America’s $205 Billion Fund You’ve Never Heard Of | Conor Coleman
Conor Coleman, Chief of Staff at the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), discusses how the U.S. government's international investment arm is rapidly deploying $25 billion to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative through strategic investments in critical minerals, infrastructure, and technology across emerging markets. The DFC has pioneered creative financing structures and partnerships with private sector firms to mobilize capital at scale while advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives.
Summary
The Development Finance Corporation is the international investment arm of the U.S. government, created in 2019 as a counterweight to China's Belt and Road Initiative. Recently reauthorized from $60 billion to $25 billion in investment capacity, the DFC operates across seven key sectors: critical minerals, transportation and logistics infrastructure, energy, technology and telecommunications, food security and agriculture, healthcare, and financial services. Connor Coleman explains that the DFC has evolved from a traditional development finance institution focused on concessional financing to a strategic investment arm that functions like a Wall Street finance institution, utilizing equity investments, structured debt, political risk insurance, and creative capital structures.
The organization prioritizes investments in Latin America and the Caribbean, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Indo-Pacific, with Africa currently representing 25% of the portfolio. A statutory requirement mandates that 90% of the $25 billion investment cap be deployed in non-wealthy countries, though the DFC can invest up to 20% of its portfolio in wealthy nations (defined by World Bank GDP classifications) with a 25% project cost cap per investment.
Two flagship recent investments exemplify the DFC's approach: the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (EURF), operationalized in under nine months with the DFC and Ukrainian government each investing $75 million, focuses on critical minerals, infrastructure, energy, and emerging technology while generating returns through royalty streams from greenfield and brownfield projects. The DFC has made its first EURF investment in SignTechnologies (drone components) and has a pipeline of over 200 deals. The Strait of Hormuz maritime reinsurance program, executed in one month (DFC's fastest deal), partners with insurer Chubb to provide 50% reinsurance coverage for war-risk insurance policies to restart Gulf commerce, pending operational security clearance from the U.S. military.
The Orion CMC partnership exemplifies the DFC's joint venture model, with the DFC, Orion, and ADQ each investing $600 million into a vehicle for upstream and midstream critical minerals investments internationally, with the DFC maintaining veto rights to align projects with U.S. policy priorities and ensure offtake agreements benefit the U.S. or allied partners. The DFC has also made public market investments, including a debt-for-equity restructuring transaction with Australian-listed Sarona Minerals (which operates in Mozambique and has U.S. processing facilities) and an investment in Sarah Verde, which announced a potential merger with USA Rare Earth.
Under CEO Ben Harris, the DFC's toolkit has expanded significantly to include common and structured equity, mezzanine loans, structured notes, and innovative insurance products. The organization seeks to function as a capital multiplier, leveraging each dollar of DFC investment to attract two to five times that amount from private sector partners, alternative asset managers, and sovereign wealth funds. Coleman emphasizes that the DFC can achieve simultaneous financial returns for taxpayers and strategic impact for U.S. foreign policy without contradiction, positioning itself as the flexible capital provider that structures deals around where private sector partners are most comfortable investing.
