Fund investments

Access actively invests in the best performing teams managing funds of less than € 1bn in size and targeting sub € 250m enterprise value companies, through primary commitments and secondary transactions. The dedicated fund selection team targets smaller buy-out fund opportunities in which the buy-and-build approach, international expansion, and operational improvements are the key drivers of value creation. This investment philosophy reflects Access’ belief that fundamental value creation is a more robust and sustainable source of return, through economic cycles, than sole reliance on financial leverage. Access has stuck with these fundamental principles to generate a sustainable return model for its Investors since inception.        

Direct co-investments

Drawing on its longstanding relationships with the best performing fund managers, Access offers direct co-investment opportunities in portfolio companies through dedicated vehicles. Key drivers of value are pricing discipline, controlled levels of leverage, combined with turnover and EBITDA growth, achieved organically and/or using a buy and build model. 

In the Infrastructure space, Access invests in sustainable and operational assets with high barriers to entry and low demand elasticity generating a combination of recurrent yield with long-term capital appreciation, either directly through co-investments or indirectly via primary fund commitments and secondary transactions.

Access builds high-performing portfolios thanks to resilient assets displaying strong direct or indirect inflation indexation, capable to generate regular cash yield distributions with moderate debt levels and long-term structures. Investments concentrate on sectors which contribute to major positive environmental and social impacts: Energy & Renewables, Digital Infrastructure, Mobility, Environment & Circularity and Social Infrastructure. These sectors are underpinned by major long-term underlying trends, namely the energy transition, including energy efficiency and optimised management of resources such as water and heat, and digitalisation.

Fund investments

Access’ multi-managers strategy includes allocation to primary fund commitments and to secondary transactions.

The investment objective is to build a well-diversified portfolio with exposure to different market sectors supporting long-term structural trends such as decarbonisation, digitalisation, and demographic change through established generalist and sector focused funds.

Access’ expertise in infrastructure market dynamics as well as its deep knowledge of fund managers, through its primary fund investments, and of assets, thanks to its co-investment activity, has been a strong advantage to source and execute attractive secondary investments.

Direct co-investments

Access’ direct investment strategy is focused on operational sustainable assets, with a conservative approach to leverage and strong diversification across sectors and revenue regimes to foster cash yield resilience. Leveraging on the team’s direct infrastructure investment expertise together with longstanding relationships with fund managers, Access co-invests alongside fund managers operating in their field of expertise, industrials or institutional groups, ensuring optimal diversification in terms of sectors, ticket size and geographical coverage within Europe.

Building on Access’ historical commitment to Responsible Investment and its 17 years of ESG integration, Access’ latest co-investment fund is classified Article 8+ under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. As such, it promotes environmental and social characteristics and seeks to invest at least 20% of commitments in European Union Taxonomy-aligned assets, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation.