Our strategies

Public sector debt

Public sector debt offers long-term investment opportunities and a significant yield premium over government bonds, for a comparable level of risk. Two main factors explain this yield pick-up: the fairly illiquid nature of the asset class and the fact that the public sector debt market remains largely unknown, with only a limited number of active lenders.

This is particularly true in France, where public sector entities currently have limited access to the capital markets and finance most of their borrowing needs on the banking market.

With this in mind, we have developed a specific product offering dedicated to French public sector private debt.

Rivage Investment invests in French public sector private debt

Our investment universe includes local authorities (regions, departments, cities, inter-municipal groupings, mixed syndicates), public hospitals, social landlords and any other type of institution governed by public law (e.g. public development agencies, public land agencies, etc.). We also invest in private entities that have strong links to the public sector, such as semi-public companies, private social landlords, private non-profit making hospitals, foundations, etc. In some cases, debt must be fully guaranteed by one or more local authorities to be eligible for investment.

Most of our investments take the form of bilateral loans, with the rest being private bonds.

Key milestones of the public sector debt platform

2014
First investment
in debt of French public sector
2015
Launch of PLF
our first fund dedicated to public sector debt
2016
Direct lending
Rivage Investment is the first asset management company approved by the AMF to lend directly
2017
First direct lending transaction
2018
Launch of REPUBLIC
First multi-investor fund in French public debt sector
2019
AUM of French public debt sector reach €1bn
2020
Launch of HOPE
Multi-investor fund that is 100%-dedicated to French public hospital debt
2022
AUM of French public sector debt reach €2bn
2023
total investments in French public sector debt reach €2.5bn
2024
Expected launch of our first social impact fund
also, the total number of public hospitals held in our funds reaches 50

Rivage Investment is a recognised non-bank lender in the French public sector debt market

Established investment platform and confirmed track record
Rivage Investment currently manages 7 public sector debt funds, with total AuM of €2.6bn. As of the end of June 2024, €2.8bn have been invested since the beginning of the strategy, representing 265 investments across 146 borrowers, with an average spread of 129 bp over the OAT curve
In-depth knowledge of sector
Our investment team is supported by credit analysts who have an in-depth knowledge of the French institutional framework. Our relative value-based investment approach relies on proprietary scoring and rating tools
Multi-canal origination strategy
Rivage Investment is active in both the primary and secondary markets. With a large network of counterparties, our origination channels cover direct lending, partnerships with banks, online lending platforms, etc.
In-depth understanding of regulatory environment
Our investment strategy is specifically tailored to our clients' regulatory environment
Efficient monitoring of portfolio
Our portfolio monitoring involves constant industry surveillance, daily cash flow monitoring and periodic asset-by-asset credit reviews
Made-to-measure reporting
Rivage Investment is committed to producing tailored reports to meet the specific needs of each investor (SCR reports, ESG reports, etc.)

We finance key players in French public investment, with a focus on social and environmental policies

Public sector investments