The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

MAPFRE
Spanish-based insurance company MAPFRE has launched Europe’s first biomethane mutual fund MAPFRE Energías Renovables II, FCR.

MAPFRE said that it is partnering with financial group Abante and IAM Carbonzero, who will act as the fund advisor and energy sector specialist.

The fund will invest in biomethane, a 100 per cent green biofuel obtained from animal and vegetable waste that can be injected directly into the natural gas grid, generate electricity via engines, and be used as a fuel. The fund, which will be opened to other institutional investors and private banking clients, aims to raise up to €100 million ($109 million) in a first phase for the construction and development of between 20 and 25 plants in Spain over a five-year period. In turn, the firm estimates that it will generate a total of 70 permanent jobs, 240 indirect jobs and result in a five-fold increase in the current installed capacity of this type of energy in Spain. The target return for MAPFRE Energías Renovables II, is between 12 to 15 per cent per year, the firm continued.

The project ties in with European plans to reduce its dependence on Russian gas supplies in the wake of the Ukraine war, José Luis Jiménez, group chief investment officer at MAPFRE, said: “We are very proud to present this unique and highly profitable project – a private-sector initiative in collaboration with the public administration – to contribute to the increasingly necessary energy independence from foreign sources."

Specifically, the project aims to address several core strands, such as the decarbonisation of the planet, the energy crisis, and the high dependence on imports of natural gas from abroad, as well as investment in the rural economy through agriculture and livestock farming, the firm said.

This is MAPFRE’s second renewable energy project and is part of its commitment to alternative assets and, in particular, ESG investments. Two years ago, the firm signed a partnership with Iberdrola to invest in wind and photovoltaic plants in Spain. Last month, the partnership was taken to the next level with the addition of 150 new megawatts (MW), bringing the joint venture to 445 MW.

Union Bancaire Privée
Union Bancaire Privée announced this week that it has further expanded its fixed income offering with the launch, in December 2022, of a new high-income strategy: UBAM - Strategic Income. 
 
UBAM - Strategic Income’s objective is to generate a high level of income coupled with a strong BB-rating risk profile, the firm said in a statement. The fund aims at returning 7 per cent per annum over the investment cycle, by allocating to the high-income segments of the global credit markets including high-yield bonds, subordinated corporate and financial debt, and securitised credit such as collateralised loan obligations (CLOs).  
 
The lead manager on the new strategy is Philippe Gräub, head of UBP’s global and absolute return fixed income team, supported by Thibault Colle and Bernard McGrath, portfolio managers within UBP’s Global and Absolute Return Fixed Income team. “Over a long investment horizon, BB-rated bonds have delivered materially higher returns than BBB bonds, despite displaying similar volatility. We believe this is due to technical rather than fundamental factors. We are convinced that investing in this area of credit markets and diversifying broadly across segments, sectors and issuers can deliver high income to investors,” Gräub said. 

The fund is currently available to investors in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.