Sector developments and company hires

Bank of Valletta and the EIB Group have renewed their partnership to support the business needs of SMEs in Malta. Under this new agreement, the bank will provide an additional €28m to Maltese SMEs on favourable terms and with long tenors over the next two years.

The favourable conditions on the loans are achieved through risk transfer, implemented by combining funds managed at the national level with resources from the EU programme and EIB Group resources. The agreement involves an uncapped guarantee operation on a portfolio of new loans to be originated by Bank of Valletta, using these funds to cover first losses on the portfolio.

The agreement is supported by the EU’s SME Initiative, which is based on EU Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) made available by the government of Malta and implemented in combination with funds from the H2020 programme as well as the EIF’s own resources.

In other news…

EMEA

EdenTree Investment Management has announced the launch of two new sustainable investment funds - the EdenTree Green Future Fund (GFF) and the EdenTree Global Impact Bond (GIB). The GFF will be led by EdenTree’s cio, Charlie Thomas, and fund manager, Tom Fitzgerald, which will enable investors to position their portfolios to help build upon the opportunities of the transition to a more sustainable economy. The GIB fund will focus on using responsible, sustainable, and ethical fixed income instruments, and will be co-managed by senior fund manager, David Katimbo-Mugwanya, and fund manager, Michael Sheehan. This second fund will invest in fixed interest securities issued by firms, seeking to have a positive impact through socially and environmentally sustainable practices.

Hayfin has appointed Marc Chowrimootoo as md and portfolio manager within its private credit business as the firm beefs up its private credit investment team. Chowrimootoo brings extensive experience to the leveraged finance business, joining the firm from Goldman Sachs where he also served as md on its leveraged finance team in Paris and led its European credit finance expansion. Chowrimootoo will be a part of the private credit team based in London, and will work alongside Hayfin’s other local investment teams across Europe.

North America

Powell Eddins has joined Credit Suisse’s CLO trading team as vp and desk strategist, based in New York. He was previously vp, CLO and ABS research at Wells Fargo, which he joined in June 2016.