Monday, 22nd January, 2018
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has today published its year-end review for 2017.
Key points:
- ISIF’s investment returns have added €655m to the Fund’s value since inception in December 2014.
- Total Fund value grows to €8.7bn, up from €7.2bn at inception (boosted by €655m investment gains and €865m Exchequer injections).
- 2017 preliminary figures indicate an investment return of 4.0% on the ISIF portfolio, made up of 4.1% on the global portfolio and 3.4% on the Irish portfolio.
- ISIF is attracting €1.7m in private sector co-investment for every €1m invested by ISIF (as compared with original target of €1m co-investment for every €1m invested by ISIF).
- €9.1bn has been committed to ISIF-backed projects in total at the end of 2017, made up of €3.4bn of direct ISIF commitments and €5.7bn of co-investment from the private sector.
- €667m was committed by the Fund to 23 separate Irish investments in 2017. Total new investment by the Fund and its co-investors in 2017 was €1.6bn.
- The Fund has now made 79 investments which are supporting over 28,000 jobs (as at end H1 2017[1]).
Comment from Conor O’Kelly, Chief Executive, NTMA:
“The investment gains generated by the Fund – €655m in value since inception - demonstrate a very satisfactory performance for a low risk fund in the current interest rate environment.
The total Fund value has grown substantially since inception, from €7.2bn to €8.7bn, on foot of investment gains of €655m and the injection of €865m from AIB dividends and the sale of Aer Lingus shares.
In addition to its investment returns, the Fund has been very effective as a catalyst for private sector investment in Ireland. We are pleased that the €3.4bn committed by the Fund to Irish investments has been augmented by €5.7bn in private sector co-investment.
In keeping with its double bottom line objective, the Fund has made a total of 79 investments to date that support 28,000 jobs across all regions and many sectors of the economy”.
Comment from Eugene O’Callaghan, Director, ISIF:
“The ISIF’s investments to date are well spread across the Fund’s strategic themes of Enabling, Growing and Leading Edge. Investments in 2017 included significant commitments in the areas of housing, connectivity, renewable energy, SMEs, food & agri, technology and life sciences.
The ISIF’s differentiating characteristics of flexibility, long-term timeframe and the value it can add as a sovereign partner to both businesses and co-investors have enabled such wide-ranging investments that are consistent with the Fund’s double bottom line mandate.”
Notes to Editors
Today’s report also outlined strong progress by the Fund in specific sectors:
Housing
- 5 platforms with a pipeline to deliver more than 9,500 homes by 2021
- €52m infrastructure funding to unlock over 4,000 residential units in Cherrywood SDZ in Dublin
- Supporting 3,200 bed student accommodation project in Dublin City University (DCU)
Connectivity/Infrastructure
- Investments in fibre-optic cable linking Ireland with North America and Britain; Shannon Airport runway upgrade; Port of Cork relocation
Renewable energy
- Supporting investments behind 376MW renewable energy (enough to power 165,000 homes) and Dublin waste-to-energy generating clean power for an additional 80,000 homes
Funding SMEs
- €663m of ISIF commitments supporting over 1,700 SMEs
- 9 lending platforms – enhancing the supply and diversity of SME funding solutions
- €125m to BGF, the biggest ever growth capital fund for Irish SMEs; €45m to Muzinich for debt/mezzanine SME funding; US$100m to Insight Venture Partners for growth-stage software companies
- Direct investments in individual high-growth companies: €19m in Kaseya (IT solutions), €10m in Cubic Telecom (mobile connectivity)
Agribusiness
- €176m invested in food and agri sector, supporting dairy farmers, food exporters, forestry and a specialist AgTech fund (with US-based Finistere Ventures)
Tech
- Nearly €600m investments in tech sector including genomics, data technology, med tech and decarbonisation
[1] The Fund has also today published its semi-annual Economic Impact Report for the first half of 2017