προτάσεις μας.».
Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το IDF εδώ.