Patient capital for long-term infrastructure, read by someone who knows the terrain
As Brazil navigates its uneven departure from fossil fuels, Bradesco's investment arm Tivio Capital is placing a deliberate bet on the infrastructure that transition demands — hiring a seasoned dealmaker and raising R$2 billion to fund the wires, batteries, and generation assets the country's energy future will require. The move reflects something larger than a single fund: illiquid, patient capital is quietly becoming a serious force in Brazilian finance, filling gaps that liquid markets cannot reach. In a landscape complicated by grid curtailment and regulatory uncertainty, Tivio is wagering that experience and institutional scale can distinguish the durable opportunities from the fleeting ones.
- Bruno Franco, an 18-year BTG veteran and co-founder of a power trading firm, joins Tivio Capital as the architect of its illiquid infrastructure push — bringing rare operational depth to a bank-backed platform.
- A R$2 billion energy transition fund is being raised to deploy equity and structured debt across renewables, transmission, electrification, and battery storage, with institutional and foreign investors in its sights.
- Brazil's first battery storage auction in December creates a live, time-sensitive target for the fund's debut, anchoring its strategy in a concrete regulatory milestone.
- Solar and wind headwinds — driven by grid curtailment as renewable supply outpaces demand — are forcing selectivity, with Franco eyeing small hydroelectric plants as a more stable near-term bet.
- Tivio is also exploring sanitation and public school PPPs through bespoke club deals, signaling ambitions well beyond energy and a model designed to reach local investors with direct asset exposure.
Tivio Capital, Bradesco's R$32 billion alternative investment arm, is making a serious push into infrastructure by hiring Bruno Franco — a dealmaker who spent nearly two decades building energy portfolios at BTG before co-founding a power trading firm. His mandate at Tivio is clear: raise R$2 billion for a dedicated energy transition fund and build out the illiquid asset capabilities the platform has largely lacked.
The fund will invest across the full energy transition stack — renewable generation, transmission, electrification, and battery storage — using instruments ranging from structured credit and convertible bonds to direct equity. Institutional and foreign investors are the primary targets, but Franco is also crafting smaller club deals for local investors seeking direct exposure to specific assets, with the first expected to close before year's end.
A concrete near-term catalyst is Brazil's inaugural battery storage auction, scheduled for December, where Tivio intends to compete. The firm is simultaneously exploring PPPs in sanitation and public school infrastructure — sectors defined by large gaps and scarce long-term capital. These moves arrive as illiquid investments have grown to represent 22 percent of Brazil's fund industry, a dramatic rise from near-zero a decade ago.
The path is not without friction. Curtailment — the grid operator cutting renewable output when supply exceeds demand — has cooled solar and wind economics. Franco's response is selective: small hydroelectric plants, where returns remain solid and regulatory clarity is greater, stand out as a near-term priority. Tivio's wager is that Franco's experience reading this uneven terrain, combined with Bradesco's distribution reach, gives the platform an edge in separating durable infrastructure bets from the rest.
Tivio Capital, the alternative investment arm of Bradesco managing R$32 billion in assets, is doubling down on infrastructure and energy by bringing in Bruno Franco, a veteran dealmaker who spent 18 years building energy portfolios at BTG. Franco's first major mandate is to raise R$2 billion for a dedicated energy transition fund—a signal that Brazil's largest private bank sees real money to be made in the country's shift away from fossil fuels.
Franco arrives with deep roots in the sector. Over two decades, he built a track record investing across energy projects throughout Brazil and Latin America, most recently as a co-founder of Pacífico Energia, a power trading firm. At Tivio, he will oversee illiquid assets—the kind of long-term, patient capital that infrastructure actually needs. This means structured credit, convertible bonds, mezzanine stakes, and direct equity in energy companies, ports, and highways. It's the opposite of the liquid, traded funds that dominate Tivio's current portfolio.
The energy transition fund itself targets renewable generation, transmission, electrification, and battery storage solutions. The fund will court institutional investors and foreign capital, but Franco is also designing smaller, more flexible "club deals" tailored to local investors who want direct exposure to specific assets. He expects to close the first of these customized deals before year's end. The approach leverages Bradesco's distribution reach and Tivio's deal-sourcing muscle—advantages that smaller, standalone managers simply don't have.
One concrete opportunity sits on the calendar: Brazil's first battery storage auction, scheduled for December. Tivio is positioning itself to participate. The firm is also in talks to enter sanitation and public school PPPs, sectors where infrastructure gaps remain vast and patient capital scarce. These moves reflect a broader shift in Brazilian alternatives—illiquid investments now represent 22 percent of the fund industry, up from near-invisibility a decade ago.
The timing is complicated. Solar and wind projects have cooled as developers grapple with curtailment—the grid operator's power cuts when renewable generation exceeds demand. But Franco sees openings, particularly in small hydroelectric plants, where the economics remain solid and the regulatory path clearer. The energy transition in Brazil is not a straight line. It's a landscape of winners and losers, and Tivio is betting that having a seasoned operator like Franco reading the terrain will help them find the former.
Notable Quotes
We'll look at equity and structured debt investments—convertible bonds and mezzanine stakes—complementary to Tivio's more liquid credit funds— Bruno Franco, Tivio Capital
Club deals are shorter-cycle, more flexible products where we can leverage our origination capacity and Bradesco's distribution reach— Bruno Franco, Tivio Capital
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Bradesco need a dedicated energy transition fund when it already manages R$32 billion across multiple strategies?
Because energy infrastructure is different. It's long-term, illiquid, and requires deep sector expertise. Bradesco's existing funds are mostly liquid credit and real estate. This fund is for assets you hold for a decade—a power plant, a transmission line, battery storage. You need someone who speaks that language.
Franco spent 18 years at BTG. What does he bring that Tivio didn't already have?
Relationships and pattern recognition. He's closed deals across the region, knows which operators are reliable, which projects actually work. That's not something you can hire away from a spreadsheet. He's also built a network of co-investors and partners. When you're raising R$2 billion, that matters.
The battery storage auction in December—why is that significant?
It's the first time Brazil is auctioning battery capacity as a grid service. It's new infrastructure, new rules, new risk. Tivio wants to be early. If they win a stake, they're not just making a return—they're learning the market before it gets crowded.
What about the cooling in solar and wind? Doesn't curtailment make those investments riskier?
It does. But Franco is pointing to small hydro as the play. Less glamorous than solar, but the grid still needs it, and the politics are simpler. He's reading the market and adjusting. That's what experience buys you.
These club deals sound customized. How is that different from what other managers do?
Most funds are standardized—you buy a share, you get the same terms as everyone else. Club deals let you structure each investment around what that investor actually needs. One investor might want a 10-year hold; another wants an exit in five. You can accommodate both. It's more work, but it's also how you attract capital that won't go anywhere else.