Priorities in 2022

In line with our strategy, our priorities in 2022 will be towards building back business, adapting to regulatory changes and accelerating organizational development.

Higher impact portfolio

Two consecutive years of lower volumes of new investments has resulted in a declining portfolio compared to 2019. To scale up our impact, we need to bring our portfolio back to pre-COVID-19 levels and focus on building back business. In 2022, we aim to achieve the highest production in FMO’s history, with a target of €2 billion in new investments on FMO’s books to increase FMO's total committed portfolio to €8.8 billion. We will continue to use public funds to bear higher risks in projects with high development impact potential. In addition, we will secure further concessional finance to aid project development and creation of market opportunities. By investing €305 million in such projects, we expect a public funds committed portfolio of €1.4 billion by year-end. In order to scale up our impact, we will invest at least €495 million through third party funds and syndicated loans to bring the direct mobilized committed portfolio up to €2.8 billion.

We see opportunities for FMO to play a more active role in specific niches within our focus sectors, for instance, energy distribution and storage and FinTech. We will increase investments made through our most innovative programs and products. For instance, by providing more early-stage capital to start-ups through FMO’s Venture Capital Program and by expanding our NASIRA activities to meet an increasing demand for risk-sharing facilities. In addition, we will increase our technical assistance to promote higher impact and market development. Meanwhile, we will refine our existing 2025 strategy with a view towards 2030 that will be launched in the course of 2022.

We continue to see a role for FMO to tackle two of the greatest global challenges: inequality and climate change. We will increase the share of total new investments that contribute towards reducing inequality to 40%. We will do so by investing more in least developed countries, further exploring opportunities to do more in fragile states. In addition, we will invest in areas that lead to improved access to finance and energy, especially in rural areas.

To align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, we need to step up our efforts to green our portfolio from a climate mitigation and sequestration perspective. In 2022, we will increase the share of our green-labelled new investments to 38%. Although there are fewer opportunities to invest in renewable energy projects, we will continue to invest in this sector and look for opportunities to invest more in climate smart agriculture, forestry and other climate-positive opportunities. In 2022, we will publish climate targets and an action plan towards 2030, as committed to under the Dutch Climate Agreement.

Deeper relationships

In building back business, we will continue to strengthen relationships with our stakeholders and explore new opportunities for collaboration. In 2022, we will resume business as usual with new and existing customers. By meeting stricter regulatory requirements, our investment process has become more robust which will increase the quality of our customer relationships. However, at times, customers may find our processes more cumbersome. We will track customer satisfaction and aim to achieve an NPS of 70.

We will work with research institutes and other partners to build more sector expertise and local knowledge to identify investment opportunities. For instance, we are collaborating with the Rabobank on how to unlock the potential of soil carbon sequestration. We will also continue to engage with Dutch and international NGOs to improve our awareness of local issues surrounding our (potential) investments and stimulate our customers to seek open and regular engagement with local communities.

We will invest more in our employees to be able to achieve our ambitious plans. This entails onboarding new employees, strengthening internal capabilities to adapt quicker to change and promoting a healthy work-life balance. Furthermore, we will put an even greater emphasis on cultural diversity, including in our recruitment process.

Higher productivity

FMO is faced with a fast-evolving, complex regulatory landscape and increasing stakeholder expectations. As a regulated bank, it is imperative we respond to these changes adequately and in the most effective way possible. In 2022, we, will therefore focus on adapting to regulatory requirements and accelerating organizational development.

In the coming years, several new regulations and requirements are coming into force that affect FMO, including the EU Sustainable Finance regulation, ECB requirements related to the disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities and the transition from LIBOR. FMO will focus on ensuring these requirements are implemented and embedded in the organization.

As change is a constant, FMO needs to invest in strengthening its change management capabilities. This includes developing a standardized approach to adapting business processes, building and retaining internal knowledge and establishing flexible teams. Furthermore, we want to be innovative but minimize complexity to ensure we deliver quality of services and impact.