Norfund’s first ever CIO has been appointed, as well as a new EVP for Renewable Energy,
Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, has appointed Mark Davis to a newly created Chief Investment Officer (CIO) role, tasked with executing the funds investment strategy across the portfolio. The appointment follows a record year for Norfund: $830 million in new investments in 2025, taking the fund’s total committed portfolio to $4.5 billion across three mandates: the original Development Investment Mandate, the Climate Investment Fund, and the Ukraine Investment Fund. Davis takes up the CIO role with effect from August 1st.
Mark is among the sharpest investment professionals I know and a very strong leader. He’s led strong growth in our renewable energy portfolio across two mandates, and giving him responsibility for the investment strategy across all of Norfund is a natural next step
Erik Sandersen
CEO of Norfund
Davis has been part of Norfund’s management team for nearly two decades, since joining to lead the energy portfolio in 2007. Under his leadership, renewable energy, across both the Development Mandate and the Climate Investment Fund, grew into Norfund’s largest single investment area, with around $1.9 billion committed by the end of 2025, around 42% of the fund’s total portfolio. Returns were strong in both mandates last year: 13.5% for renewable energy under the Development Mandate and 11.4% for the Climate Investment Fund, both in investment currency.
We closed 2025 with a record $830 million in new investments and a portfolio approaching $4.6 billion across three mandates. As we grow, my focus as CIO is making sure we apply the same investment discipline everywhere — so growth doesn’t come at the cost of the rigour that has always defined how we work,
Mark Davis
CIO in Norfund
As CIO, Davis will chair Norfund’s Investment Committees, which reviews and approves investment proposals across all of the fund’s investment areas: financial inclusion, scalable enterprises and green infrastructure, as well as renewable energy.
“Developing countries need far more capital than they’re getting, especially given the current volatile global context. As CIO, my job is to make sure we back resilient companies that deliver strong returns and sustainable development impacts across the portfolio,” says Mark Davis.
Mark Davis holds a D.Phil from the University of Sussex, and earlier degrees in mathematics and applied science from the University of Cape Town. Before joining Norfund in 2007, he was a partner at ECON Analysis and Postgraduate Director at the Energy & Development Research Centre, University of Cape Town.
Norfund has also appointed Bjørnar Baugerud as the new EVP Renewable Energy, taking over Davis’s previous responsibilities. Baugerud has worked in Norfund for 18 years and has led the Climate Investment Fund since its inception in 2022.
“I am excited to welcome Bjørnar into the management team. He was the second employee in department after Mark and has a deep understanding and broad network in the renewable energy sector. He has shown strong leadership heading up the Climate Investment Fund for the past four years, and I am confident he will do a great job as EVP of the Renewable Energy department”, says Erik Sandersen, CEO of Norfund.
Norfund´s investments in renewable energy across two mandates reflects a simple truth: there is no development without energy, and no climate solution without clean energy in emerging markets. Our job is to deliver both.
Bjørnar Baugerud
EVP Renewable Energy in Norfund
About Norfund
Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1997 and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By the end of 2025, Norfund’s total committed portfolio amounted to $4.5 billion across three mandates: the Development Investment Mandate, the Climate Investment Fund, and the Ukraine Investment Fund. In 2025, Norfund made record investments of $830 million, mobilised $1.8 billion in private capital, and its portfolio companies supported 788,000 jobs and provided 1.65 million new households with access to electricity.