IFC finds success by looking for the next big emerging market
Skip to main content
pilogo-NEW
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • login
  • NEWS
    • Asset owners and the coronavirus
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Frontlines
    • Hedge Funds
    • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
    • Money Management
    • Pension Funds
    • People Moves
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Searches & Hires News
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Reports
    • WorldPensionSummit
    • Ron Schmitz
      Pandemic drives faster transition for Virginia to private markets
      Mubadala Investment Co. logo
      Mubadala draws on portfolio in coronavirus fight
      T.J. Carlson
      Texas Muni reduces downside risk during pandemic, finding opportunities now
      Scott Davis
      ‘Triage plan’ at Indiana system helped stem losses
    • BentallGreenOak agrees to acquire Metropolitan Real Estate Equity
      watch video
      0:45
      Private funds weathered 2020 turmoil
      Daniel McHugh
      Aviva Investors promotes from within for real assets CIO
      Marc Rowan
      More alts managers seek expansion to retail market
    • Kieran Mistry
      Hymans Robertson picks head for new non-traditional risk transfer unit
      Troy Saharic
      NEPC brings on director of new business development
      Bill Foley
      Foley-backed SPAC agrees to $7.3 billion deal with Alight
      Jason Schwarz, chief operating officer of Wilshire,
      New owners have big plans for future of Wilshire
    • OMERS CEO Blake Hutcheson
      OMERS records worst loss since 2008 on bad COVID-19 bets
      Mitchells & Butlers turns off tap on pension contributions until April
      Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, adjusts his glasses during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington on Sept 24, 2020.
      Powell says Fed will hold steady during economic recovery
      Institutional investors mobilize for equitable global COVID-19 response
    • Database’s debut focuses on public-sector DC plans
      DC plan sponsors differ on need for annuities – survey
      Biden’s retirement idea getting the cold shoulder
      Few participants tapped savings to weather pandemic – Vanguard
    • Emissions from a smokestack in Poland
      Asset managers facing more scrutiny on ESG issues – report
      Boris Johnson, U.K. prime minister, hosts the U.N. Security Council's virtual meeting on climate change risks in London on Feb. 23, 2021
      Progress in fighting climate change falls short – U.N.
      Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, smiles during a virtual joint news conference with U.S. President Joe Biden in Ottawa on Feb. 23, 2021
      U.S. joins forces with Canada on climate change
      Signage is displayed at Harvard University Health Services in Cambridge, Mass., on April 20, 2020
      Harvard endowment’s fossil-fuel investments drop to 2% of assets
    • Donation illustration
      Jefferies will use trading commissions to do good
      Michael Arougheti
      SPACs ride wave as latest investment darling
      Spirit winners
      Prudential honors young people who are helping out
      2 U.K. pension execs take on ESG investing in new podcast
    • Robert 'Rob' Shafir listens during a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing in Washington on Feb. 26, 2014
      Sculptor hedge fund hits sixth straight year of outflows
      The WallStreetBets forum on the Reddit Inc. website on a laptop computer and the GameStop logo on a smartphone in an arranged photo.
      GameStop frenzy has hedge fund managers rethinking next moves
      Gabe Plotkin, chief investment officer and portfolio manager of Melvin Capital Management, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York on May 6, 2019
      Citadel, Point72 back Melvin with $2.75 billion after losses
      Shanghai skyline
      Global hedge funds struggle even in a more open China market
    • Illinois Teachers chalks up $1.3 billion in investments, commitments
      Emissions from a smokestack in Poland
      Asset managers facing more scrutiny on ESG issues – report
