"Biodiversity is gradually emerging as a safe haven sector" (C. Sanson, Sienna Investment Managers)

On 02/04/2026, the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund, which you manage, received a €60 million guarantee from the European Investment Fund, a subsidiary of the EIB Group. What does this guarantee mean for you?

First of all, it reflects the EIF’s confidence in our portfolio and recognition of the strength of our impact strategy, which aims to channel private capital into biodiversity restoration. We are the first to do this at this scale in the private debt sector, and this support is absolutely essential. The fact that we are also the first biodiversity fund to receive this EIF guarantee is a form of recognition of the pioneering role we have played, thanks to the initial €100m investment made by Malakoff Humanis and La France Mutualiste in 2025.

This EIF guarantee enables us to support projects that would otherwise be difficult to finance under our criteria.

Secondly, this EIF guarantee, which covers up to 70% of borrowers’ credit risk, enables us to support projects that would otherwise be difficult to finance under our criteria. We are a senior debt fund, and we support projects expected to generate profitability within a five- to seven-year timeframe. The companies borrowing from us generally already have an established base, with EBITDA ranging from €2m to €30m, meaning they are already sizeable SMEs or small mid-sized companies. With this EIF guarantee, we can support projects that may not have as much collateral as others, for example, or start-ups that have only recently become profitable. We are currently close to finalising three projects in France and Spain, one of which will benefit from the EIF guarantee.

How many companies are you supporting? And where do they come from?

We review around one hundred projects each year, with the objective of signing around ten annually over the next two years, and we have made five investments so far. The EIF guarantee, together with a second fundraising round planned for the second half of 2026, will enable us to support more companies. Geographically, we invest across the European Union, as well as in Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, but always in euros.

In terms of sectors, we review projects from a wide range of industries. A significant share comes from the agri-food sector, at different stages of the value chain — from upstream activities such as aquaculture, dairy products or market gardening, to downstream activities such as sustainable sourcing in catering. We also assess applications from companies involved in different approaches, including organic farming, regenerative agriculture and conventional agriculture in transition. In addition, we are active in sectors such as alternatives to chemicals and plastics, as well as recycling, where we work with industrial companies. More broadly, we are present across all sectors undergoing transition.

How do you assess and monitor the biodiversity commitments of the projects you finance?

In the same way that we conduct financial and extra-financial due diligence, we also commission biodiversity-specific extra-financial due diligence from the Quebec-based firm Habitat, which analyses and evaluates project sponsors’ commitments and practices in favour of biodiversity. These experts then help us establish biodiversity indicators to monitor these commitments over time. These indicators are deliberately limited in number and simple in structure, in order to ensure their robustness. We also audit practices and results on the ground.

And how do you, as a financial player, value borrowers’ biodiversity commitments?

These commitments are factored into the calculation of the loan interest rates and can lead to a reduction of up to fifty basis points, or 0.5%.

Biodiversity finance is still an emerging sector: how do you see its future?

Indeed, there are still many areas to explore, with innovations that we are following closely, such as Nature or biodiversity-linked credits, although these are not yet mature or robust enough for us to invest in. Today, biodiversity finance remains largely voluntary. In this respect, the gradual development of binding European regulations is a positive step forward, as it will progressively encourage investors to view biodiversity as an asset — and by no means an intangible one. Secondly, in the current geopolitical and economic environment, which is, to say the least, shifting and uncertain, biodiversity is gradually emerging as a safe haven: this has long been true environmentally, and it is increasingly becoming true economically and financially as well.