Two ex-JP Morgan credit bankers have launched ImpactA Global, a new investment advisory firm targeting infrastructure in emerging markets.
The firm is backed by a minority stake from Legal & General’s alternative investments arm, though the size of the stake remains undisclosed.
ImpactA Global aims to address the World Bank’s estimated $1 trillion annual investment gap in emerging market infrastructure required to meet development goals.
The firm plans to focus on new infrastructure projects, particularly in renewable energy, mobility, and health and sanitation sectors across Latin America, Africa, and South Asia.
Co-founder Isabella da Costa Mendes, ImpactA’s co-CEO, explained that the firm emerged from frustration over promising projects failing due to missing capital components.
Da Costa Mendes, formerly an executive director at JPMorgan, shares leadership with co-founder Victoria Miles, who was a managing director at the bank.
ImpactA aims to attract investors like development finance institutions, export credit agencies, and institutional asset managers to provide debt financing.
The firm will provide initial debt financing of 5% to 15% for projects valued at $100 million to $300 million, aiming to leverage this to attract up to eight times more in external funding.
Unlike many investment firms that focus solely on equity or specific regions, ImpactA is unique in concentrating exclusively on emerging market infrastructure debt with a global perspective.
Legal & General Capital CEO Laura Mason described the insurer as a “significant minority shareholder” in ImpactA, without disclosing specific details about the stake.
ImpactA Global’s strategy seeks to fill a critical gap in the infrastructure finance market by providing essential early-stage capital that can unlock further investments from various financial entities.
The firm’s approach offers a new model for impact investment, directly addressing the lack of debt financing options for infrastructure projects in emerging markets.