      Indiana chooses PIMCO for emerging markets debt
      Boris Johnson, U.K. prime minister, hosts the U.N. Security Council's virtual meeting on climate change risks in London on Feb. 23, 2021
      Progress in fighting climate change falls short – U.N.
    • Margaret Anadu
      GSAM chooses global head of sustainability and impact
      Signage for AMP Ltd. adorns the top of a building in the Docklands area of Melbourne on May 10, 2018
      Ares, AMP eye joint venture
      Thasunda Brown Duckett
      TIAA appoints Thasunda Duckett as president and CEO
      Brightwood Capital adds senior investment professional
    • Thomas Spencer
      Oklahoma Teachers chief Tom Spencer to retire
      Swedish flags fly from a tourist souvenir shop in Gamla Stan in Stockholm on March 26, 2020
      Sweden’s AP1 gains 9.7% in 2020
      CDPQ returns 7.7% in 2020
      Cleveland-Cliffs to pour $202 million into pension plans in 2021
    • Thomas Spencer
      Oklahoma Teachers chief Tom Spencer to retire
      Margaret Anadu
      GSAM chooses global head of sustainability and impact
      Doug Heron
      Lothian Pension Fund to lose CEO this year
      Correction: PGIM Real Estate
    • Carlyle secures $4.1 billion ESG-related credit facility
      Hamilton Lane raises $3.9 billion for fifth secondary fund
      PSG closes first Europe-focused fund at $1.5 billion
      Kohlberg closes latest private equity fund at $3.4 billion
    • Sebastiano Ferrante and Jocelyn de Verdelon
      PGIM Real Estate turns to staff to fill new roles
      European managers key in on specialist strategies
      Ingrid Jacobs
      Jones Lang LaSalle brings on head of diversity and inclusion
      EQT inks deal to buy real estate manager
    • Retirement cartoon
      Hopes rising for retirement readiness in 2021
      Neal and Brady
      Retirement security could be only issue both sides accept
      Shawn O'Brien
      Annuities coming to target-date funds, but not right away
      David Ireland
      Sponsors returning to questions about in-plan annuities
    • Charging Bull, sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway just north of Bowling Green in the Financial District of New York City
      Top-performing managers Q4 2020
      P&I 1,000 largest retirement plans: 2021
      Retirement in emerging markets
      Outlook 2021
    • U.S. still a key market for investors
      Collected coverage of P&I's 2020 WorldPensionSummit
      Pedestrians pass a large advertisement on the Arndale Center shopping mall reading 'Act now to avoid a local lockdown' in Manchester, England
      COVID-19 puts new opportunities and risks on the agenda - WPS panelists
      Screens display stock price information over the trading floor of the NYSE Euronext exchange in Paris
      Private assets will continue to grow in portfolios – WPS panelists
  • Data
    • Research Center
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • Searches & Hires News
    • RFPs
    • Charts / Infographics
    • Sponsored Research
    • Trackers
    • Q2 2020 searches and hires overview report
      Q2 2020 money manager M&A activity summary
      Q2 2020 legal overview report
      Q1 2020 searches and hires overview report
    • Illinois Teachers chalks up $1.3 billion in investments, commitments
      Indiana chooses PIMCO for emerging markets debt
      New York Deferred Comp plan re-ups with Goldman as stable value manager
      Ann Arbor Employees taps Artisan Partners for international equities
    • Illinois Teachers chalks up $1.3 billion in investments, commitments
      Indiana chooses PIMCO for emerging markets debt
      New York Deferred Comp plan re-ups with Goldman as stable value manager
      Ann Arbor Employees taps Artisan Partners for international equities
    • Emerging Market Equity Manager Services
      Securitized Credit Manager Search
      Private Placements Asset Manager Search
      Actuarial Consultant Search
    • Taiwan Semiconductor’s No. 1 in the emerging markets book
      U.S. fixed-income returns post another positive year
      Nasdaq delivers an impressive year
      U.S. dollar's recent decline continues
    • Institutional Investors: Shared Expectations, Divergent Paths
