NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, September 23, 2013

A new investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will, for the first time, allow individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries.

With $94 million committed by a pioneering group of investors — including anchor support from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW) and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation — the Global Health Investment Fund (“GHIF” or the “Fund”) will help advance the most promising interventions to fight challenges in low-income countries such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and maternal and infant mortality. To help mitigate the risk of investing in the clinical development of new technologies, the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have committed to partially offset potential losses in the Fund, which will seek a financial return for investors by targeting high-impact technologies with public health applications in both developed and emerging markets.

“The Global Health Investment Fund demonstrates the potential for innovative collaborations and thoughtful financial structures to mobilize new sources of capital for social challenges,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. “This product brings a diverse group of investors together around the shared objective of developing life-saving technologies in a financially sustainable way.”

LHGP Asset Management (“Lion’s Head”), a London-based asset manager specializing in sustainable development, will be responsible for originating, managing and exiting GHIF portfolio investments. In addition to the anchor supporters, the Fund’s investor group includes organizations such as the International Finance Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, The Pfizer Foundation, Storebrand and JPMorgan Chase, in addition to qualified individuals and family offices.