responsAbility has won a major new client. As the Zurich microfinance specialist announced, the Dutch insurance group Aegon has decided to entrust its funds to responsAbility-managed investment solutions.
As a result of low interest rates, the returns from microfinance are attractive and the risks and timeframes are acceptable, according to Aegon, which first began investing the potential of microfinance investments in 2014.
The EU’s Solvency II regulations require strict reporting requirements for the funds in which a number of insurance companies invest. “Microfinance funds need to report on their investments in a great amount of detail so that the investor can demonstrate to the regulator that it is compliant,” explained Marcel van Zuilen, a portfolio manager at Aegon Asset Management.
With USD 31. billion of assets under management, responsAbility is one of the world’s leading asset managers in the field of development investments. In 2015, a total of 12 of its investment vehicles invested in 522 financial institutions, agricultural companies and energy firms. Around 150 responsAbility experts work at its nine offices on four continents.