      Global Investor Study 2016
      Workplace Financial Wellness
    • U.S. Endowment Returns Tracker
      Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      Earnings Tracker
      Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
  • Insights
    • Opinion
    • White Papers
    • Industry Voices
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Partner Content
    • Publisher's Update
    • Tesla cartoon
      Don’t confuse wealth creation with retirement saving
      Top 1000 cartoon
      Top 1,000 retirement plans weather storm just fine
      Infrastructure cartoon
      You must go big on infrastructure, Mr. President
      Retirement cartoon
      Hopes rising for retirement readiness in 2021
    • Shifting DC Times – Winter 2021
      Bond ETFs show maturity during Covid market mayhem
      Pension Consolidation: Optimizing Scale and Maximizing Efficiency
      China is embarking on a new stage of growth
    • David Blitzstein
      Commentary: Without a national retirement policy, Americans face a future of pension crises
      Lawrence Cunningham
      Commentary: Gensler should keep Clayton’s pragmatic proxy adviser rules
      My-Linh Ngo
      Commentary: Pension funds and the role of the debt market in the fight against climate change
      Bill Peressini
      Commentary: Carbon’s elemental role in the future of impact investing
    • Writer using a typewriter
      OCIO industry needs to adopt GIPS
      Writer or journalist workplace. stock illustration
      Even as it assails China, Trump administration emulates it
      Skeptical of Main Street support for proxy adviser proposal
      Focus on manager diversity pushes asset owners’ to walk the talk
    • P&I Content Solutions
      How will gold react?
      To people shaking hands
      P&I Content Solutions
      Lessons From 2020: Today’s OCIO Model Passes a Major Test of Governance
      Sponsored Content By MassMutual
      Leveraging Data to Manage Risk
      Sponsored Content By iShares
      ETFs are becoming a cornerstone of insurance equity portfolios
    • Help us help you by supporting quality journalism
      You Must Believe in Spring
      Everything Must Change
      Tomatoes & Investments
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Polls
    • Slideshows
    • Charts / Infographics
    • watch video
      0:45
      Private funds weathered 2020 turmoil
      watch video
      0:59
      Secure choice and other retirement plans at a state level
      watch video
      3:33
      P&I 1,000 by the numbers 2021
      watch video
      1:33
      A look at hiring activity in 2020
    • Emerging Markets: Expanding Investors’ View
      2021: A Fixed Income Odyssey
      Technology is the New Oil: The Changing Nature of Emerging Markets
      Powering the Change: The power of diversity and inclusion
    • POLL: Working after the pandemic
      POLL: The year ahead for the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement funds
      POLL: The Biden administration’s economic plans
      POLL: Retirement issues in 2021
    • view gallery
      9 photos
      Coronavirus and the markets
      view gallery
      22 photos
      The 1,000 largest retirement funds: 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      Outlook 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      2019 as seen through the eyes of Roger
    • By the Numbers for February 2021
      Top Performing Managers of Emerging Markets Equity, 4th Quarter 2020
      Top Performing Managers of Global Equity, 4th Quarter 2020
      Top Performing Managers of Inflation-Protected Fixed Income (TIPS), 4th Quarter 2020
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Webinars
    • Defined Contribution Spring Virtual Series
      DC Investment Lineup Virtual Series
      ESG Investing Virtual Series
      Private Markets Virtual Series
    • Emerging Markets: Expanding Investors’ View
      2021: A Fixed Income Odyssey
      Technology is the New Oil: The Changing Nature of Emerging Markets
      Powering the Change: The power of diversity and inclusion
  • Careers
  • Research Center
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Online
May 28, 2009 01:00 AM

