The infrastructure investment joint venture set up last year by Australian bank Macquarie Group and emerging markets investment bank Renaissance Capital is halfway to the $1.5bn (€951m) target for its debut fund after securing strategic investments from Russian, Kazakh and multinational development institutions.

Macquarie Renaissance, a venture agreed by Macquarie and RenCap last August that aims to develop infrastructure advisory and fund management opportunities across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, will receive committed investment worth $200m from cornerstone investor Vnesheconombank, the Russian state development bank, it said in a statement.