- NextEnergy Capital has announced that its NextPower V ESG has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a 248MW portfolio of 12 solar PV projects in North-Eastern Spain.

This 248MW solar portfolio marks the fourth investment that the fund has made, which has investors ranging from a UK local government pension scheme investment pool and a Dutch pension fund, alongside re-ups from existing NextPower III ESG investors, a German occupational pension fund, and a large Nordic pension fund. NPV ESG is classified as an Article 9 Fund under the EU SFDR providing tangible and measurable impact including biodiversity measures.

- Danish pension provider, Velliv, has invested in the World Bank’s Amazon Reforestation-Linked Bond.

The largest World Bank outcome bond ever priced (nine-year USD 225m) provides investors with a coupon that includes a fixed guaranteed component and a variable component linked to the generation of Carbon Removal Units (CRUs) from reforestation projects in the Amazon rainforest regions of Brazil. It is the first bond linking investors’ financial return to the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, differing from past transactions linked to the sale of carbon credits from avoided emissions.

Commenting, Velliv deputy chief investment officer, Thor Schultz Christensen, said: “Velliv is very pleased to participate in the Amazon Reforestation-Linked Bond. This impact investment goes very well hand in hand with both the carbon-reduction, social and biodiversity priorities of Velliv. Velliv is pleased the transaction has identified Mombak to carry out the groundwork and succeed with this important objective.”

- Finnish earnings-related pension provider Varma has announced that its management fee will be reduced by up to 20 per cent in 2025.

The management fees collected by occupational pension funds cover the costs of administering and implementing the insurance policies. The level of the contribution is determined on the basis of the efficiency of the occupational pension company's activities. In the case of an individual company, the size of the company is one of the factors determining the level of the contribution.

Finland’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Health recently confirmed the calculation basis for Varma's 2025 TyEL healthcare contribution and the final TyEL contribution rates for 2025 will be set later in the autumn.

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