IFC finds success by looking for the next big emerging market

Arleen Jacobius
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The IFC is saying “no” to BRIC.

    International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank, is known for investing in debt in developing countries but for two decades, it also has been quietly investing in private equity funds that target emerging markets. But while institutional investor interest in the hot markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China began to boil in the past few months, IFC took a cool contrarian view and looked elsewhere in the developing world.

    Emerging markets private equity has produced a 13.5% internal rate of return since the IFC took massive write-downs in March to mirror the decline of the world’s stock markets. That diversification beyond the BRIC countries helped produce IFC’s double-digit return, a feat in a year when many private equity investors would be thrilled with a single-digit positive return.

    “Returns have been reasonably robust in the crisis,” said David Wilton, CIO of Washington-based IFC’s private equity private equity and investment funds department.

    That’s even with a relatively conservative view of returns. Until the March write-downs, the portfolio produced a net annualized IRR of 21% since 2000, he said. Recognizing that private equity fund managers’ return data lag by a number of quarters, in March the IFC reduced their private equity return estimates to approximate the declines in the worldwide listed markets, he explained.

    “We conducted the exercise in March, and we will continue to do so until the managers catch up,” Mr. Wilton said.

    Working to end poverty

    The IFC creates opportunities for people to escape poverty by connecting pools of capital to help development projects in emerging nations, with the goal of promoting productivity, growth and jobs.

    Seventy-five percent of the IFC’s $16.2 billion in investments is in debt, with about a quarter of the remainder invested in private equity funds, he explained. IFC committed more than $1.9 billion in 135 funds as of June 30, 2008, the end of its last fiscal year.

    For the fiscal year ending this coming June 30, the IFC will most likely end up committing between $400 million and $550 million in 20 private equity funds, somewhat shy of the $800 million committed to roughly 30 private equity funds in the prior fiscal year.

    IFC is also committing capital to infrastructure funds as well as climate mitigation, bringing the expected private equity total to about $600 million, Mr. Wilton said.

    And over the last 12 months, IFC began posting about 14 professional staff in locales in which IFC is investing, including Cairo, Johannesburg and Jakarta, Indonesia.

    He attributes the IFC’s double-digit positive returns, in part, to the low amounts of leverage used by private equity managers in the emerging markets.

    “They are not using a leveraged buyout model. We look for managers that use a growth model,” he said.

    Although the IFC has been investing in funds since the early 1990s, the portfolio grew large enough that in 2000, the IFC created a separate portfolio management team to oversee the portfolio.

    The IFC was among the first private equity investors in Asian and African funds.

    Not totally out of BRIC but looking to frontier regions

    Also, IFC hasn’t stayed out of BRIC countries. It was an early investor in Baring Vostok Capital Partners, which invests in companies in the former Soviet Union, when it launched its first private equity fund in 1994.

    And unlike other institutional private equity investors, IFC must stop investing with a new private equity manager once it becomes accomplished, Mr. Wilton said. Once a private equity firm becomes successful, the IFC must bow out because it cannot displace commercial capital in opportunities, he said.

    As a result, last fiscal year, 78% of its private equity investments were in first-time fund managers.

    These days, IFC tends to focus on frontier regions. Some 60% of the private equity funds in which it has invested are based in the countries assisted by the World Bank’s International Development Association, which supports countries with the lowest gross domestic products.

    More than 25% of the IFC’s investments are in sub-Saharan African countries as of June 30, 2008. For example, IFC was a lead investor in Emerging Capital Partners’ AIF Infrastructure Fund, a $407 million private equity fund.

    And over the last two months, IFC committed $25 million to Citadel Capital’s MENA Joint Investment Fund, which has a $500 million fundraising target. The private equity fund will invest in Egypt and other countries in the region. (Citadel will invest $250 million alongside the MENA Joint Investment Fund.)

    IFC also committed $17 million to Citadel’s Sphinx Turnaround Fund, aimed at investing in smaller Egyptian businesses with distressed assets.

    Related Articles
    International Finance Corp.'s private equity head to retire
    Recommended for You
    T. Rowe appoints head of newly-opened Shanghai research office
    No P&I Daily on Presidents Day
    No P&I Daily on Presidents Day
    No P&I Daily on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    No P&I Daily on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
    How will gold react?
    Sponsored Content: How will gold react?
    sponsored
    Events
     
     
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Shifting DC Times - Winter 2021
    Bond ETFs show maturity during Covid market mayhem
    Pension Consolidation: Optimizing Scale and Maximizing Efficiency
    China is embarking on a new stage of growth
    GP-LED OPPORTUNITIES AT THE SMALLER END OF THE MARKET
    Gold Outlook 2021
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    pilogo-NEW
    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    150 N. Michigan Ave.
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • NEWS
      • Asset owners and the coronavirus
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Frontlines
      • Hedge Funds
      • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
      • Money Management
      • Pension Funds
      • People Moves
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Searches & Hires News
      • SECURE Act
      • Special Reports
      • WorldPensionSummit
    • Data
      • Research Center
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • Searches & Hires News
      • RFPs
      • Charts / Infographics
      • Sponsored Research
      • Trackers
    • Insights
      • Opinion
      • White Papers
      • Industry Voices
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Partner Content
      • Publisher's Update
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
      • Polls
      • Slideshows
      • Charts / Infographics
    • Events
      • Conferences
      • Webinars
    • Careers
    • Research Center