ADB Builds Singapore Team to Mobilise Private Capital for Asian Projects

ADB’s larger Singapore team is intended to solve a practical financing problem: Asia’s infrastructure and development needs exceed the public resources available to fund them. The bank doubled its Singapore-based specialists last year to around 30, aiming to connect more private investors with projects across the region. Its target is to mobilise US$13 billion in private capital annually by 2030.

Singapore gives ADB closer access to investors and financial institutions that can help assemble funding for those projects. Isabel Chatterton, the bank’s director general for private-sector operations, described the city as an “unparalleled first-row seat” for matching investor requirements with opportunities around Asia.

The bank’s private-sector financing rose from US$6.8 billion in 2024 to US$8.5 billion last year. Chatterton said she expects this year’s total to exceed US$8.5 billion. The growth marks progress toward ADB’s longer-term goal, though the scale of the regional funding gap means that drawing in private capital remains central to the effort.

Different investors need different structures

There is no single pool of private money with a uniform appetite for risk. Pension funds and other institutional investors often seek long-term returns that align with their liabilities. Sovereign funds may have greater flexibility, but they still want projects that are well prepared and backed by sound governance. Private equity investors typically look for a defined investment period, a target return and a clear exit route from the outset.

Those differences make the quality and structure of a project as important as its headline purpose. A regional infrastructure plan may address a significant need, but it still has to offer terms that suit the investors expected to fund it. ADB’s approach is to build a pipeline of bankable projects and use financial structuring and blended finance to help manage risks that might otherwise keep investors away.

One tool is a master framework agreement signed with 12 global insurers. It provides US$2.5 billion in predictable capacity to share investment risk with ADB, giving the bank and prospective investors a clearer basis for planning deals.

Family offices are another potential source of funding. Chatterton said ADB has been encouraged by their significant growth in Singapore and has heard from family offices interested in large regional initiatives. One example is Singapore’s multibillion-dollar plan to import 6 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2035, which could support the wider Asean Power Grid.

The interest points to the value of a visible project pipeline. Investors may differ in how much risk they can accept, but they still need enough information and a credible set of opportunities to commit capital over time. For family offices considering regional infrastructure, project preparation and the ability to assess risks will matter alongside the scale of the potential investment.

Interest remains concentrated in established markets

Foreign investors are largely focusing on markets they consider investment-grade, Chatterton said. Their comfort with less familiar markets can rise when ADB accompanies and guides them, helping reduce what she called a confidence gap. She said investors often look for investment periods of around seven to eight years.

India attracts interest for its market size, comparatively stable and clear rules, and sophisticated corporate sector. In South-east Asia, investors have been looking at Thailand and Vietnam. The Philippines has also become more appealing after changes in recent years intended to make it easier for foreign investors to enter the market.

Energy transition and circular economy projects are among the areas investors are seeking. Digital businesses, including agricultural, education and insurance technology, are also on their radar. ADB’s digital office, established a few years ago, examines financing opportunities across critical infrastructure, energy, agriculture, digital payments, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

A financing deal involving data centres in Malaysia with Sime Darby illustrates how those priorities can lead to new structures. This year, the project used sukuk, an Islamic finance instrument, to fund data centres for the first time. The example links demand for digital infrastructure with the search for financing formats suited to particular investors and assets.

Singapore’s role could widen

Market volatility has encouraged more investors to look towards Asia, Chatterton said. Singapore’s financial institutions can help arrange complex financing, while ADB can bring additional funders into transactions. In August, Standard Chartered and ADB mobilised a US$721 million loan for HDBank. It was the largest syndicated social financing raised by a Vietnamese bank to date, and ADB introduced 15 new funders to the bank. Chatterton called that result “extremely transformational”.

She also pointed to a US$500 million syndicated loan in India as an example of the financing arrangements that Singapore-based institutions can help deliver. Such transactions show how a single project or borrower can draw on a wider group of lenders when the structure and risk sharing make participation possible.

ADB expects to play an active role as Singapore takes on Asean’s 2027 chairmanship. Chatterton identified bringing in capital and addressing mismatches between currencies and financing as priorities. She also expects more stakeholders to establish a presence in Singapore.

That ambition will depend on whether ADB can keep matching a varied investor base with a steady supply of prepared projects. Its Singapore expansion, insurance framework and work on new sources of capital are tools for that task; the figures to watch are whether private-sector financing continues to rise and whether investors broaden their reach beyond the markets they already know.