Lombard Odier Investment Managers ( LOIM ) has announced the first closing of its sustainable private credit strategy with a commitment from the Environment Agency Pension Fund ( EAPF ).

The strategy seeks to provide primarily bilateral senior secured private loans to diversified North American climate transition-oriented industries, LOIM says. It is designed to deliver tailored solutions-based structured liquidity within less efficiently financed markets, while pursuing compelling risk-adjusted returns expected to be less market-correlated than traditional direct lending strategies. It is classified under Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations ( SFDR ) pursuant to the firm’s sustainable investment objective of advancing the transition to net zero.

The EAPF, part of the Local Government Pension Scheme ( LGPS ), manages assets of approximately £4.5 billion ( US$5.65 billion ) on behalf of active and closed pension funds of the Environment Agency ( EA ). The EA is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and is the leading public body for protecting and improving the environment in England. The EAPF is a signatory to the Paris Aligned Investment Initiative, representing 53 asset owners, with US$2.9 trillion of aggregate assets, committed to achieve net-zero alignment by 2050 or sooner.

Ritesh Bamania, head of UK & Ireland institutional sales at LOIM, comments: “The EAPF is recognized for its strong sustainability focus and we are excited to be working together with them as a key partner. Many clients have embraced private debt to diversify away from equities and shift towards stable cashflows. Our strategy seeks to deliver both these traditional objectives and a sustainability tilt to help accelerate the transition to net zero.”