By John D. Conroy, published by the Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC), May 2010, 4 pages, available at: http://www.fdc.org.au/files/Resources/briefing-note/Briefing%20Note%20No%2010%20-%20Final%20%28e-version%29.pdf

In this FDC Briefing Note, the author draws parallels between the worldwide development of subprime lending and microcredit over the last decade. The theme of inadequate capacity for deposits and other forms of saving through microfinance institutions (MFIs) also runs through the author’s arguments. Continue Reading »

CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), an independent policy and research center housed at the World Bank Group, recently published a technical guide entitled “Performance-Based Agreements: Incorporating Performance-Based Elements into Standard Loan and Grant Agreements”. Continue Reading »

“Raising Capital: Evaluating the Current Mindset of Investors Globally and Their Attitude to Microfinance as an Asset Class” was a panel discussion topic at the recent Global Microfinance Investment Conference which was held in New York. The conference was attended by a variety of participants in the microfinance sector: microfinance investors, representatives of microfinance institutions (MFIs), bankers, lawyers and researchers. Continue Reading »

LeapFrog Investments, an international for-profit microinsurance fund, recently announced its final close raising USD 25 million for a total fund size of USD 137 million for investments in Africa and Asia. Continue Reading »

In a recent interview with the Indian online news platform VCCircle, Mr Jim Roth, Principal at LeapFrog Investments, a private equity microinsurance fund, said that of the fund’s USD 110 million in capital, it would commit USD 30 to 37 million to microinsurance products in India. Continue Reading »

Written by Xavier Reille, Christoph Kneiding, Daniel Rozas, Nick O’Donohoe and Frederic Rozeira de Mariz, published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), March 2010, 40 pages, available at: http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.42531/OP16R.pdf

The authors of the paper aim to provide the investor community with benchmarks for the valuation of microfinance assets using two datasets, one being a sample of 200 private equity transactions between 2005 and 2009, the other being data on eight publicly listed low-income financial institutions (LIFIs). Continue Reading »

CHF International, a US-based international development and humanitarian assistance non-profit organization, has set up a private holding company, CHF Finance Group, to house its commercial microfinance institution (MFI) subsidiaries. Continue Reading »

Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that is a member of the BASIX (Bhartiya Samruddhi Investment & Consulting Service) Group, is reportedly planning to raise INR 750 million (USD 16.8 million) in non-convertible debentures (NCDs) within the next couple of months. Continue Reading »

Oikocredit, a Dutch investor in microfinance institutions (MFIs), has paid INR 30 million (USD 675,000) for a 10-percent stake in Kerala-based ESAF (Evangelical Social Action Forum) Microfinance and Investment Private Limited (ESAF). The investment was made through a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary of Oikocredit, Manaveeya Holdings and Investments. Continue Reading »

Global Pensions, a magazine serving the global institutional pensions industry, recently reported that following significant investments in microfinance by Dutch pension funds ABP and PGGM, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), a USD 133 billion pension fund located in the US, will consider investing in microfinance investment vehicles. Continue Reading »

Dutch pension fund ABP has invested USD 30 million in a global private equity microfinance fund from Grassroots Capital. The investment brings ABP’s total debt and equity holdings in microfinance to USD 215 million. Continue Reading »

An article in The Economist weekly magazine titled, “Savings and the Poor: A Better Mattress,” examines the current market for microsavings products and argues for better technology and more flexible regulation. Continue Reading »

At the Women’s World Banking (WWB) Microfinance and Capital Markets conference on March 23 and March 24, Ms Elizabeth Littlefield, the Chief Executive of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) who has been nominated to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), declared “There’s a huge untapped pool of savings in poor households that’s desperate to be taken out from under the bed.” Continue Reading »

According to a recent article on VCCircle.com, an Indian online news platform, Indian microfinance fund managers are diversifying their investment base to include more areas of social investing, such as microinsurance, micro housing finance, healthcare, mobile payments and rural supply chains. Continue Reading »

Financiera Independencia, a Mexico-based microfinance institution (MFI) that is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange, has announced that it has successfully placed USD 200 million in senior guaranteed notes in the international market. Continue Reading »

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided a USD 6 million grant to Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a pan-African bank with a network of over 500 branches in 27 countries. Continue Reading »

Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance institution, recently concluded an 85 million share capital increase. Continue Reading »

Written by Karel Janda and Barbora Svarovska of Charles University in Prague, MPRA Paper Number 19486, December 2009, published by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), available here: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m//template.rc/1.9.41395 Continue Reading »