Credit: CPF The Church Pension Fund (CPF), a financial services organization that serves the Episcopal Church, has invested US$17 million in a fund that provides loans to microfinance institutions, distribution companies, and manufacturers in the off-grid solar sector in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. CPF’s investment went into the US$75 million Social Investment Managers & Advisors (SIMA) Off-Grid Solar and Financial Access Senior Debt Fund I, B.V. Asad Mahmood, CEO and managing partner of SIMA, said: “This investment will enable customers of solar energy to lease on an affordable installment basis and will impact the lives of more than one million people while reducing carbon dioxide by four million tons.” Roger Sayler, executive vice president and chief investment officer of CPF, said: “This investment represents our second investment focused on the off-grid solar sector as market conditions in this space remain extremely strong. This investment offers us the opportunity to provide funding for much-needed financing while also earning a competitive rate of return.” CPF, which has US$13 billion in assets, has also recently invested in the Developing World Markets’ Off-Grid, Renewable and Climate Action Impact Note. Tags: cpf, off-grid, episcopal church, south asia, sub-saharan, debt, loans, clean energy summit africa
The pension fund serving the United States's Episcopal Church has invested $17m in off-grid solar power projects. The Church Pension Fund has provided the money to a fund held by the asset managers SIMA (Social Investment Managers and Advisors). It will be used to provide microfinance loans to institutions, distribution companies and manufacturers in sub-Saharan Africa and south asia, and is the second investment the pension fund has made in off-grid solar. The CEO of SIMA, Asad Mahmood, said the funding will help reduce carbon emissions and benefit more than a million people.