Tokio Marine HCC commits $100M as seed investor in IFC, BlueOrchard fund

Tokio Marine HCC has committed $100 million as a seed investor to a new emerging markets fund established by the International Finance Corporation and managed by BlueOrchard Finance. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance added a further $200 million, taking the Tokio Marine Group's total anchor commitment to $300 million.

Insurance Business America reported the commitment on 8 October and described it as an extension of a relationship between the Houston-based specialty insurer and the IFC that dates to 2013.

The fund reported a $300 million first closing and is targeting up to $2 billion in total commitments to finance private businesses in emerging and developing markets.

The structure is evergreen, with subscriptions and redemptions permitted on an ongoing basis subject to predefined redemption windows. It gives institutional investors access to a diversified portfolio of IFC-originated loans across sectors and geographies in emerging and developing markets.

The seed position is a funded commitment rather than another unfunded credit-risk participation. Tokio Marine HCC wrote its first credit insurance policy for the IFC in 2013 and in 2020 joined the IFC's Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program through the MCPP FIG II facility, providing unfunded risk participations in IFC loans. Insurance Business America characterizes those participations as contingent commitments rather than drawn capital.

Jerome Swinscoe, president of HCC Credit Group, presented the investment as a continuation rather than a departure. "We wrote our first policy for IFC in 2013, and since then we have provided credit insurance across multiple programs," he said. "This seed investment alongside TMNF builds on that experience and marks the next step in our longstanding relationship."