ICELAND - The establishment of the Icelandic Investment Fund (IIF) has been delayed until next month to give pension funds more time to decide whether or not to join the venture.

The Icelandic Pension Fund Authority (IPFA) revealed in September that the IIF was being set up to provide pension fund investment to domestic businesses which have suffered in the economic crisis. (See earlier IPE article: Icelandic pensions to set up specialist fund)

It was thought the fund would be established today. However, the decision has been made to postpone the IIF until 8 December 2009 because some Icelandic pension funds cannot yet take a decision on whether to invest in the IIF - the suggestion being that board members may be finding the terms of the fund complicated.

Hrafn Magnússon, managing director of the IPFA, said it is hoped most of the larger pension funds will commit to the scheme - which is essentially a domestic private equity fund - with around ISK 30-40bn (€163-218m) of funding.

The primary targets for investments by the IIF, as outlined in September, are expected to be Icelandic businesses that are in financial or operational difficulties because of the collapse of the financial system, but are deemed to have "interesting investment prospects".

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Nyree Stewart on + 44 (0)20 7261 4618 or email nyree.stewart@ipe.com

Topics