responsAbility Social Investments AG, an investment company based in Switzerland, recently released its “Social Performance Report 2011,” which is the sixth of its kind, covering the effect on poor people of its work during 2010 in the following areas: microfinance, fair trade, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing and independent media.
According to the report, responsAbility invested USD 628 million in debt and USD 74 million in equity in 251 microfinance institutions (MFIs) with 16 million clients across 55 countries [1]. The report notes that more of these MFIs now offer savings and remittances in addition to microcredit. responsAbility also worked to encourage fair trade by financing 46 agricultural cooperatives that were supplied by 300,000 small farmers in 15 countries [1]. The investment of USD 13 million during 2010 in 38 SMEs facilitated the creation of approximately 31,200 jobs in developing countries [1]. Finally, responsAbility provided loans to 45 organizations through the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), a US-based nonprofit supporting independent news outlets that helped give access to independent news coverage to 35 million people across 17 countries [1].
The Social Performance Report 2011 is available at: http://www.responsability.com/domains/responsability_ch/data/free_docs/spr2011_f.pdf
By Medha Ravi, Research Associate
About responsAbility Social Investments AG: Founded in 2003, responsAbility Social Investments AG is a Swiss investment company whose products aim to enable investors to earn a financial return while assisting people in emerging markets to access information and markets in sectors such as microfinance, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing, fair trade and independent media. According to calculations based on data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) from 2009 and 2010, responsAbility manages approximately USD 800 million in total assets. responsAbility is backed by Swiss financial institutions and a social venture capital company as founders and shareholders including Baumann & Cie, Banquiers, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen Schweiz, Swiss Re, Bank Vontobel AG as well as George Avenue. responsAbility manages the following microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs): the responsAbility Global Microfinance Fund (rAGMF), the responsAbility Microfinance Leaders Fund (rAMLF) and Mikrofinanz-Fonds.
Source and Resources:
responsAbility Social Investments AG Press Release, “responsAbility Continues on Growth Track”, http://www.responsability.com/domains%5Cresponsability_ch/data/secure_pdf/20110504_spr2011_e.pdf
[1] responsAbility Social Investments Social Performance Report 2011, http://www.responsability.com/domains/responsability_ch/data/free_docs/spr2011_f.pdf
MicroCapital.org story, June 16, 2010, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit Releases First Social Performance Report”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-oikocredit-releases-first-social-performance-report/
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe Profile: responsAbility Social Investments AG
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=res…
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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