by Greg Casey -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Dutch SNS Asset Management Fundraising for Second SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund to be run by American Developing World Markets (DWM)

According to the Responsible Investor, an online magazine, SNS Asset Management is currently fundraising for a EUR 100m successor to the SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund. The new fund, which will be run by Developing World Markets (DWM), was created because of the overwhelming demand among Dutch institutional investors for the first iteration.

by the MicroCapital Team -

PRESS RELEASE: With Loan From SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund, Micro Finance Bank of Azerbaijan Claims First Deal From Abroad in Local Currency

MFBA and SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund, advised by Developing World Markets, concluded the first Azeri Manat Loan funded by international private capital

by the MicroCapital Team -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: SNS REAAL’s SNS Asset Management of Norway and Partners Developing World Markets (DWM) and Triple Jump Conclude Investment Opportunity of SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund

Earlier this year, MicroCapital reported on the SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund, a trust created by Norway’s SNS Asset Management for investors to invest in microfinance. On January 15, 2007, the Norwegian firm began inviting Dutch investors to participate in the Fund. As the Fund’s investment period closed on April 1, the Fund had accumulated USD 167,365,350, a significantly larger amount than the original target of, at today’s exchange rate, USD 133,885,000.

Continue reading “MICROCAPITAL STORY: SNS REAAL’s SNS Asset Management of Norway and Partners Developing World Markets (DWM) and Triple Jump Conclude Investment Opportunity of SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund”

by the MicroCapital Team -

SNS Asset Management launches a micro-credit fund: SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund in Partnership with Developing World Markets and Triple Jump

SNS Asset Management will launch a large institutional investment fund which aims to provide resources for microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide. SNS Asset Management is a Dutch-based asset manager for institutional investors and currently manages assets exceeding 15 bn euros. The SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund has a target size of USD 196,028,000 which is believed to impact around 4 million people in developing regions.

Continue reading “SNS Asset Management launches a micro-credit fund: SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund in Partnership with Developing World Markets and Triple Jump”

by Julia Marín -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Dutch Pension Fund PGB to Invest $22.6m in Actiam Institutional Microfinance Fund III

Persoonsgebonden Budget (PGB), the pension fund for the Dutch printing industry and formerly SNS Asset Management, will invest EUR 20 million (USD 22.6 million) to Actiam Institutional Microfinance Fund III, which is managed by Actiam Impact Investing. An arm of asset manager Actiam, Actiam Impact Investing provides debt and subdebt funding to microfinance institutions (MFIs) [1] [2]. 

by A'kos Szebeni -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Zwitserleven, Spoorweg Pensioenfonds, Pensioenfonds Openbaar Vervoer Invest in $135m SME Finance Fund of Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappijvoor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), Samenwerkende Nederlandse Spaarbanken (SNS) Impact Investing

Dutch pension insurer Zwitserleven, Dutch railway pension fund Spoorweg Pensioenfonds and Dutch public transport pension fund Pensioenfonds Openbaar Vervoer recently made the initial deposits to a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance Fund that has received a total of EUR 100 million (USD 134.5 million) for its first close from these and other undisclosed investors.

by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FINCA International Announces Launch of FINCA Microfinance Holding With Investments of $74m from IFC, KfW, FMO, responsAbility, Triple Jump

FINCA International, a US-based network of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 21 countries, has established FINCA Microfinance Holding (FMH) LLC, with USD 74 million from social investors including: USD 35 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group; USD 15 million from KfW Bankengruppe, a German development bank; EUR 10.5 million (USD 14 million) from Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a Dutch public-private partnership (PPP); USD 5 million from the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), a microfinance investment vehicle (MIV) managed by responsAbility Social Investments AG of Switzerland; and USD 5 million from Triple Jump, a Dutch investment manager and advisory firm for the microfinance sector.

by Rohan Trivedi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triple Jump Opens Office in Mexico, Surpasses $300m in Microfinance Investments, Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary

Triple Jump, a Netherlands-based advisory service and manager of three microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently announced plans to open an office in Mexico City, Mexico, to serve the region of Central America and the Caribbean.

by Medha Ravi -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SNS Asset Management of Netherlands Launches SNS Impact Investing with $400m Managed for Microfinance, Agriculture, Water

SNS Asset Management (SNS AM), a Dutch fund manager, has announced the launch of its impact investing unit, SNS Impact Investing, which will focus on investments in microfinance, sustainable agriculture and water. The new unit will consist of a team of ten people, headed by Harry Hummels, who serves as a board member of SNS AM, and Theo Brouwers, who is a director of SNS AM.

by Julia Korn -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Triple Jump Disperses Total of $6.5m to Microfinance Banks Procredit Bank of Macedonia, FINCA Azerbaijan, Crezcamos of Colombia and Fundacion Campo of El Salvador

Triple Jump, a microfinance fund manager based in the Netherlands and established in 1998, recently reported to MicroCapital that one of the five funds it manages, ASN-Novib Fund, has executed debt investments totaling USD 6.5 million in four microfinance banks [1]. The largest amount, USD 2.5 million, went to Procredit Bank of Macedonia, a Macedonian bank founded in 2003 with a gross loan portfolio of USD 185 million [2].

by Zoran Stanisljevic -

PAPER WRAP-UP: Microfinance Funds Continue to Grow Despite the Crisis, by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)

By Xavier Reille and Jasmina Glisovic-Mezieres, CGAP, with research assistance from Yannis Berthouzoz, Symbiotics, published by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), April 2009, CGAP Brief, 4 pages, available at: 

http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.34437/CGAP%20Brief_MIV_FinancialCrisis.pdf

by Ryan Hogarth -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Huge Global Pensions Back Break-Out Private Equity Fund: TIAA-CREF, APG, DWM and SNS REAAL Contribute $82 million to Developing World Markets Microfinance Equity Fund I

Developing World Markets (DWM) has closed its DWM Microfinance Equity Fund I with a commitment of USD 82 million from four large institutional investors. The fund provides equity capital to microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. The Fund Manager, DWM Asset Management Limited Liability Company (LLC), now controls a total of USD 200 million in microfinance-related assets: a pool, which it states, is the largest in the world dedicated solely to MFI equity investment. Acting as Advisor to the Fund Manager is major microfinance investor SNS Asset Management. After the closing, Theo Brouwers, Director of SNS Asset Management said, “The success of the fundraising at a time of global economic turmoil demonstrates the confidence of international investors in microfinance as a stable asset class and that institutional investors continue to search for good investment opportunities that contribute to social development.” MicroCapital has previously quoted Theo Brouwers in his argument that despite the controversy over for-profit microfinance, the key to microfinance succeeding in poverty alleviation is to funnel institutional capital to developing countries lacking funds. DWM’s new USD 82 million fund is a step in that direction.

by Greg Casey -

WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: SNS Asset Management

SNS Asset Management is a subsidiary of SNS REAAL, the fifth largest financial institution in the Netherlands. The asset management division was founded in 1997 after the merger of SNS bank and De Hollandse Koopmansbank. The firm, which is a participant in the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investing initiative (PRI), currently has EUR 19b in assets under management.