BNP Paribas launches mini-bond fund for Italian SMEs
Italy's BNP Paribas Investment Partners SGR has launched a close-ended mini-bond fund aimed at supporting the country's SMEs.
Italy’s BNP Paribas Investment Partners SGR has launched a close-ended mini-bond fund aimed at supporting the country’s SMEs.
Financial services provider Prometeia will be in charge of selecting investments for BNP Paribas Bond Italia PMI and will also work with BNP Paribas SGR to select among a number of SMEs. Another criteria for the SMEs selection will be the rating from Credit Rating Agency, which is authorised by ESMA.
The fund will have a duration of seven years starting from the end of subscriptions. However, as portfolio building will focus on capital amortisation, the average investment duration is estimated to be four years, BNP Paribas said.
The fund targets AUM of €150m, with a minimum subscription of
€1m.
The fund is already open to subscription and will close in 12-months’ time. BNP Paribas expects the fund to start investing from the first months of 2014.
Fabio Gallia, chairman of BNL and Italy country head of the BNP Paribas Group, commented: “Italian firms need to diversify their funding sources and find new capital to start new investments and compete on global markets. With the launch of BNP Paribas Bond Italia PMI, we aim at contributing to relaunch Italian SMEs.”
Marco Barbaro (pictured), CEO at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, said: “BNP Investment Partners has already experienced a similar product on the French market and we know that such initiatives benefit from an in-depth knowledge of the asset class, integrated within a wide and diversified management platform specifically tailored on bond markets.”
More on Fixed Income
