CDC uses a range of investment instruments to ensure that capital is deployed where it is most needed.

Between 2004 and 2012, CDC operated as primarily a fund-of-funds investor.  At the end of 2012 CDC had £2.2bn invested in 1,250 investee businesses in 77 developing countries through 84 fund managers. Click here to see the list of fund managers we invest with.

From 2011, CDC broadened its range of investment tools to get capital to where it is most needed to include the following in addition to intermediated equity:

• Direct equity investments - will allow CDC to target businesses with high potential development impact; and
  
• Debt investments - will allow CDC to target frontier markets where investment infrastructure is under-developed. A strategy to provide capital to financial institutions will be particularly helpful to small and medium size enterprises.

CDC is committed to responsible investment principles and requires its fund managers to sign up to and comply with CDC’s Investment Code (PDF 156kb) on environmental, social and governance matters.  The Investment Code is based on the World Bank IFC best practice principles and is regularly updated to reflect the latest international standards.

For more information about how the Investment Code and how CDC improves business practices please click here.

If you have information regarding a potential breach of CDC's Investment Code please click here for more information.