LTIIA member La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBP AM) has raised an initial €270m for its infrastructure debt impact fund.

The French asset manager said its LBPAM Infrastructure Debt Climate Impact Fund has a €500m fundraising target and a €700m hard cap.

LBP AM said its infrastructure debt team targets a maximum of 3 years to deploy the strategy and build a portfolio of 15 to 20 projects.

According to the manager, a first investment is planned for this month, to finance a new biomass cogeneration plant that will produce green electricity and steam for a French industrial site.

René Kassis, the head of real and private assets at La Banque Postale Asset Management, said: “This fund, the first of its kind in Europe, marks an important step in the development of our activities, rooted in sustainable finance, by crossing the border from ESG integration into impact.”

Kassis added that the fund also underlines the asset manager’s ambition to diversify its offer with new strategies to better meet the needs of its clients, by “combining search for yield, risk management as well as positive climate and social impacts”.