ICG has launched a European infrastructure debt strategy, entering a market segment that has attracted significant allocator interest as the continent's energy transition and digital infrastructure build-out generate substantial financing needs.

The FTSE 100 alternative asset manager has hired Augustin Segard and Grégoire Castres Saint Martin to establish and lead the new offering. The strategy will provide financing solutions to infrastructure deals, projects, and businesses across Europe, with a focus on core and core-plus infrastructure sectors.

Segard joins ICG in London from Schroders Capital, where he served as head of junior infrastructure debt and led the JULIE fund series investing in European infrastructure assets. He previously held roles at AXA Investment Managers and InfraRed Capital Partners. Castres Saint Martin joins in Paris from Antin Infrastructure Partners, where he was a managing director in the firm's financing team with expertise in structuring complex financings across the capital structure. He previously worked in infrastructure financing and advisory at BNP Paribas.

"The launch of our infrastructure debt strategy is a natural extension of our platform and reflects our ability to evolve in response to investor demand," said Benoît Durteste, CIO and chief executive of ICG. "Having built a market-leading infrastructure business, we are excited to expand into debt, drawing on ICG's credit heritage and expertise."

The move is notable given ICG's existing scale in European credit. Following the final close of its €12 billion Europe Fund IX earlier this year, ICG is one of the continent's largest alternative asset managers. Adding infrastructure debt extends the firm's product offering into a segment where LPs — particularly insurers and pension funds — are actively seeking deployment opportunities, and where competition from established players such as Allianz Global Investors, AXA IM Alts, and Schroders Capital is intensifying.