About this episode
Sponsor: Teucrium Corn Fund (NYSE Arca: CORN): https://teucrium.com/corn Conor Coleman, Head of Investments and Chief of Staff at the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), joins Monetary Matters to explain the DFC’s capacity as the international investment arm of the United States Government and its central role in economic statecraft. He and Jack discuss the Ukraine Mineral Deal, Strait of Hormuz Reinsurance Program, as well as several other deals and programs around the world that the DFC is involved in. Recorded June 8, 2026. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) website: https://www.dfc.gov/ DFC Project Data: https://www.dfc.gov/what-we-do/active-projects U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund: https://www.dfc.gov/investment-story/investing-ukraines-reconstruction-and-americas-security “US Agency to Own 20% of Graphite Miner Syrah in Critical Minerals Push”: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/us-agency-to-own-20-of-graphite-miner-syrah-in-critical-minerals-push ____ Jack Farley on X https://x.com/JackFarley96 Teucrium on X https://x.com/TeucriumETFs Follow Monetary Matters on: Apple Podcasts https://rb.gy/s5qfyh Spotify https://rb.gy/x56dx5 YouTube https://rb.gy/dpwxez Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:38 Teucrium $CORN Pre-roll 0:50 Development Finance Corporation (DFC) 01:50 What is the DFC? 04:56 Hormuz Strait Maritime Reinsurance Program 08:15 Ukraine Mineral Deal 13:44 Mandate of the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) 17:05 $205 Billion Re-authorization for DFC 19:20 Teucrium $CORN Mid-roll 21:15 Co-invest with Large Investors 23:30 Critical Minerals 28:00 "The Next Three Years Will Be Big" 30:00 Teucrium $CORN End-roll This episode is sponsored by the Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN). Download our free eBook, "Why Investors Are Increasingly Turning to Commodity ETFs," to explore the macro forces shaping commodity markets today. Download the eBook: insights.teucrium.com/why-investors-turning-to-commodity-etfs CORN Fund Page & Prospectus: www.teucrium.com/corn This material must be preceded or accompanied by a prospectus. The prospectus is available at https://teucrium.com/corn. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Commodities and futures generally are volatile, and instruments whose underlying investments include commodities and futures are not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For further discussion of these and additional risks associated with an investment in the Funds please read the respective Fund Prospectus before investing. CORN, CANE, SOYB, and WEAT are commodity pools regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Funds do not track the spot price of corn, sugar, soybeans or wheat. These Funds, which are ETPs, are not a mutual fund or any other type of Investment Company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and are not subject to regulation thereunder. Teucrium Trading, LLC is the Sponsor for CORN, CANE, SOYB, and WEAT. PINE Distributors LLC is the Marketing Agent for CORN, CANE, SOYB, and WEAT and is not affiliated with Teucrium Investment Advisors, LLC and Teucrium Trading, LLC.
Key Insights
- The DFC was created in 2019 specifically to be the counterweight to China's Belt and Road Initiative, whereas China invested $125 billion in Belt and Road last year, more than half of the DFC's total AUM investment capacity
- The Strait of Hormuz maritime reinsurance product was executed in one month, the fastest deal in DFC history, structured as a 50% reinsurance agreement with Chubb covering war-risk insurance to restore Gulf maritime commerce
- The Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund was operationalized in under nine months and made its first investment in under a year, representing a broader reconstruction effort beyond just critical minerals to include infrastructure, energy, and emerging technology
- The DFC operates with 90% of its $25 billion investment cap statutorily required for non-wealthy countries, with World Bank GDP classifications determining country status, while permitting up to 20% portfolio allocation in wealthy nations with 25% per-project cost caps
- Under Ben Harris's leadership, the DFC has transitioned from traditional development finance focused on concessional financing to a strategic investment arm that functions like Wall Street finance institutions, utilizing equity, mezzanine debt, structured notes, and creative insurance products
- The DFC's strategy with private sector partners is to function as a capital multiplier, with each dollar of DFC investment designed to attract two, three, four, or five times that amount in private sector capital by being the flexible portion of capital structures
- The Orion CMC joint venture places the DFC, Orion, and ADQ as equal $600 million investors in a critical minerals upstream and midstream partnership, with the DFC maintaining veto rights over projects to ensure alignment with U.S. policy and offtake agreements benefiting the U.S. or allied partners
- Coleman contends that achieving great financial returns for taxpayers and generating massive impact is not mutually exclusive, arguing this is a mischaracterization of development finance institutions that the DFC proves can achieve both simultaneously
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] When you think about what the DFC was created for in 2019, it is to be the counterweight to China's one belt, one road initiative. When you think about where our investment capacity of $25 billion is over the next six years, that's an average deployment of 27.5 billion, which makes us one of the largest liquidity providers globally. >> The Ukraine minerals deal that President Trump did, that was through the DFC, straight of Hormuzu's reinsurance program, that was through the DFC. The name of the game right now in this new DFC is being more creative, acting more like a traditional Wall Street Finance [0:31] institution across the board. >> Would you ever do something in the…
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