Ex-Invesco sustainable investing head launches EMs business

Hamid Asseffar, former head of EMEA sustainable and impact investing at Invesco, has announced the launch of an Irish ICAV investment platform focused on both listed and blended investment opportunities in emerging markets.

T50 aims to address structural challenges that have historically prevented thousands of corporates and infrastructure projects in emerging markets from accessing global investment. The platform will collaborate with leading financial institutions in emerging markets to deliver scalable products tailored to address these challenges.

Asseffar said: “Many projects in developing economies remain disconnected from the vast pools of international allocators looking to diversify their regional and sector exposures and capture new growth opportunities. The developing world is only now industrialising and urbanising and this process requires significant amount of capital as well as specialism that can connect international investors with those markets through modern institutional class products.

“We see interesting opportunities in the region that are not yet able to attract the attention of institutional investors and a lack of investment vehicles providing alternative sources of capital.  Often opportunities are bankable but located in sub-investment grade countries with substantial currency risk, putting them outside the comfort zone of most banks and fiduciaries, but solutions exist to tackle those market structure issues.”

“T50 will look to bridge this gap through a solutions-driven product approach that standardise disparate opportunities and connect local and global capital markets.”

Asseffar worked at Invesco up until December 2024 and also took on roles such as head of asset managers UK and ETF business development director during his six-year tenure. He has also previously worked at Amundi and Credit Suisse.

This article first appeared on Portfolio Adviser