The head of funding at the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development says she dreams of IFAD becoming the bond issuer of the United Nations, as it announced a €65 million private placement with four German pension funds last week.
The money will be used across IFAD’s loan portfolio, which supports small-scale farmers in low-income countries.
Last year, the fund became the first U.N. agency other than the World Bank to issue bonds, via $100 million with Swedish insurance and pension fund, Folksam, and $50 million with Japanese Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Last week’s 12-year €65 million bond with Hamburger Pensionskasse, or HPK, as key investor, means IFAD has now secured 77% of its $1.2 billion borrowing target, designed to support $3.5 billion worth of investments by 2024. All three bonds have been privately placed as the fund’s Integrated Borrowing Framework does not yet grant it the power to issue bonds on public markets.