A consortium of institutional investors from French-speaking Switzerland has made a 鈥渟ignificant鈥 commitment to the energy transition fund recently launched by Nordic investors PKA, Pensam and Storebrand.

The size of the commitment was not disclosed, but according to AIP Management, the alternatives joint venture owned by PKA and PenSam, the AIP Infrastructure II fund had reached its capital-raising limit of 鈧4bn.

The Swiss consortium was brought together by InPact Partners, an alternative investment advisor based in Switzerland, and includes Retraites Populaires, Vaudoise Assurances, CPEG and CAP Pr茅voyance, with additional investors said to be joining in the first half of 2021.

鈥淥ur public institution as well as our partners wish to continue to invest in attractive and sustainable infrastructure assets, while optimising management costs,鈥 said Jean-Christophe Van Tilborgh, head of the investments division at Retraites Populaires.

鈥淚n addition, our investments in the AIP fund are an extension of our responsible investment policy and the recently implemented climate strategy.鈥

Announcing the Swiss investor pool鈥檚 commitment to the fund, Retraites Populaires said preliminary meetings with AIP and the directors of the Danish pension funds PKA and PenSam had 鈥渕ade it possible to understand the [energy transition] fund鈥檚 strategy, to express the needs of the Swiss investors, and to be able to ensure maximum alignment of interest between all the partners鈥.

Kasper Hansen, managing partner of AIP Management, said: 鈥淭he latest commitment to AIP from renowned Swiss investors is a further validation of the AIP platform, our team and the successful investment strategy executed over the past eight years.

鈥淲e are pleased to welcome the Swiss institutional consortium to the fund and look forward to continuing to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to all of our investors.鈥

Retraites Populaires is investing for its own portfolio as well as on behalf of the four pension funds whose assets it manages.