What you need to know about JP Morgan's DFI

The J.P. Morgan Development Finance Institution is quite different from its publicly funded counterparts, attendees at a Devex event heard last week. The 3-year-old division of the multinational financial company does not make and hold investments, but rather serves as a structuring agent helping governments and companies raise money from investors. The J.P. Morgan DFI has two primary roles: it helps conduct impact assessments for clients, and helps assess the impact for the company’s investments, Faheen Allibhoy, the managing director of the J.P. Morgan DFI, told Devex. Many of the investments it helps broker are bond issuances. While the vast majority of its deals are done independently, publicly funded DFIs will sometimes come in as investors. More often its investments follow on after traditional DFIs, for example, helping support businesses that they had previously funded to raise money through a bond. Allibhoy said that there is a growing demand for environmental, social, and governance and sustainability investing. Partly as a result JPMorgan Chase is increasing the number of impactful transactions it helps facilitate, she said. For more details about the J.P. Morgan DFI, watch the full event recording below.