This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 17, 2026 - August 23, 2026
Climate Fund Managers (CFM) and Argos Partners — fund managers of the Malaysia Climate Infrastructure Fund (MCIF) — plan to invest at least 40% of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan)’s (KWAP) RM500 million commitment in Malaysian infrastructure, while exploring fundraising and potential roadshows in 2027.
CFM Argos CEO and CFM investment director Jeb Victorino tells ESG in an interview that the plan will depend on investor appetite, with the roadshow to include foreign investors, as most of CFM’s fund investors are European.
MCIF is part of KWAP’s RM6 billion Dana Pemacu programme, which comprises 12 funds across infrastructure, private equity and real estate, aimed at strengthening Malaysia’s private market ecosystem. The programme, launched in 2024, adopts a co-general partner model that brings together global general partners and local talents.
MCIF has made three investments so far — all of which are outside Malaysia. When asked, Victorino says these relationships were developed before the fund’s first close in 2025.
“The benefit for MCIF is it allows immediate deployment and proof-of-concept that shariah infrastructure investment can be made even outside Islamic countries,” he says.
The fund invests in renewable energy, water and wastewater, low-carbon transport and digital infrastructure across Malaysia, emerging Asia and Latin America to support the transition to a sustainable and climate-resilient economy while addressing interconnected climate and infrastructure challenges.
The fund’s first three investments are in the water and waste sectors. “Water is an essential service that needs to be further invested in in Southeast Asia, not just in Malaysia, but also in countries like Vietnam and the Philippines,” Victorino says.
The first investment is Vietnam’s CA Water, a water infrastructure platform that CFM developed, acquired and operates.
The second investment is Tubig Pilipinas Group, a portfolio of 16 projects located outside Metro Manila, where access to clean water is less developed in second-tier cities.
The third investment is Akaia Green Fuels, a commercial-scale platform in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, that recycles 20 tonnes of agricultural and organic waste a day into compressed biogas.
MCIF is structured as a blended finance vehicle, allowing it to be combined with other funds, such as the European Union-supported Climate Investor Two (CI2) Construction Equity Fund, to raise additional capital for infrastructure investments.
Established in 2015, CFM is a Netherlands-based company that uses blended finance to invest in high-impact sectors in emerging economies. Argos Partners, established in 2024, is a Malaysian investment manager. Its associated companies were established in 2020 as investment advisory firms specialising in infrastructure projects, according to the company, which does not have a website.
“We chose Argos Partners because it has a deep knowledge of the local market. It also has a strong network within the business sector in Malaysia, allowing us to get access to more deals and originate more opportunities,” says Victorino.
The fund is managed by CFM Argos Sdn Bhd, which is licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia as a private equity management corporation, and led by managing director Abdul Hakeem. According to his LinkedIn profile, he founded a company that develops quantitative trading algorithms. Abdul is also director of a business advisory and corporate services firm and adviser to a software development company in Singapore.
In July, MCIF won the Innovation of the Year (Funds and Portfolio) — Asia-Pacific award at the 2026 Environmental Finance Sustainable Investment Awards.
According to Victorino, MCIF’s status as a shariah-compliant fund sets it apart from typical climate infrastructure funds, as it must follow the investment principles and guidelines of Islamic law. The firm views shariah compliance as complementary to long-term responsible investing because both emphasise transparency, stewardship and ethical business conduct.
Victorino also says the firm found significant overlap across climate, environmental, social and governance, and shariah finance, as the investments that the fund invests in are ethical and committed to a "do good" principle, which is more than the "do no harm" principle.
According to Victorino, the fund’s lifetime target is to avoid about 3.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, with renewable energy as a key investment priority. Other areas include electric vehicles and waste-to-energy infrastructure.
“In Malaysia, we see a huge market in addressing 80 million tonnes of biomass waste and 50 million tonnes of liquid waste from the palm oil industry annually,” he says.
The plan is also to explore investments in Malaysia’s ports — as the country is a global shipping hub — and green data centres, including sustainable water and renewable energy services to the industry.
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