Financing long-term investment to stimulate growth in the EU

New European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has launched a three-year €315 billion investment plan with the aim of reviving economic growth and creating jobs primarily through infrastructure investment. The key features of this plan were recently presented, including the fact that only €21 billion of public money will be used with the expectation of leveraging it with private investment to reach the targeted €315 billion. The public funding will come from two sources: €16 billion from the EU budget (reshuffling existing funds) and €5 billion from the EIB. The European Commission is also encouraging member states to provide additional funding.

Institutional investors, such as pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds, can play an important role in as can multi-lateral finance institutions. However many countries are concerned by the lack of willingness of the private sector to commit to long-term investments following the increased uncertainty created by the financial crisis.

In this event, the speakers will discuss the Juncker plan as well as share their views on some of the challenges and opportunities for long-term investment in Europe.

The discussion will be moderated by Karen Wilson, Senior Fellow at Bruegel. The meeting will start promptly at 12:00 and run until 13:30. A light lunch will be served until 14:00 to provide time for further discussion and networking.

Speakers

• Michael Wilkins, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance Ratings, Standard and Poor’s, U.K.
• Jose Maria Abad Hernandez, Chief Economist, Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO), Spain
• Raffaele Dellacroce, Lead Manager, Long Term Investment Project, OECD
• Christophe Bourdillon, Permanent Delegate of Group Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) to the EU institutions

About the speakers

Michael Wilkins is a Managing Director in the Infrastructure Finance Ratings group of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services based in London and also has responsibility for the firm’s global carbon and environmental finance sectors. Michael’s experience at Standard & Poor’s includes seven years as Head of Infrastructure Finance Ratings, the analytical group within Standard & Poor’s which covers utilities, project finance, PPPs and transportation in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Michael was also co-head of the Corporate Securitisation group. He joined Standard & Poor’s in London in January 1994 and has also worked in the Melbourne and Hong Kong offices. Michael’s expertise encompasses the European power, water, environmental, transportation and social infrastructure sectors. He sits on the advisory board of Cass Business School’s MSc in Management. He is also a member of the Climate Markets & Investment Association, the UK Government’s Capital Markets Climate Initiative, a board member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Green Growth Action Alliance and the Climate Bonds Initiative. Michael has a Bachelor of Arts degree within Modern Languages at Bristol University. He also holds an MBA in Finance from the Cass Business School and additionally has a Certificate of Carbon Finance & Analytics from the London Business School.

José Abad is Chief Economist and Head of Research and International Relations at the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Spain’s national promotional bank, as well as an Executive Board Member of AXIS, Spain’s largest domestic private equity and infrastructure fund manager (€1.8bn in AUM) in Madrid. In addition, José also sits at the Management Board of the European Long-Term Investors Association (ELTI) and is the ‘sherpa’ of ICO at the Long-Term Investors Club (LTIC), both in Brussels. Prior to joining ICO, José worked as an economist (and consulted) for a number of financial institutions in Frankfurt and London such as the European economics research teams of Goldman Sachs and the UniCredit Group or the Sovereign and Supranational Risk Group of Moody’s. Before that, he also worked as a strategy consultant at KPMG’s Strategy and Operations Group in Madrid. José is an alumnus of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany, where he graduated from its Advanced Studies Program (ASP) in International Economic Policy Research, and holds a 5-year Degree in Business Economics as well as a 5-year Degree in Law from, respectively, ICADE Business and Law Schools in Madrid.

Raffaele Della Croce is an Italian national and lead manager for the OECD project “Institutional Investors and Long Term Investment”, in the Financial Affairs Division of the OECD. The project aims to facilitate long-term investment by investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds, addressing both potential regulatory obstacles and market failures. Based on research produced for this project the OECD is contributing to the policy discussions at the level of G20, Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the European Commission, in particular through the new G20/OECD Taskforce on Institutional Investors and Long Term Financing. As part of the OECD Futures Programme, Raffaele has also worked on the project “Transcontinental Infrastructure Needs to 2030/50” in the Advisory Unity to the Secretary General. Prior to joining the OECD in 2010, he worked in the financial industry for eight years, mainly with Ernst & Young and Moody’s Investors Services, in London. As part of international teams advising governments or private consortia, he has been involved in the analysis, structuring and negotiation of the largest transactions in the utilities and infrastructure sectors in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Raffaele also serves in the Advisory Committee of the OECD Provident Fund. He was educated at University La Sapienza in Rome and Columbia University in New York.

Christophe Bourdillon is the Permanent Delegate of Group Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) to the EU institutions. As such, he manages lobbying activities at the EU level and CDC’s strategic partnerships with other European long term financial institutions. Christophe entered CDC in 1985 at the Finance and Banking General Directorate. He spent a major part of his carrier in this Directorate until 2000, with two different experiences: one at the Paris Stock Exchange, as Director of Finance and administration from 1996 to 1999 and the other, as National expert at the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. As such, he participated to the introduction of the single currency in the EU. In 2001, he joined CDC Ixis (a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts), first as deputy Managing director of the private equity branch, then as General Secretary to the CEO of CDC Ixis – Investment Bank. In 2006, he managed the operations of NYSE-Euronext in Italy before reintegrating the Group Caisse des Depots, at the International and EU affairs Directorate. He is also a board member of CNP UniCredit Vita and Euronext. He is an alumnus of the National School of Administration (Léonard de Vinci promotion – 1985).

Practical details

• Venue: Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, 1210 Brussels
• Time: Tuesday, 9 December 2014, 12:00-14:00. Lunch will be served after the event at 13:30.
• Contact: Matilda Sevón, Events Manager - [email protected]